Do e-marketing newsletters really work?

I ask this question because for the second time this year, I'm culling e-newsletter subscriptions with a vengence. Some I remember giving my permission for, but there are others where I have no recollection whatsoever of ticking an opt-in box.

They used to come once a month or once a quarter. But just lately I've noticed some companies sending them almost daily. Vistaprint is one such offender. I bought some postcards from them a couple of months ago. Since then I've been bombarded with rubbish almost on a daily basis. A north west recruitment company bombarded me with promotional emails and newsletters despite the fact I had never met them, I'm a one person band with no employees and tried to unsubcribe several times. I ended up having to write a rude letter to their MD in order to get rid of them.

Unsubscribing is not as easy as it should be. Some companies are excellent - you get an instant no hassle removal from the list. But others are a nightmare. Fat Face clothing for example, when you click on their unsubscribe button, you are routed to a page asking you to purchase some combat trousers. I gave up in the end. Also, if I've unsubscribed because I was fed up with so many emails, why send me another to tell me I've unsubscribed. Ok, I'm starting to rant.

Obviously I'm in the business of creating promotional material, but I'm beginning to think the e-marketing mailshot has had its day. Or at least we need to seriously think of how we use them. Here's my two penneth worth:

1. Make sure you only send to people who have agreed to take part.

2. Tell people something useful - no-one cares what you've been up to during the summer (I got one of these from a marketing company last week)

3. Get to the point.

4. Keep them short.

5. Have a call to action that's a real benefit to the customer.

6. Make it easy to opt out - one click

So that's it for now. I've still got more unsubcribing to do.