Sending a service update - is it spam?

[Perfect Eye]

Hi All

We recently set up an online voting site where a customer would vote for their favourite tv show and leave an email address. (there was an opt-in if they would be happy to hear about future promotions).

As part of the vote, a prize was on offer. This prize has been upweighted and now there's a bigger prize being given away. We want to send everyone who has voted a service email (plain text) saying this has happened, for their information.

If there is no marketing message, or commercial slant, can we send this to everybody who's entered? Or would it be spam? I'm a little hazy on this, as I know other people who have sent service mails to people that are not neccessarily opted-in to hearing from you. There's a dramatic drop in data for those who've ticked in.

Any thoughts on this would be great.

[anish]

Most Probably People Regard Most of Business E-mail Sented to Them As Spams Only.

[Peter Bowen]

Send it - they have a legitimate expectation of hearing from you