In a lot of ways, the internet is like the wild west, a vast expanse of unclaimed territory where pretty much anything goes. Legislatures from all over the world continue to try to put rules in place preventing people from taking advantage of others in this untamed land of opportunity. One of these laws is something every small business needs to pay attention to and is the topic for today’s #WhatIsWednesday.
CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) is an act that was passed in 2003. Yes, email marketing is looped in with the pornographers, but the rules are the same. For every single email that violates this law, you could be fined $300!
Here is a quick run through on the law but you can go and check out the details at the FTC’s website.
DO
1. Include your physical postal address in every email you send out.
2. Every email should include an obvious way of opting out.
3. Use clear “From,” “To” and “Reply To” addresses that accurately reflects who you are.
4. Only send to people that have told you they “WANT” to hear from you.
DON’T
1. Don’t buy or sell email addresses.
2. Don’t make it hard to un-subscribe like charging a fee or making the user take extensive steps.
3. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
Frankly, these laws are for your own good. If you aren’t following the rules above, your customers will stop buying your products (and be really irritated). So remember, while you’re staking your claim in this frontier known as the internet, there are laws, and not doing your e-mail marketing correctly will get you strung up faster then a cattle rustler.
