It is easy and quick to start email marketing. Let’s say, you have everything to start an email marketing strategy, and engaging content, email subscribers, you have also mastered all the email marketing tools required, and now you are ready to communicate with your users.
Well, there is still one more thing that is very important for you to understand and be fully aware of it. That is email marketing laws. This article will help you understand all the laws so say far away from email compliance.
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What are the Laws around Email Marketing?
For commercial purposes, there are many different types of laws that control the use of email marketing. In the US it is the CAN-SPAM act, in Canada, it’s CASL laws, and a set of laws known as the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations of 2003 in the UK. The above-stated laws mandate all email marketers to follow to avoid any significant changes.
These laws are majorly created to target spammers and to prevent a business from using email addresses without the audience’s permission. There are still a few gradations in these laws that can be accidentally violated even if you do not intend to. This is the reason why an understanding of these laws and how they work is very important.
The following is the list of the things that you need to ensure you follow while designing your email marketing campaigns.
Ensure you have Permission to Email the People on your List
Yes, that is right. Even though you have the email address of someone, you are still required to ask them if they would like to receive emails. Just because someone filled a survey or a form, does not give you the right to start sending emails directly.
However, the definition of permissions differs from country to country. There are two types of permissions; implied permission and express permission.
Implied permission is for the existing business relationship. This typically means that a person has given you their email address but has not specifically mentioned that they would like to receive emails.
An example of implied permission is when a person fills a survey form or a contact form.
Express permission is exactly the opposite of implied permission. This means that the person who has given you their email address also has given you permission to send marketing emails.
An example of express permission is when a person enters their email address in a newsletter or a subscription form.
Don’t use Misleading Header Information
“Header information” is the extra information that is sent with your email marketing campaign. The header information includes the subject line, reply-to address, and the “from” name. The email marketing laws specify that you must not include any misleading information or incorrect details in any of the fields.
Identify your Email as an Advertisement
The laws in some countries mandate you to clearly mention that your email is an advertisement. However, this law has given more liberty. for example, you are not required to specifically mention “This email is an advertisement” in your email. However, you need to convey that in strategically written content.
Include your Address
Laws in most countries stipulate you add a valid postal address in your email campaigns. If you do not have a valid postal address, you can add your current street address, a post box address, or a registered commercial mail-receiving address.
Campaign Monitor has a feature that lets you add addresses to your emails. They have various email template libraries to choose from.
Honor Opt-out Requests Promptly
The CAN-SPAM laws specify you honor opt-out requests within 10 business days. Moreover, you cannot charge any fees to opt-out requests, ask your recipient about their personal details other than an email address, make them visit a single page on an internet website to opt-out, or make them send a reply email.
Other things Email Marketers need to Know
If you follow the above-mentioned tips, you can ensure that your emails are compliant with anti-spam laws globally. However, there are still a few technicalities that should not be overlooked. Let’s discuss them:
- You are responsible even if the campaigns are not sent by you:- You are required to follow all the laws even though you are outsourcing your email marketing strategy to a third party.
- Email Laws are more liberal for transactional emails:- Most of the laws are created to guide the commercial email marketing messages and they mostly apply to market announcements, promotional campaigns, or newsletters. Transactional emails include payment confirmations, password resets, shipping confirmations, etc. These laws are exempted from transactional emails as they are sent to existing membership or purchase.
Conclusion
As cyberspace is ever-changing, it is necessary to create specific and strict laws to respect the user’s privacy on sensitive information. You need to also identify what is considered sensitive and personal information.
The GDPR website states it could be anything from photos, names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. These laws are similar to email spam laws Understanding the email marketing laws will help online businesses to ensure that their practices are compliant with the law.
So, before you start your email marketing campaigns, try to understand the laws surrounding email marketing.
- Be aware of anti-spam measures
- Research about the laws, regulations, and GDPR
- Ask for your subscriber’s permission if you are not sure.
Let the industry experts help you with helping you understand more about email marketing laws and how to comply with them.
Our team is experienced in growing online business by driving more traffic and generate leads by following every rule and regulation.
Contact us to know more.