• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 29, 2006

With "best practices" still in flux for email marketers, Email Discount Network, an email marketing and Internet shopping service, is offering consumers and marketers an inside look at its own internal standards--as well as some tips to help consumers avoid getting burned. Not surprisingly, many of the organization's suggestions relate to matters such as fees, customer service audits, and the type of advertising used.

If customers or marketers report a high number of complaints in any one of these areas, that should be a red flag warranting further investigation at the very least. Below is a short summary of the group's suggestions:

-- Before registering, pay special attention to "pre-registration disclosures" including information on set-up fees, recurring charges, and customer service infrastructure. Terms and conditions should be clearly and comprehensively explained and easily accessed.

-- The customer service portion of the Web site and all other marketing materials should include an easy-to-find phone number--preferably toll-free--for customer service inquiries. The best customer service lines should be open and answered by real human beings around the clock.

-- If an email marketing or Internet shopping firm bills its customers through local phone companies--as EDN does--the phone companies generally audit the firm's customer service performance, including billing service. Customers should inquire whether firms have passed these audits. In a related area, when complaints about billing do occur, there should also be a record of the speed with which refunds are delivered.

-- Finally, email marketing firms should embrace the generally accepted advertising formats that are considered industry standards, including such as pop-up ads are considered more and more disreputable.