Like you, I get a great deal of email every day. Honestly, I do enjoy receiving email messages from friends, clients and networking folks who may be reaching out to me for advice or in response to my own request for their help. I also like text messages as an informal way of communicating with friends and relatives. These, in addition to phone conversations, are all a great way to keep in touch on a periodic basis.
I can also see the allure, to both users and marketers, of mobile phone communication coupled with geo-location devices that trigger instant deals and promotions that may be tailored to product or service preferences. But I do not appreciate it when a company emails or texts me and I elect to opt out, only to learn it then takes them a week or more to put these changes into effect.
Consumers may tolerate companies who interrupt their day with email or texts they find useful but when these messages are unwanted, they begin to feel like an invasion of privacy. Being unable to immediately discontinue such messaging is unacceptable.
Real time communication necessitates real time opt-out availability. Let’s make sure that companies who elect to use new technologies invest in updating consumer preferences in real time. Otherwise, all of the benefits of instant communication will become obsolete as quickly as they proliferated.
What has your experience been with changing your opt-in preferences?
I cannot agree more! I get frustrated when companies tell me my email preferences won’t go into effect for 7-10 business days. I often question why the process isn’t automated to remove me from a list once I’ve opted out. I agree real time changes need to be in place.
Sarah, thanks so much for your comment on my recent blog and your past comments and support as well. Have a great rest of the day. Rich