Spam, by definition is: "an unsolicited, often commercial, message transmitted through the Internet as a mass mailing to a large number of recipients".
The key word here being unsolicited; spam is the internet equivalent of flyering a street with leaflets, sending letters to every address in an area addressed something like "dear resident" - basically contacting anyone who hasn't given you their express permission to do so.
Spamming is generally adopted by people marketing less reputable types of products - such as those selling adult pharmaceuticals, augmentation-related surgery, potions and pills - who see marketing as "a numbers game" and simply by sending their unsolicited emails to enough people, however irrelevant or offensive, they aim to achieve their goal.
If like most reputable firms, you don't want to associate your brand or business with this sort of approach (or get a court summons), then make sure that you are always communicating legitimate subscribers, and not illegally harvested data.
To sum up: Spamming doesn't work. It ruins your reputation. It alienates your customers. Why bother?
On the other hand, sending solicited email (when someone who has given you their permission to contact them) is one of the single most cost and time effective marketing methods there is!
So how does someone give you permission? Usually it will be when they sign-up to a website to make a purchase or register for some reason. There is normally a tick box where they either agree or disagree to receive email marketing from you. Other methods are having a newsletter sign-up box on your home page or in your navigation pane.
In these instances, the customer has given you their permission to contact them, but you should never abuse it. Put yourself in the shoes of the recipient: Imagine you make an online purchase where you tick "please don't email me about products or services), and then five minutes later you receive an email doing exactly that - You'd probably not choose that site again for your next purchase. Conversely, imagine you did want to be contacted by them, and then immediately after your purchase an email arrives giving you 50% off an accessory for your purchased item - you'd be tempted to go and buy it. What a difference it makes!
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