Spam, Part II: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Last Thursday I opined on the question “What is spam?” I said I would blog this week about the CAN-SPAM Act (what you don’t know can hurt you). The fact is, no matter who you are or what you do, if you ever send e-mail to prospective clients (leads) you should be on the up-and-up regarding spam.

Passed in 2003, the CAN-SPAM Act (formally Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003) sets guidelines for e-mail marketing. If you don’t obey the law, you could get into legal trouble or (perhaps even worse) get your name, address, and/or website domain (yourwebsite.com) blocked completely by the major Internet service providers (which largely control the flow of e-mail).

According to the Act, the following is required:

• The inclusion of a legitimate return e-mail and physical postal address for the sender.
• The inclusion of a functioning opt-out mechanism, which must remain active for a minimum of 30 days after sending the e-mails, with clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity to opt-out.
• Senders must honor any such opt-out request within 10 days of the request.
• Clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation in the subject line or content of the e-mail.
• Messages with sexually oriented material to be so clearly identified, and at least “one click away” from the main e-mail.

The Act prohibits the following:

• Senders are prohibited from falsifying or disguising their true identity, such as using a misleading “from” address.
• The use of misleading subject lines that mask the true purpose of the e-mail.
• The harvesting of e-mail addresses by either (1) automatic means from an Internet Web site or proprietary online service maintained by a third party that bans this practice; or (2) an automated system that generates possible electronic addresses by combining names, letters and numbers in numerous permutations.
• Knowingly sending false or misleading information.

While the Act does not require you to have your recipients opt in to e-mail communications (it does require you to allow recipients to opt out) opt-in has become a best practice, and is required by many Internet service providers. To keep yourself in the clear, don’t e-mail anyone unless you have a direct relationship with them and/or they have opted-in (on your website, for example) to communications from you.

Beyond opt in, the “gold standard” in e-mail marketing is called double opt in. It works like this: A visitor to your website signs up on the site in order to download one of your free reports. As part of the sign-up process, you require the visitor to check a box saying “I would like to receive e-mail communications from Castelazo Marketing Ltd.” That’s the opt in. Then you send an e-mail to that person asking him to click on a link to confirm that they would like to receive further e-mail communications from you. That’s the double opt in.

While double opt in is certainly not required, it’s a good idea. After all, if your contacts don’t really want to be receiving e-mails from you (if, in other words, they would click “no” to your opt in request) then they’re not strong prospects – and they probably wouldn’t read your e-mails anyway.

E-mail marketing – sending a regular e-mail newsletter to your list of contacts, for example, can be a valuable tool in your marketing toolbox. As long as you obey industry best practices, you’ll be in the clear of CAN-SPAM. But remember that even if you obey all of the industry best practices, you will still receive occasional spam complaints. While spam complaints can feel bad, as long as the number of complaints you receive are within industry norms, you’ll be okay.

Molly Castelazo

Castelazo Marketing Ltd.

August 4, 2009

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molly@cmrealestatemarketing.com

480-987-7958

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