Commercial Email or SPAM?

A recent post by Andrea Coutu offers helpful tips on how to send email without really spamming. Sending commercial email is still a popular way to keep potential and current customers informed about your company. If you are thinking of sending this type of email, take these important things into consideration.

• • Use accurate header information that includes the originating domain name, email address and the person who sent the email.
  • Stick to truthful subject lines. You may not mislead the recipient about the contents or subject of the message.
  • Allow recipients to opt-out. You must provide a return email address or Internet-based response form that lets the recipient tell you not to send messages to them at that address. You must honour their request. You can give recipients a menu of choices, in case they wish to continue receiving some messages, but you must allow them to end all commercial messages.
  • Process opt-outs within 10 days. You must also be able to process opt-out requests for a 30-day period after you sent the commercial email.
  • End all commercial email. You may not help other entities send email to that address or have other parties send email on your behalf. You may not sell or transfer email addresses of people who have opted out — unless you’re doing it to help another party make sure they do not send email to people who have opted out. For example, if you teamed with Microsoft to do a joint promotion, you could give Microsoft your list of opted-out addresses, so that they can be purged from the mailing.
  • Identify your commercial email as an advertisement.
  • Include your valid physical postal address.

Under CAN-SPAM , you must follow these rules: