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Abuse Desks HATE Political Emailers: How You Can Stand Out

1 May 2024

Political email marketing can be a powerful tool for reaching and engaging constituents. However, behind the scenes, it’s a landscape fraught with frustration for abuse desks. Here’s why:

Lack of Opt-In and List Sharing

Political emailers often obtain email addresses through various means, including purchasing and trading lists or scraping them from public sources (such as donor lists). This results in recipients receiving emails they never signed up for, leading to high complaint rates. Worse, in the case of political mailers, the complaints often come from people from the other end of the political spectrum.

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Emotionally Charged Writing

Political emails frequently utilize tactics that blur the lines between fact and opinion, often weaving emotionally charged narratives to elicit strong responses leading to activism and campaign contributions. (According to both major political parties, the entire future of the American Republic has been “on the line” in every election since 2000.) This can exacerbate the likelihood of recipients feeling misled or manipulated, further fueling complaints.

The News Cycle

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Investigating clients who send emotionally charged messages can be challenging, as investigators may have their own thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. However, it’s crucial to remain neutral. The difficulty level is even higher when the client is sending political messages, and complaints are often made about the content instead of easier-to-police issues like consent.

Complainants demand that the sender be “de-platformed,” sent to prison, or worse. They may try to involve the press and demand that investigations be conducted with the transparency of a Congressional hearing and be concluded with a press conference within hours. And then there are the actual Congressional subpoenas.

Since most service providers are careful not to act as content censors, decisions are rarely made by front-line staff, which means that such speed and openness aren’t usually possible. It’s not ideal to decide the contours of business policies and how to apply them while being a fixture on Fox and/or MSNBC.

Attitudes of Entitlement

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Some political campaigns operate under a sense of entitlement, believing that standard email marketing policies don’t apply to them due to the perceived importance of their cause or candidate or because national laws exempt them from governmental regulation. This can lead to disregarding best practices and a lax attitude towards compliance. When an abuse desk tries to enforce the company’s policies, political emailers will complain that they should be able to just do what they want.

Leaving a Mess

Many political emailers abandon their service providers once the election fervor dies down. They set contracts to end the month after elections and just move on to the next provider while complaining about how horrible deliverability was and how hard the last provider was to work with.

Standing Out

For all marketers, political or not, here’s how to make your program stand out:

  • Prioritize Opt-In: Build your email list organically by obtaining explicit consent from every subscriber. Consent ensures that your audience is genuinely interested in your content and reduces the risk of complaints. The more important your message is, the more important consent becomes.
  • Focus on Transparency and Authenticity: Be honest and transparent in your communications. Avoid using misleading or emotionally manipulative language, and fact-check your content rigorously to maintain credibility.
  • Respect Regulations and Policies: Understand and comply with relevant laws and regulations governing email marketing, including anti-spam laws and privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Most mailbox providers consider legal compliance the most basic hurdle, so don’t trip yourself up over the easy stuff. Ultimately, service provider policies are intended to protect.
  • Don’t Leave at the First Sign of Trouble: Work with your provider to fix issues. Policy enforcement isn’t about censoring you but protecting you and your provider.
  • If You Don’t Understand, Hire Someone Who Does: If you’re struggling to understand the intricacies of deliverability, I highly recommend enlisting the support of a skilled consultant who specializes in this area. With their expert knowledge and experience, they can provide you with invaluable guidance and advice that can help you overcome any obstacles you may be facing. As an experienced consultant, I can help you navigate the challenges and develop a successful email marketing strategy.

By adopting these principles, marketers can cultivate trust, respect, and engagement with their email subscribers while avoiding the frustrations that plague abuse desks and recipients alike.

Mickey Chandler
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