When it comes to planning and executing an email marketing strategy or campaign, it’s simple to get ahead of the game.
Is Your Email Marketing Campaign CAN-SPAM Compliant?
Newcomers to the sector may be surprised by the amount of effort required to run a successful email newsletter campaign. Finally, because they were not in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, which is a fundamental regulation of email marketing, the quick answer some marketers choose ends up being an expressway to the SPAM folder. We’ll go over what it means to comply with the CAN-SPAM statute and how you can better follow its guidelines in this article.
What is the CAN-SPAM Act?
In a nutshell, the CAN-SPAM Act was enacted in 2003 and is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect consumers from businesses and brands sending them unwanted emails. Following the act’s provisions is simple – the FTC even provides a seven-step guide and checklist to guarantee that your email marketing campaign is CAN-SPAM compliant. However, infractions of this statute can result in heavy fines of up to $40,000 (and that’s just for each infringement).
Seven Rules of the CAN-SPAM Act
The following are the seven rules established by the FTC:
- Do not utilise header information that is inaccurate or deceptive.
- Do not use subject lines that are deceitful.
- Recognize the message as an advertisement.
- Inform receivers of your location.
- Instruct recipients on how to unsubscribe from future emails from you.
- Opt-out requests should be honoured as soon as possible.
- Keep an eye on what people are doing in your name.
Isn’t that simple? The majority of infractions are caused by just not being honest with the persons to whom you are sending emails – even if this is inadvertent. Consider the typical email inbox, which contains hundreds (if not thousands) of messages. Keeping up with unwanted, unsolicited emails attempting to get you to buy anything can be difficult. If you’re not careful, your emails will most likely be marked as spam, which could be terrible news for you or the client you’re marketing for. If you receive enough spam complaints, you may be temporarily or permanently barred from sending any further emails, and if the FTC gets involved, you may be forced to pay hefty fines.
Mistakes to avoid in Email Marketing
When it comes to marketing, the desire to seek immediate gratification might be attractive. Sending emails to people who have not opted in to receive them is one of the most common examples of this in email marketing. Purchasing email address lists is never a good idea and will almost always result in a spam report. To enhance engagement and develop a trusting audience, you must ensure that your customers explicitly desire to receive your emails. These two elements are essential for a successful email marketing strategy.
When it comes to email marketing, they say honesty is the best policy for a reason, and this is especially true. Honesty will go a long way with your customers, as they will almost certainly reciprocate in some way – whether it’s a click, a conversion, or simply not classifying your email as spam. You can always fall back on obeying the rules and being honest with everything else that goes into email marketing – from copywriting to graphic design – to at least ensure that your message is received positively.