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Clarity

Ben Isaacson

San Francisco, CA

Anyone who buys the domain name www.internetprivacy.guru better know what he's talking about! I've been in the digital marketing and privacy space since 1996, and spent 10 years leading digital privacy at Experian (which, in addition to being a credit reporting agency is a conglomerate that operates many distinct businesses like CheetahMail, Hitwise, and 41st Parameter/Adtruth). My favorite topics include responsible email marketing, email deliverability, integrating online and offline data (eg; de-identifying data), addressable advertising, behavioral targeting (aka; interest-based advertising), mobile location-based profiling/targeting, and social data mining. I'm very much into product development and am not going to espouse privacy law philosophy during our calls (unless you really want to go there.) I am also a lawyer and member of the CA Bar.

$5.00/min

12 Calls

11 Reviews

27 minutes
Avg. call

Email Marketing Online Advertising Retargeting Behavioral Targeting Data Privacy Email Strategy Privacy Law Targeted Advertising Database Marketing

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Digital Privacy

I've been working on digital privacy for 17 years, and practically wrote the book on marketing self-regulation including email, display and addressable advertising, social, mobile, and online behavior.

Email Deliverability

I was the first person to lead the email marketing industry's self-regulatory efforts, and the first to bring senders and receivers together to talk about guidelines and whitelisting. I went on to found the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) senders committee, which directly interfaced with many of the worlds largest receivers and ISPs. Finally, I spent 10 years at Experian CheetahMail, 8 of which directly overseeing the email deliverability team.

Global Privacy Laws

I am a global privacy expert, and can advise on any topics related to the EU GPDR, any U.S. privacy law, and global marketing-related laws such as those related to anti-spam or online behavioral advertising.

Answers 6
Reviews 11

Answers

Ben Isaacson answered

What is the best way for a startup to draft Terms of Service and Privacy without spending thousands of dollars?

Just with respect to the privacy policy, ask yourself these questions;
1) Will I share personal information with 3rd parties for marketing or other unrelated purposes to why they shared their info with my company?
2) Will I share non-personal information (eg; de-identified or ad tracking) with 3rd parties for marketing or other unrelated purposes to why they shared their info with my company?
3) Is there anything about my products or services that might creep out my customers. (Eg; App with location-based tracking in the background)

If you answered yes to any of the above, talk to someone who can help you get some clarity. If not, then use some standard language from Snapterms or other public-reference sites as a guide, but do not simply copy a competitors or related site privacy policy. You can do this yourself, but every policy requires some customization to make it relevant for your purposes.

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Privacy Law

Corporate Law

Ben Isaacson answered

How do I improve email deliverability from a neglected domain?

It always starts with the list. You mention 'non opt-in' lists, which is certainly more troublesome than any domain name. Your best course of action is to get a new domain, re-confirm the lists you have (requiring the subscriber to click through in order to stay on), and only accept confirmed opt-in lists moving forward. It will decimate your mailing list in the short term, but long-term eliminate your deliverability concerns and improve ROI.

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Email Management

Email Marketing

Email Strategy

Ben Isaacson answered

What is the best software to use for website lifecycle and action trigger based emails?

I can't say what is 'best' but can suggest Criteo as a reputable specialist in this area.

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Email Marketing

Ben Isaacson answered

Is it CAN-SPAM appropriate to send emails to customers who have not explicitly given permission?

The first question is to define what the customer flow was, and the nature of your customer relationship. Did the prior transaction form include any mention of future email marketing at the point of purchase? Did they receive any sort of welcome email after purchase informing them about future marketing emails? Was the type of purchase something that would seem like future marketing emails would be expected? While express consent is always the best practice, in some cases an informed or passive consent can be effective if it works alongside other verification and relevancy efforts.

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Email Marketing

Anti-spam

Ben Isaacson answered

How can I reach people from our registered site members who have not bought something and are not on our email list?

It sounds like you have their email address, so I recommend using it to target them on Facebook and Twitter through their custom audiences program. You can upload the lists there and specifically reach these users ( and lookalikes). Twitter even has an ad format that send a targeted email subscription ad with an embedded form.

Your only email option is to send a transactional or relationship message such as a website maintenance, password reset request or terms of service update. As long as the primary purpose is non-commercial, you can include some promotion of the newsletter below the other copy.

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Email Marketing

Email Strategy

Ben Isaacson answered

What is the industry average conversion rate for cold emailing?

Cold emailing is just as bad for you and the recipient. Even if you have the perfect list, the attempt to sell in a cold email is rarely going to be effective. You're better off curating the list to the top prospects, find a mutual connection on LinkedIn or even just cold-invite them on LinkedIn,. Worst case scenario, send a 'permission pass' email where you simply gauge interest and let them know you won't be emailing them again if there's no interest. Keep it very short, non-commercial with just solid information/links to web, and an easy to reply yes/no answer.

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Email Marketing

Email Strategy

Reviews

Great call and straight to the point, highly recommend Ben!

James Denham Source: Clarity

The call with Ben could not have gone any better. He is one of the best experts on Clarity.

Omar Baig Source: Clarity

Super call with Ben. Clear and precise answers on deliverability best practices and helpful tools. Very helpful.

Boris Schrenzel Source: Clarity

Ben was great to talk with and provided us with excellent suggestions on what we can do to improve our our email campaigns. His comments in regards to the current ESP we are using were spot on and we will be making changes immediately based on his advice. He provided solid advice for when and what we should email our customers to help improve our overall deliverability also. Ben obviously knows his stuff when it comes to email marketing. Highly recommended!

JC Arnica Corporation Source: Clarity

Great call! Straight to the point and had great information around Transactional and Lead Gen email solutions. Highly recommend it.

Armen Allahverdian Source: Clarity

Excellent information from Ben regarding Email marketing and privacy issues. I will definitely contact him once again to clear specific issues with our email marketing campaign.

Alex S Source: Clarity

Ben is amazing. He knows things about email marketing that most people don't know even exist. It was a great decision to call Ben for advice. We will definitely schedule another follow up call with him.

Frank Kasimov Source: Clarity

1996-2011. This is not a eulogy, its a time honored gift. Since 96, Ben has been a go-to guy for me and hundreds of people I know for all things Internet. The right idea, the right vendor, the proper way to get things done, who is a good guy, a bad guy, etc etc etc. Humble, bright, effective, good-natured, and ethical to a T.

I award Ben this testimonial today as he advised me he became an attorney in the State of California.

I am proud to know there is at least one lawyer with a soul.

Experian is lucky to have such an asset. Congrats on your bar. I always thought u were an attorney anyway.

Tony Greenberg Source: LinkedIn

Ben is a subject matter expert on all aspects of digital privacy. In the time we worked together, Ben could not have been more accessible, diligent and principled in his approach to guarding and promoting Experian's reputation for adherence to the highest standards of good privacy practice. Ben's views are widely sought and respected and he was a influential individual to be brought into any client discussions. I will always appreciate the support and sound counsel provided by Ben throughout our time working together.

Simon Chamberlain Source: LinkedIn

Ben knows the digital space deeply and broadly. He can seamlessly move from discussion about privacy, compliance, and legal considerations into the nuances of the various business models out there. He is smart, interesting, and has compelling ideas. It was a pleasure working with Ben!

Eric Matza Source: LinkedIn

There is no one who has a better grasp of both the details of email deliverability and privacy laws and best practices as well as understanding the needs of clients large and small in applying them. I've personally witnessed Ben help numerous Experian clients make good decisions in difficult situations. He is highly responsive, strategic thinking, and able to work well with all levels in an organization.

Tobias Schremmer Source: LinkedIn

Member since October 2013