You might never have heard of CAN-SPAM, but it could still have a serious impact on your business. CAN-SPAM is the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, and it was passed in Congress for the purpose of regulating commercial email. In effect, the law considers any kind of email or newsletter your business sends out to be commercial in nature, and if the recipient has not agreed to receive such materials, it’s considered to be spam.
Violations of CAN-SPAM
You might not think it’s a big deal, but if your business is found to have violated the CAN-SPAM act, it can actually cause you to go bankrupt. Every single email you send out which is found to be in violation of the act can result in severe monetary penalties. In fact, every email which is found to be in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to a maximum fine of more than $40,000, and any number of people in your organization can be considered to be violators in this scenario.
Avoiding CAN-SPAM violations
As severe as the penalties can be for noncompliance with CAN-SPAM, it’s just that easy to avoid violations as well, so you would be well advised to take these few simple steps to remain in compliance. First of all, provide your recipients with an unsubscribe option, so they’ll always have the possibility of terminating further emails. You should also make sure to avoid sending emails to any individuals who have declared in the past that they don’t wish to receive such emails.
Whenever a recipient does opt for the unsubscribe procedure, take careful note of this, and do not attempt to resubscribe them. Any emails that are sent out should have an accurate subject heading in them, which cannot be considered misleading or in some way false. You are also required to include a physical address where you can be reached, because that provides recipients with the possibility of contacting you with any feedback they may have.
Your ongoing CAN-SPAM approach
As you can see from the above, staying compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act is an absolute necessity for any commercial enterprise. Should you stray from this policy, it will at the very least, be damaging to your company’s reputation, and any damage done could go way beyond that. By taking a few simple steps before emailing your target audience, you should be able to stay in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, and still get your message out to those whom you intend.
