Email marketing has an incredibly high return on investment compared to other marketing strategies. Subscribers are already interested in your business which makes it easier to convert them into first-time and repeat customers. However, it’s important to understand the regulations surrounding email marketing before getting started.
I want to be clear from the beginning that I am not a lawyer, and I am not giving out legal advice. I’m just trying to condense the legalese of email marketing laws in the US into a version that you can more easily understand.
Now that we gotten that cleared up, let’s get to work. In the US, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (or the CAN-SPAM Act) regulates commercial email (and text messaging, but that’s for another post). The major points included in the CAN-SPAM Act are:
- You must provide a clear way for recipients to opt out of future emails and promptly honor those requests.
- Your email subject line needs to reflect the email content and not contain false or misleading information.
- You must include a valid physical postal address for your business.
- Your emails must be clearly identified as advertisements.
Most email marketing platforms and customer relationship management systems will help guide you through keeping your emails compliant, but it’s important to have a general overview of what the regulations are. If you are interested in learning more about the laws and regulations in other countries, check out this article.
I know there is a lot to digest here. However, once you’re comfortable with the regulations for emails, you can begin to strategize your email marketing campaigns. Having a clear strategy (and maybe even a calendar) will help you create the most effective emails.
All the best,
Ryanne Zender
Disclaimer: While marketing is based in part on statistics and psychology, it is not an exact science. Every business and market are unique. What may work for one business, will not necessarily work for another. There are no guarantees in marketing, and this post is for informational and educational purposes only and does not replace professional advice. You can check out the full list of disclaimers and disclosures here.
