There is some good news for companies in the business of fighting Spam. As a management consultant, while I do not completely trust data provided by companies that also offer a solution to the problem, I am willing to believe to some extent what MX Logic is saying: "...one year after the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act went into effect, on average 97 percent of unsolicited commercial email over the past year failed to comply with the federal anti-spam law." In fact the company reports that the overall volume of Spam increased in 2004 and will continue its growth in 2005.
I had always known that the direct marketers made the CAN-SPAM Act extremely weak when it was passed and like many other experts, I was never convinced that Spam could be fought with regulations. While we still produce the largest amount of Spam right now, I would not be surprised that Spam moved offshore if we tighten our laws too much. That is why I am not sure that putting too much energy into another legislation is a good idea.
What does it mean for you?
I had always known that the direct marketers made the CAN-SPAM Act extremely weak when it was passed and like many other experts, I was never convinced that Spam could be fought with regulations. While we still produce the largest amount of Spam right now, I would not be surprised that Spam moved offshore if we tighten our laws too much. That is why I am not sure that putting too much energy into another legislation is a good idea.
What does it mean for you?
- If you are a business participating any where in the spam-fighting value chain, this is the greatest time to be in business. Analysis conducted by iProceed shows that in the coming years, even if there are a lot more prosecutions, Spammers will simply move to other countries. Or in other words, both enterprises and consumers will seek technological solutions to getting rid of Spam.
- If you are an email marketer, this is a great time to reinvent your business model. Days of email marketing are numbered though there will be a transition period (for example, we are in that period right now) in which companies will rather seek to make sure that their email messages will reach people who want them, but as they point out at the ebusiness blog, think about switching to blogs from email marketing.
- A new business opportunity that is emerging, particularly among consumers, is about an integrated security package that fights Spam, viruses, spyware (and all its relatives), and provides security through firewalls. The offering should require minimum user control and should be able to update itself automatically. As the number of PC owners (Related article: Linspire laptop debuts at less than $500) and those connected to broadband continues to explode, most consumers today are non-technical and want the same functionalities that they have in their television sets.
Recommended article: Best practices in email marketing