The first step in maintaining a quality marketing list is ensuring the people you are corresponding with do, in fact, wish to receive your email messages. Often, consumers opt in to a list without realizing or remembering it and are subsequently annoyed when they receive newsletters or offers in which they fail to find value. An important best practice is to ask for permission to continue communications via email.

On that note, our marketing department recently received a best practice email message from email service provider, Blue Sky Factory, Inc., which, barring personal information, read as follows:

“Subject: Blue Sky Factory: Please confirm ongoing email communication

Good afternoon, my name is ______ wtih Blue Sky Factory, Inc. based in Baltimore, MD. We are a full service Email Service Provider. Our records indicate that one of our team members may have had email communication with you in the past. I’m contacting you personally to see if you would like to receive our monthly e-newsletter along with periodic Webinar announcements related to upcoming email marketing best practice webinars? We would enjoy keeping in touch with you if you feel it to be beneficial.

We value your privacy and will not communicate with you subsequent to this email unless you contact me to tell me you would like to be added to our mailing list.

If you would like to be added to our email list, please simply reply to this email and say the word. Otherwise, thank you for your time and consideration, and have a great day!”

We feel the above message content is an excellent example from Blue Sky Factory of a best practice in email marketing on how to properly ask for permission, and we encourage anyone mailing to adopt a similar practice. Asking customers and contacts directly if they would like to receive communication and opting them in only when they respond positively is a great way to begin a trusting and long-lived email relationship. It allows consumers to see that your ultimate goal is to provide value with what you send.