Opting Out

It’s nice of folks to follow me on Twitter and in general I follow them right back. What happens next has become interesting. Quite often, I get a direct message (which in my case leads to a text message on my phone) thanking me for the follow and urging me to do something (click here, read this, etc.). That’s when I opt out – I either unfollow them or report them for spam if most of their tweets seem to be spammy – and I gather I’m not alone.OK, so that might keep my follower list down, I get that.  But it’s not that they’ve said “thank you” for the follow – that might even be good manners and I ignore those.  It’s that they used the access I’ve given them to send me information for which I have no need but is what they’re selling, either in the literal or figurative sense.

There’s some research that speaks to this:

According to a new poll from the Chief Marketing Officer Council, 64% of consumers say promotional offers dominate both the email and traditional mail they receive, and only 41% view these as must-read communications. Of the 91% of consumers who opt out or unsubscribe to emails, 46% are driven to brand defection because the messages are simply not relevant…41% of consumers say they would consider ending a brand relationship due to irrelevant promotions, and an additional 22% say they would definitely defect from the brand.

This is the same phenomenon at work.  Sending out messages that have no relevance to users but are what you want to say do more harm than good especially when they’re intrusive.  When someone opts-in for information, there is a presumption that you will do your best to make that information useful, relevant, timely, and actionable.  If you’re thinking about things from any perspective other than that of the recipient, you’re off-base.  I realize this isn’t big news so consider it a friendly reminder as we’re in the biggest marketing time of the year.

You guys agree?  Have you opted out from anything lately because the sender jut didn’t get it?