Tag Archive for 'can-spam'

This post is part of a series of guest posts authored by popular bloggers and internet business consultants. Today's guest post is written by Daniela Baker, who helps entrepreneurs at CreditDonkey with evaluating the best credit card for small business.

How to Keep Your Email Campaign Out of the Spam Folder

Published on June 17, 2011 in Best Practices and Guest Post. 0 Comments Tags: can-spam, email campagin, email list, spam.

The spam folder—every email marketer’s worst nightmare. Once your emails are flagged as spam, your campaign metrics plummet, going from a potential success to an email flop. Thankfully, there are some tactics you can employ to help ensure your emails stay in your recipients’ inbox instead of their spam folder.

Here are the tips you can follow to keep your email campaign out of the spam folder.

Follow the CAN-SPAM Act

Whether or not your emails are getting sent to the spam folder, it’s important that you follow the CAN-SPAM Act. It’s a federal mandate that email marketers must follow. Included in the act are the following points, as outlined by the Federal Trade Commission:

Don’t be misleading or use false information in the header (“To” and “From” fields)
Skip the deceptive subject lines
Clearly identify the email as an advertisement
Include your business mailing address (this can include a P.O. Box)
Include opt-out instructions for future e-mails
Follow-up on opt-out requests in a timely manner; opt-outs must be processed within 10 business days

Also, it is important to note that you’re responsible for all email marketing efforts completed for your business. This includes email marketing that you pay another firm to complete for your company. This makes it important for you to do your due diligence and monitor any efforts that are being completed on your behalf.

Continue reading ‘How to Keep Your Email Campaign Out of the Spam Folder’

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Making The Unsubscribe Process As Simple As Possible

Published on March 3, 2010 in Sendblaster and Tips & tricks. 2 Comments Tags: can-spam, Sendblaster, unsubscribe link.

A clear and reliable unsubscribe process is key for maintaining your reputation among your subscribers (and ISPs) and for increasing conversion rates.
If people want to leave your list make it easy on them!
In the new version of SendBlaster you can place the unsubscribe link with one single click by pressing the Insert unsubscription link button in the Compose message panel.

SendBlaster will automatically generate your personalized HTML code. You will only have to specify the text your recipients will click on (e.g. Remove me from this list):

<a href=”mailto:#managingemail# ?Subject=Unsubscribe”>Remove me from this list</a>

SendBlaster is able to manage distribution lists by downloading email messages from a dedicated e-mail address (that can also be different for each list). This means that each email with subject “Unsubscribe”, received by the List Managing Email Address, will be automatically removed from your mailing list.

Please keep in mind that working unsubscribe links are required by The Federal CAN-SPAM Law, enacted in 2003:

“an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender “

In particular the CAN-SPAM policies require:

A visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism is present in all emails
Consumer opt-out requests are honored within 10 days

Also, never hide deliberately the unsubscribe istructions or making them complex. If your readers keep getting unwanted emails, they will be annoyed with your company and, because of this, they will be encouraged to report you as spam, even if you are still sending your emails legally. Much better to make them leave!

Opt-in or Double Opt-in: What’s The Better Choice?

Published on November 30, 2009 in General and Tips & tricks. 0 Comments Tags: can-spam, double opt-in, email harvesting, opt-in, permission.

opt-in and double opt-in The most important element of creating effective email marketing campaigns derives from your subscribers list.
Its size is certainly a contributing factor to your campaign’s chances of success. During the past years, a number of practices, often illegal, such as “email harvesting”, were born on purpose to collect as many addresses as possible.
These days, thanks to legal measures brought into effect across the world in view of removing the incentives associated with these illegal practices, attention is now focused on the lists’ quality level. Permission and respect of privacy have become strategic keywords for all businesses seeking to employ email marketing in a legal manner. No email marketing campaign can expect to succeed without maintaining respect of these key “pillars”. It should not be forgotten that in the United States, the CAN-SPAM law, which came into effect in 2003, among other things prohibits the use of harvesting methods to collect email addresses and demands that certain elements should be included in all commercial emails: unsubscribe link, physical address, clear subject, etc. As far as Europe is concerned, businesses must refer to the EU Opt-In Directive, which came into effect in 2002 and establishes certain directives, which member countries are required to follow.