Making fun and sense out of CAN-SPAM

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 is a very important legal issue for all sending commercial e-mail (Yes, this means you to B-to-B). But even six years after it’s release, many remain a little cloudy. But each separate e-mail in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000!!

Your Current Subscribers—are they any good?

Did they specifically ask to be on your e-mail list? If anything other than Yes, don’t e-mail them.
What do you do with opt-outs? If not automated, they must be removed within a week of receiving the request. Period.
** Are they a customer / client of yours? That’s not good enough, don’t e-mail them either.

What are you doing to get new recipients?

Do you use a double opt-in process? If not, you should consider it. It’s best practice, easy to implement, and it makes for much more qualified / interested leads.

Always remember, an e-mail that is sent but never opened is a waste of time, energy, and resources, so why do it.

What do you need to do when sending e-mails?

Who does the email come from? Use a name and e-mail address your recipients expect and can trust. First names only are not a good idea.
** Have a valid reply-to e-mail address. There are many people out there who’d rather reply to your e-mail and complain. And it’s their right to do so.
Are you selling viagra? Don’t make your recipients guess. Tell them about your e-mail with an accurate subject line.
Don’t you hate not being able to find any physical address info about a company? Your recipients feel the same way. Always give them you physical address in every e-mail.

These tips can’t guarantee that you won’t ever have any CAN-SPAM issues, they should definitely help to prevent any from taking place.

These requirements are for commercial messages only (Again, B-to-B is also included in this!). Transactional or relationship messages are not required to follow these steps, but it’s good practice to keep these points in mind for any and all outbound messages.