Why does Spam still work?

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I understand that new people, young and old, are jumping on the Internet all the time. But, really, it's been a solid 25 years now. Are people still really buying V * I * A * G * A * R * A and helping Nigerians move money around? Why does this shit still work?

Don't bother answering. It's 2012 and people still believe in magic men in the sky. Who am I kidding?

 

[RobDownSouth]

I buy the little blue triangles in bulk from a British pharmacy without a prescription.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I understand that new people, young and old, are jumping on the Internet all the time. But, really, it's been a solid 25 years now. Are people still really buying V * I * A * G * A * R * A and helping Nigerians move money around? Why does this shit still work?

Don't bother answering. It's 2012 and people still believe in magic men in the sky. Who am I kidding?

SPAM is the triumph of hope over experience.

 

[neci]

people are stupid.

 

[CHNOPS]

I know that some people fall for spam, but personally I would never buy anything that way--especially not the penis growth pills which do not work, no matter how many you take, and that part about the refund is TOTAL BULLSHIT, they will not give you your money back, they will only give you $5 credit toward your next bottle and THAT ONE DOESN'T WORK EITHER.

 

[John Doe]

I know that some people fall for spam, but personally I would never buy anything that way--especially not the penis growth pills which do not work, no matter how many you take, and that part about the refund is TOTAL BULLSHIT, they will not give you your money back, they will only give you $5 credit toward your next bottle and THAT ONE DOESN'T WORK EITHER.

http://files.sharenator.com/funny_pictures_lol_squid_LOL-s399x400-48058-580.jpg

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I know that some people fall for spam, but personally I would never buy anything that way--especially not the penis growth pills which do not work, no matter how many you take, and that part about the refund is TOTAL BULLSHIT, they will not give you your money back, they will only give you $5 credit toward your next bottle and THAT ONE DOESN'T WORK EITHER.

For most people every experience is novel and new.

 

[John Doe]

For most people every experience is novel and new.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P7sRm3N5I8k/SK6p8Qzh41I/AAAAAAAAAMc/RqTQD4zcNOQ/s400/irony+meter.gif

 

[oggbashan]

Because the world will never be short of gullible idiots.

 

[Sean]

Please refer to the thoughts of one Phineas Taylor Barnum.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

SPAM and e-mail marketing is so cheap on a cost-per-impression basis (especially compared to direct mail printing and postage charges) that it doesn't have to work often in order to still work well.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Because the world will never be short of gullible idiots.

I cop to that. But there has to be enough of them to make spamming worthwhile, don't you think? What's the percentage?

Direct Mailing is cost effective if you get 2% response from your mailings. Email Spam must have a lower percentage because there's practically no overhead. Still -- can there be enough gullible idiots to make it worthwhile? I don't see it. I don't see that there are enough people still left in the world responding to spam that it makes it all worthwhile.

But we still have spam. Obvious, easy to spot, Spam.

I know there are a lot of gullible idiots in the world. I'm just saying that a huge portion of them have to be people who still think they're going to make money with Spam.

 

[John Doe]

I cop to that. But there has to be enough of them to make spamming worthwhile, don't you think? What's the percentage?

Direct Mailing is cost effective if you get 2% response from your mailings. Email Spam must have a lower percentage because there's practically no overhead. Still -- can there be enough gullible idiots to make it worthwhile? I don't see it. I don't see that there are enough people still left in the world responding to spam that it makes it all worthwhile.

But we still have spam. Obvious, easy to spot, Spam.

I know there are a lot of gullible idiots in the world. I'm just saying that a huge portion of them have to be people who still think they're going to make money with Spam.

Please refer to the thoughts of one Colonel Hogan.

 

[CHNOPS]

Please refer to the thoughts of one Colonel Hogan.

OK, since we're moving toward fact...

In a normal marketing endeavor, a return of somewhere between 2% and 5% reflects an effective campaign. That pays for the investment in advertising and more, and customarily feeds into future or continued sales to the same customer.

In a spam email campaign, a return of somewhere in the 10ths of a percent (sometimes hundredths) pays for the campaign, and no future sales are needed for that to hold. There are no postage costs, the tracking is automatic (which is why so many have subject lines with cleverly and not-so-cleverly integrated numbers or codes).

In the scam campaigns, the numbers are even more advantageous: a single dupe out of tens of millions is all that is needed to pay for the initial mailing.

The cost to send literally millions, sometimes tens of millions, of email messages in bulk is quite low--again 'literally' an order of hundredths of a percent of what a comparably viewed display ad might cost.

So spam works not because it "works" in the truest sense--most of us don't open it, and if we do, most of us don't bite--but rather because of how lop-sided the risk/return ratio is.

 

[Disgustipated]

^^^Immensely helps a spammer's risk/return ratio^^^

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Please refer to the thoughts of one Colonel Hogan.

Please refer to my post where I already said all that.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I would have bought the "it works because they only need one" answer ten years ago. Maybe even three. But it can't be all that true anymore.

The correct answer is that as people have become more savvy about Spam they've also become more lax with on line privacy. Spam works today because spammers have more information about you. Like any good marketing campaign they're more direct about what they're sending to who. That's why Spam works.

But you can continue astounding us with the knowledge that people are idiots.

 

[oggbashan]

...I know there are a lot of gullible idiots in the world. I'm just saying that a huge portion of them have to be people who still think they're going to make money with Spam.

My local computer shop deals with several people a week who have fallen for telephone calls from 'microsoft security' saying they have a problem with security and selling download software to 'solve the problem' - which of course is malware scanning for bank details.

The scammers get access to the punter's computer and sell 'security software' getting credit/debit card details.

Our local paper frequently reports local people who have fallen for the Nigerian scams, sometimes for tens of thousands of pounds. Those who are victims either don't read the local paper or think that they are cleverer than the scammers.

Even if the scammers have one in 100,000 hits, that's a lot of successes for them. Even the obvious - give us your bank details so we can access a closed bank account in Zimbabwe or Nigeria, or you have won a lottery you didn't enter - succeed sometimes because people are willing to accept something for nothing.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I reported it before: The US Government compiles information about everyone and sells the files to commerce, or anyone with the fee. Ten years ago it took about 15 minutes to locate anyone if you had a birthdate or social security number.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Every time I give people too much credit I just have to spend a day reading the comment sections on YouTube.

 

[CHNOPS]

I would have bought the "it works because they only need one" answer ten years ago. Maybe even three. But it can't be all that true anymore.

The correct answer is that as people have become more savvy about Spam they've also become more lax with on line privacy. Spam works today because spammers have more information about you. Like any good marketing campaign they're more direct about what they're sending to who. That's why Spam works.

But you can continue astounding us with the knowledge that people are idiots.

Incorrect.

You are guessing. I was not.

 

[IndieSnob]

Preservatives.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Incorrect.

You are guessing. I was not.

Incorrect.

I'm correct and you're not.

Now you say something.

 

[John Doe]

Please refer to my post where I already said all that.

No, you didn't.

 

[John Doe]

"...then I called him a stupid motherfucker and he shut up, so I figured I won."