Annoying your Customers at Light Speed

The Hunt
We all feel the need for speed - with faster internet that is. More bandwidth to get information to and from your customers, blazing fast downloads and quicker uploads for more data intensive applications. Fiber-optic internet into the home/office will help to get everything moving just a little quicker. This might be the next generation of connectivity that everyone is clamoring for but make sure that with any type of product announcement the information that you are emailing to your customers is classified and positioned in the correct way.

The Skunk
My internet service provider just informed me that their new fiber-optic internet service will soon be available in my area (see message below). Hurray for me! My concern however is that they consider this a service-type email communication and not a marketing piece. They will not allow me to opt-out of future emails - and they actually tell me (in small print) why I can't remove myself from these types of messages. Now I know this is a service that they plan to offer but why wouldn't they give me the opportunity to remove myself from future communications regarding this type of service if I’m not interested. This is a marketing piece to upgrade my service, not a critical message that affects my current service. It's not related to a bill, payment or any type of possible service disruption. I should have the option to opt-out.



The Resolution
First things first, know and classify the types of messages that you are sending based on the content. In this case, the message that was sent is a marketing message that talks specifically about how I can upgrade and spend more money with the internet provider. This is all fine and good, but this in no way affects the continued service into my home/office if I choose not to interact with this message, it is simply an offer.

Second, do I really have to verify if the service is available in my area? They mail me a bill each month and they surely know my address and zip code so why not build out that messaging dynamically with a custom message based on this information? They know darn well if the service is or is not available to my residence – so it is a "teaser message" and that's ok – I'm excited at the prospect of fiber optic connectivity but position it as such.

The only types of message that can circumvent the inclusion of an opt-out are true transactional messages - you buy/download/transact with an online merchant or organization, you get a confirmation message. Even electronic statements should have some sort of opt-out or email communication settings. The onus is on the provider to deliver these types of account updates in the manner that the recipient chooses.

If this message was to tell me that I would be switched from a regular cable modem to the fiber-optic system (and I had no choice) then you could legally remove the CAN-SPAM compliant one-click opt-out but every message that you send should have the ability to modify your email subscription settings to help the customers maintain their messaging frequency from you - period!