The Email Wars

Pause… deep breath… one week later and 279 emails from the Obama Campaign and now here we are. But where are we with email and communicaitons? CNN reports that the Obama campaign gained over 3 million email addresses and over 10 million contacts (and I am sure of one Mr. Poopypants). So what will they do with them now? Is it over? Will we hear again? Will the idea of a President using email and web communications continue to hold strong as it seems that those that elected him want to have a relationship using this medium. 

The messaging got quiet after the win. I don’t blame them as I am sure that everyone on that campaign deserves a trip to a beach with no wifi for miles. I, not unlike everyone else wanted to know what the plan was. Well the next day Change.gov launched.

So I took a look around, kicked the tires. Solid social media site that is going to be used to communicate as news, ideas and plans shape up over these coming weeks to transition. I was not sure how integrated it was with the old campaign system, so I looked for the opt in method. There is was, top right hand corner but it threw me off as it looked surprisingly like a login form and not an opt in form. I completed it, was taken to a progressive profiling form to get a little more data on me, and then thanked for signing up. But not confirmation email, no double opt in, no welcome email… radio silence. 

Not a best practice at all. I have so many questions around what I am going to get, how, when and from who. It was an opportunity to tee up OUR relationship and set my expectations. But who am I going to call on this… the President?

Here is what I hope for. 

1. The President-elect, should he chose to use email to address and communicate with the nation, follows the best practices and laws that govern all of the us under the Can Spam Act. He leads by example to pave the road that all email marketers should follow, setting the course for consumer expectations.

2. That our emails are treated as a vehicle to allow relevant communications to all the american people that wish to hear from this Presidency and are not allowed to fall into the hands of other government bodies, elected officials looking to increase reach, nor those of future candidates trying to grow their lists.

3. Remove the Donate button. We all gave. More than every before so the fund raising is over. Well maybe it is not over. Maybe using this as a channel to fund raise for other issues that we are passionate about in the US makes this a platform to encourage CHANGE. What I mean by this is the campaign did such a good job of raising money using email, why not think about how to use it to raise monies for hunger, schools, veterans, families, and more. With the micro-giving strategy email might be the best way for 3 million or more of us to continue to give $5 or more at a time to help fund ideas that we want to see change. If we could raise $15 million at a time through a CHANGE Foundation that does not take our tax dollars but uses the money of those that want to give to certain programs we could use email to empower changes that are relevant to all of us, each of us. This could become an organization that could rival the Gate Foundation and be done as an American body for change. 

Just my thoughts today as this is such an amazing story this far that I feel is just taking the first step towards making a difference of listening and acting on ideas and beliefs that we can all get behind during this Presidency.

What are your thoughts?