Email marketing is a very effective way or reaching your target
market. It is less expensive than other types of marketing while
allowing your to reach large volumes of consumers. By 2008, it
is expected to be the most used method of advertising. Are you
aware of the various email marketing laws that are in effect
throughout the United States and other countries? It is
important that you take the time to educate yourself on this
topic before you procedure with an email marketing campaign. 36
of the 50 states have privacy laws in place regarding email
marketing tactics. There are also laws in Europe, Australia, and
Asia. It is a good idea to have an attorney who specializes in
these laws to assist you with your email marketing campaigns. If
you are a small business planning to go about it on your own, it
is very important that you are aware of how these laws affect
you.
The CAN-SPAM Act was implemented in the United States to protect
the privacy of consumers on January 1st of 2004. CAN-SPAM is
short for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography
and Marketing Act. The act prevents the use of misleading to and
from headers in the email. Marketers are required to include
their physical address in the email. There must be an opt out
link in every email that gives the consumer the ability to reach
the marketer and tell them they no longer want to receive
information from them. The sender of the email must work to
remove this email address from their data base within 10
business days. Any email that contains sexual content must be
clearly labeled and identified before the recipient opens it.
Marketers have to get permission from the consumer in order to
sell their email address.
Regulators of the internet are getting harder on marketers who
violate these laws. They are imposing huge fines. In some cases
the sender of these marketing emails can be sentenced to jail
for a maximum of five years. The harsher regulations are to
protect the users of the internet and email services who felt
their privacy was being violated as their email continued to be
bogged down with hundreds of solicitation emails that were
randomly sent without any target market in mind. As the use of
email marketing continues to grow, expect the regulations to be
further enforced.
In addition, businesses who continue to send such materials to
consumers who have requested to be removed from the data base
mailing list may decide to sue you and your company. As a
business owner, this can be scary. The law protects you as well
though. You will not be liable if a spammer has used your
business as a cover for their endeavors. You are also not liable
if a virus is found in your email marketing campaign as long as
you did not place it there or know it was in place prior to
sending out the emails.
The Coalition Against Unsolicited Emails is a non-profit
advocate organization to help consumers know their rights, to
stop unfair email marketing practices, and to provide businesses
with answers to their questions before they engage in such
activities. They also work closely with members of Congress to
get laws passed that will be in the best interest of both
consumers and businesses. Their website is a great place to get
information.
To Your Success,
Murray
P.S.
Email marketing is a great opportunity to keep your business in
the mind of consumers as well as encourage them to make new
purchases. It is important that you follow the laws and
regulations that have been put in place to protect consumers
from unfair email marketing practices. While most businesses do
all they can to follow these laws too many don’t. Others simply
aren’t educated in these laws so they break them without
intending to or realizing they have. The internet is a great
place to get additional information of fair email marketing
practices as well as the laws for each country. Keep a good eye
out for any changes in these laws. There are not any pending
issues in the legislation at this time.