Now why did I get that message?

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It is certainly cheaper & quicker to message people through interactive media. The consumer can not only respond faster, their behaviour can be tracked and therefore leveraged into further personalizing future messaging. Sadly, many businesses continue to push the limits of consumer acceptance by trying to trick the consumer into a relationship.

Some businesses feel that by tweaking their privacy policy they can turn around the legal requirements of why a consumer can be messaged. So all of a sudden the poor consumer who provided an email id or mobile phone for a transactional update starts receiving promotional messages.

It gets worse when the consumer starts getting emails from partners, and things are downright deceitful when under the guise of a contest, the business starts sharing the consumers contact information with other businesses.

Bad behaviour like that is hurting good businesses, as consumers either un-subscribe, complain about spam, or turn themselves off messages from legitimate businesses. To keep things flowing, here are a few things to include in your messaging.

Remind people why they signed up for your campaign. 'You are receiving this message because you signed up for our program on …. ' List your contact information clearly so the consumer knows who you are. Messages from 'Customer Service' or 'Bambi' (believe me this is a true from field) do little to boost consumer confidence as to the origin of the message. Give consumers the option of contacting your business easily. Some companies have even set up help desks that respond to queries and concerns within 24 hours (if not right away.)

Take a little time to make the 'About Us' section prominent or easy to get to from your messages. Tell a story - have compelling content, it goes a long way in keeping the anticipation up for future messages. Best of all, make it easy for the consumer to get off your list if they want to. It saves time, it saves money, and it truly boosts consumer confidence.