What is CAN-SPAM? Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. This law lays out the rules for the sending of “commercial email messages”, the ability for those individuals receiving messages to stop them and the consequences to those that violate the law.
Did you know that the Federal Trade Commission can fine you up to $16,000.00 per every individual email that is not compliant with CAN-SPAM laws?
What makes an email message compliant?
- An obvious way to unsubscribe on every email message, don’t make recipients search for a way to stop getting emails from you or require any information other than their email address in order to remove them.
- A valid physical address on every email message.
- A valid domain based “From” email address and name. Emails from @yahoo or @gmail should not be used to send emails for marketing purposes.
- A subject line that is relevant to the content in the email.
- A header in the email that matches the content in the email.
- Email addresses were not obtained in any other way then directly from the owner, preferably with permission. This means stay away from marketing to purchased lists.
Whatever email delivery system you’re using for your marketing from Mailchimp to Infusionsoft should allow for you to set up your emails to maintain compliance of CAN-SPAM laws. Systems like Infusionsoft have Acceptable Use Policies so be sure to read those and any Terms of Service to be certain that you understand what they define as spam and/or compliant.
Lastly, there’s much debate over single opt in and double opt in requirements when adding new contacts to your list. We explain to all of our clients that using a double opt is the right option always because it protects them and the integrity of their list.