You Can Spam, but Can-Spam will Cost You

As your BDaaS partner Outbound/IN will keep you compliant so that your email is effective and compliant with the Can-Spam Act. Why should you care? For starters you don't want to be a pesky irritant to potential customers. But if that doesn't bother you, perhaps the fact that each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $50,120, so non-compliance can be costly.

Lauren Thompson, Chief Legal Officer for Outbound/IN reviewed the law and said, "CAN-SPAM isn't complicated and compliance is fairly simple." Campaigns can be executed within requirements of the law with confidence using the UNICORN formula explained as follows:

Unpack the header information and don’t use false or misleading information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – must be accurate and identify the person or business who sent the email.

Never use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.

Identify the message as an ad. The law grants a fair amount of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.

Clearly communicate your location. You have to disclose a valid physical postal address.--your current street address, a post office box registered with the USPS, or a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under USPS regulations.

Opt out option. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email. Provide a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. It must be easy to recognize, read, and understand. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.

Remember to honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days.

Never assume because you didn't send it that you're not responsible. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Thompson explains, "Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible. The law is straight forward - if you are sending commercial email you must comply."

As your BDaaS partner we take extra care in making sure that we comply so that you do too. If you would like to review the law in its entirety, please refer to official website of the Federal Trade Commission, ftc.gov.