Will the Real Spam King Please Sit Down?
As I was checking my email this morning, an article on MSN caught my eye: “Will the Real Spam King Please Stand Up?” It was written by Dan Tynan of PC World. Normally I don’t even read the articles on MSN, but the real spam king?
As with the majority that is published by major news organizations regarding email marketing, this was nothing more than another exploit of bad seeds. While I would never argue the validity of these marketers’ tactics, a couple things did occur to me.
We are still in a relatively new industry. Quarterly, we are growing as a collective faster than almost any other industry out there. Advertisers are finding a true value and return on their dollars spent online. Publishers are tweaking and refining on a daily basis, building relationships with end users. This truly is an amazing industry to be in.
All of us at one point or another have been at some function or event and asked, “What do you do exactly?” Answer and careful choice of words will determine the outcome and further the mental picture that was just painted. These “kings” have not only tarnished our industry, but have also helped pave the road to the image that is painted of our profession.
As with anything, you will see people making bad choices. I would then argue and contend that the exploit and glamorizing of these people is a true injustice that is not serving anyone.
My colleagues and I can attest to the fact that this picture painted is just not accurate. We work with thousands of publishers on a daily basis that not only do not fit in this “king” category, but also detest everything that it stands for.
Will we ever stop these seeds? Probably not. I am sure from time to time they will show up here and there. We need to continue in the process of promoting the growth and image of our industry. Compliance needs to be an industry standard, not a buzzword.
With our due diligence and immediate termination of these “kings,” we will start to see this image shift that we all have been striving for. The question of profession will not be phrased in a manner where we are constantly separating ourselves from a small fraction of the majority. I would then have to ask that Mr. Tynan re-title this article to, “Will the Real Spam King Please Sit Down?”
