Bulk Mailing: What it is, Who It Is for, and How to Arrange it Correctly
The mass, automatic sending of messages to a group of people via email is called bulk mailing. The main purpose of such a newsletter is to notify you about some information without long-term correspondence. For example, to announce a certain event or send a catalog of a new product line.
To send such emails, customers are found in legal ways - through pop-ups, website subscription forms, collecting information offline, social networks, etc.
Another situation is when a ready-made database is used for bulk mailing. In this case, the email users didn't agree to receive your messages, so it's spam for them.
It occurs frequently that spam-based bulk mailings steal passwords and other confidential data, damage the device, or deceive the customer in some way.
In this article, we are going to clarify such questions: who should use bulk mailing, how to properly and legally create such a newsletter, and what types of spammy bulk mailing there are.
For whom bulk mailing is appropriate
Bulk mailings are helpful for presenting a company's products to consumers when the company does not have a lot of financial resources.
These newsletters are used to inform customers/colleagues about a new catalog or updated terms of collaboration, or to notify employees within the organization about news and changes in documentation.
To ensure that bulk mailing is not considered as spam by subscribers or special services, use a customer database that you have collected yourself.
How to legally create a bulk newsletter
Get approval from the recipients for the newsletter
Use double opt-in confirmation: the customers give their email and confirm it by clicking on a link. This makes it less likely that the email will be blocked, even if one of the people marks the message as spam.
Find out your audience's interests
In bulk mailing, messages are created for all consumers at once, but simple division of customers into segments helps you personalize your emails. To do this, use polling, surveying or interviewing techniques. Analyze the results based on which you get different groups for a bulk mailing.
Properly automate the newsletter
Segment recipients and set up an email service. Always add information in the email that the mailing is done only after the client's permission. The person has the right to unsubscribe from receiving your notifications anyway.
Rules for creating a bulk mailing letter
A bulk mailing is a one-time event without a chain of emails complementing each other. Its purpose is to notify customers of important news. To speed up the process of reading content, create emails with clear and comprehensive text without any distracting elements.
It is advisable to include the subject line in the title of the message, so that users can immediately understand what they want to be informed about. Thus you increase the probability that your message is opened.
An important rule of bulk mailing is to start the email with the main subject line. For example, if you are announcing an event, start with the date and time of the event, then go on to the details.
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What is considered to be a spam newsletter
Illegal products or services
Casinos, gambling, narcotic and psychotropic substances, online medical consultations with diagnostics, weapons and other products are prohibited by law. Its distribution is illegal. Scammers use bulk mailing lists with a ready-made customer base to advertise these products.
Mailings from scammers and spammers
Such newsletters inform about lottery winnings, stolen personal photos and videos, victory in some contest or prolonged access to something. For example, in order to receive a prize, a person has to send a certain amount of money. Of course, the users won't get anything in return, and the scammers will only make money.
An example of a scam mailing list
Phishing emails
Such letters are sent to people by phishers disguising themselves as official companies, banks, social networks, and other organizations which are trustworthy among their clients. Below there is an example of such a letter. The email contains a link which, when clicked, leads the user to the site. As a result, the user's personal data is stolen. To avoid such a situation, always check the address from which the letter comes.
Examples of a phishing scam that leads to a phishing site to steal passwords
Viral messages
They can have different subject matter. The point is to put a link or an archive with attachments containing a dangerous program. If a subscriber opens them, they get a virus on their device.
Viruses steal personal information, and some of them damage the device so that it then functions with errors or is completely crashed.
An example of a viral message
Conclusion
Bulk mailing is a mass mailing sent to customers in order to inform them of something. This technique is often used by scammers to spread spam, but it can also be used legally by companies.
For a legitimate bulk mailing, take only a customer base that you have created yourself, set up double opt-in confirmation of email users, divide your audience into segments, and do a different mailing for each of those segments.