13 thoughts on “How not to do email marketing”

  1. Receiving spam, marketing and scam emails is very annoying. The best way to deal with it is to block those emails. Thank you for giving us information on what makes those emails look and act like spam.

  2. Our not for profit organisation has received almost 100 in the last few days. We have asked them to stop.

    Note that if they are emailing direct to your name, (e.g. joebloggs@mycompany.com) as they are doing with our staff, then they are in breach of GDPR regulations. If they don’t stop as soon as possible then they will be reported to the Information Commissioners Office.

    The maximum fine for a GDPR breach is 4% of annual global turnover or 10 million Euros, whichever is higher.

    1. Deborah Brody

      Thank you for commenting. I am very interested to know that others have also received the barrage of emails. In the US, there is little to be done about SPAM. If this outfit, in spite of being beholden to GDPR rules, thinks that this is a good way to reach people, I think I’ve proven my point that they do not understand how to do email marketing.

    2. Hi Pip and Deb I have also received all the way in New Zealand, from the same “Kate” and have replied with Pip’s suggestion as a warning about a GDPR complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.

      1. Deborah Brody

        Hi Eddie,
        It’s amazing that these people are still at it! It’s been well over a year since I wrote about my experience with these shady leadgen people. I never heard from them again, so I hope they leave you alone too.
        Thanks for your comment and update.
        Deborah

    3. Update- after sending them a warning email about GDPR I got an instant response back that I’ve been removed from their mailing list. But it’s a copy and past auto-response in my opinion because I asked them to remove my domain entirely and they haven’t acknowledged that. The wording was:

      “Hi

      Thanks for getting in touch! We have now removed you from our system and will not email you with business opportunities again.

      If you do change your mind then you can sign up any time as a Pro at Bark.com and choose exactly which types of leads you want to hear about.

      Kind Regards,

      Bark
      The Bark Team
      http://www.bark.com
      team@bark.com

  3. Pingback: Yes, there's still value in blogging | Deborah Brody Marketing Communications

  4. Wow! I got the same email from ‘Kate Potter’
    It sounded too good to be true.
    Then I came across your post on a google search. Thanks so much 👍
    (In the meantime I am preparing for the barrage of emails from this bark crowd!) Ugh!

  5. I’m in NZ as well. I responded to the email from Kate explaining that I wasn’t interested and unsubscribed. The next day I got another one. This time I phoned them as there was a local number on the email. Went through to a pleasant sounding person in the UK. She said that Kate was one of their Marketing people, but she wasn’t available… 😉

    I asked her to remove me and she assured me it was done.
    For good measure I unsubscribed a second time.
    Let’s see what happens tomorrow morning!

  6. Yep, I’m in the process of launching a new marketing agency, the website has only been live for two weeks and I just got two emails from “Kate Potter.” I’m curious as to how they got my email address as we’re not very public (yet). This article is the second hit on Google in Australia for “Kate Potter Bark.” The first? A “review” for a dog groomer on Bark…

    1. Hi Chas–I’ve no idea how Bark got your contact info. I get emails from vendors/spammers every single day, and I have no idea where they get my info. It’s amazing that Bark’s been doing this for several years. It looks as if they’ve been targeting Australia and New Zealand, as you can see by two previous comments from New Zealand. My advice is to block Bark’s email domain, and report if you can. Good luck with the new marketing agency!

  7. I came across your blog post because my name is… Kate Potter. Bark.com’s unsolicited spam emails using the name “Kate Potter” are causing me no end of frustration, because a lot of people think that it is ME emailing them! I’ve contacted Bark multiple times through multiple channels asking them to stop using the name “Kate Potter” to spam people. One year on and no luck yet. The perils of having a common name! Thank you for shining a light on this issue!

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