If you have an email marketing list, you’ll want to protect that asset by regularly making backup copies.
Why is this important? Data loss and deplatforming.
Data Loss
Something can happen to your email autoresponder service. For example, I once had a client who failed to back up his lists. There was a server crash. And he lost a list of 325,000. What had been generating a very nice income for the client was gone in a flash. And under the terms of his agreement with his email service provider, they weren’t liable for his loss.
Deplatforming
A more recent trend is social justice warriors (SJWs) waging war by deplatforming those they disagree with on any issue. Typically this involves attempts to get the person’s social media accounts (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) banned for allegedly being racist, sexist, transphobic, etc.
The employee activists at these social media companies will often violate their own terms of service to arbitrarily implement a ban based on prejudged guilt because of the SJW’s accusation.
This deplatforming has now spread to email marketing service providers.
For example, yesterday a so-called “woke” individual tweeted a complaint to Mailchimp about a twitter user she accused of being racist, etc.
In response, Mailchimp promptly terminated the accused’s email marketing account.
Whether or not you believe the marketer deserved to have his account terminated because of his beliefs, the moral of the story is that you need to back up your lists because it could happen to you someday. If there’s a lesson to be learned online about disagreements, it’s that popular opinion today on an issue can make you a pariah six months from now.
Email Marketing Precautions
Before you sign up for an autoresponder service, be sure to read the provider’s terms of service so that you understand what the company’s official policy is on the content you send to your lists.
Make sure you have those regular list backups made so that you can port to another autoresponder service if there’s a server data loss or your account is terminated.
And be sure to comply with applicable email marketing laws. I cover many of these legal risks — and how to avoid them — in my book “Email Marketing: How To Protect Your Business When Selling By Email.”
Recommended Email Service Providers
At the present time, I can no longer recommend Mailchimp because of their complicity in deplatforming email marketers based on views.
Many of my clients use either ActiveCampaign or AWeber for their email marketing. I’ve used AWeber for the past dozen years to handle the firm’s lists and I’m an affiliate for the company. I highly recommend AWeber for simplicity and legal compliance reasons.
