We ask our customers to take the Good Neighbor Marketing Pledge and be a part of building great communities and thriving local businesses. The Pledge is about marketing as if you’re a “good neighbor” and your best customer lives next door – because sometimes they do! Good Neighbor Marketing is the power of targeted local marketing combined with best practices for building a respected, successful business in your community. Good neighbor marketing is never scammy, spammy, or insensitive. We love our customers and want them to be successful. Success starts with good marketing and being a good neighbor.
Marketing should always be 100% legal and legitimate.
Marketing must always be legal, honest, and transparent. Recipients of your marketing messages should be able to quickly identify you and/or your business. Many laws and regulations govern marketing, such as CAN-SPAM, Do Not Call, and others on ad content and endorsements. Some folks have professional license requirements and are required to issue certain disclosures, and we expect you to know and abide by all of the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to you.
Targeting is what you do, not what you communicate.
No one likes to know that they’ve been targeted. Yes, targeting is a smart and powerful way to find and connect with your best potential customers. However, targeting can feel invasive. If someone asks, why you reached out to them, let them know that you are a local business and you thought they might be interested in connecting. If they aren't interested, politely remove them from your future marketing efforts.
Be smart and private with customer information.
Marketing materials should not include details about your customers that they might believe to be personal and/or private. If your targeting is good and your messaging is great, they will connect the dots. Yes, public records are an excellent way for you to gain insights into your customers, yet many people wrongly – yet strongly – believe those details are private. If you want an individual to be a customer, arguing with them about public records policy is NEVER a good way to start a relationship. When the post office makes a mistake and delivers your postcard to the wrong door, and the neighbor brings it over to your intended recipient, there should never be any information on that postcard that creates tension, embarrassment, or anger.
Great marketing has empathy for your customer.
Having empathy means being aware of, and sensitive to, the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of your customer and how they will perceive your marketing outreach. Having empathy makes your marketing more effective. Making a potential customer feel bad is not Good Neighbor Marketing. If you make them feel bad, they can become defensive or retaliate. Whether it's leaving a negative review, bad-mouthing you to the community, or getting you banned as an advertiser, it's never worth it to ignore the issue of empathy in your marketing. Making customers and potential customers smile is always the best outcome.
Honor all opt-out requests.
You must honor any marketing recipient's request to opt-out and no longer receive marketing from you. While that's always a smart policy in terms of being a good neighbor, it’s also often required by law. When someone tells you they do not want to hear from you, you save time and money by not marketing to them anymore. You should be friendly and appreciative, and pay attention to any feedback you receive. You may learn something about your marketing that can help make your next marketing campaign even better.
Automatic and manual review of marketing.
We automatically, and at times, manually review our user’s marketing based on your recipient’s interactions and feedback, especially if your recipients complain or report abuse. Recipient complaints about marketing are almost always an indication that the Good Neighbor Marketing Pledge is being ignored and marketing is being perceived as spammy, scammy, or insensitive. Failing to adhere to the Good Neighbor Marketing Pledge can result in immediate suspension or termination of your access to our Services. We wouldn’t want to lose you! Please consult our User Agreement for further information.