There’s this running argument I’m having with a colleague. Well, not really an argument, I guess. More like a debate. My colleague’s position is it’s OK to continue to send permission email to someone months or even years after they’ve stopped interacting with it in any way because, hey, it’s an impression, isn’t it? Even if all they’re doing is deleting it as soon as it arrives, at least there’s a split second where they’ve read and recognized the brand name. Doesn’t that have value, my colleague asks.

Short answer: no. Why continue to interject your brand into their lives when they obviously have no interest in it anymore? Most likely, the aforementioned inactive consumer has either relegated you to their spam filter ages ago, abandoned their email address, or died. However, when you’re talking about a database with millions of names in it, you don’t need a very large percentage of those to be real people hitting the dreaded X icon every time before you realize you’re probably pissing a lot of them off. Best case, you condition them to associate your brand with insignificance or irrelevance or whatever other emotion they feel in that short window between recognition and eradication. Worst case, you get lumped together with those sending free Viagra pitches and pleas for help from Nigerian widows.

Here’s a real-world example of what I’m talking about. The other day I was passing through the MSP airport on my way to LA. While passing through the TSA’s security cattle chute, with all the stress and inconvenience that goes along with it, I noticed that some marketing genius has adopted the ‘any impression is a good impression’ approach and sold advertising inside the x-ray trays. Really. So now, next time I’m wondering if I have all my belongings while simultaneously trying to put my shoes and belt back on and my laptop into its bag without blocking the way of my fellow cattle as they meander though, I will be able to enjoy the brand message of some consulting firm or pharmaceutical company.

Is the very moment your customer is annoyed, flummoxed, and/or otherwise peeved at the world the best time to be selling something to them?