Most companies understand that email compliance should be important to their marketing strategy. However, the reasons for this often extend far beyond simply “following the rules” when sending marketing messages.
Proper email compliance has other advantages, especially when preserving your brand’s reputation among customers. In this blog, we’ll discuss the concept of compliance in email marketing, the risks of non-compliance, and how to help ensure compliance in the future.
Understanding Email Compliance
To understand the basic tenets of email compliance, one must be familiar with the CAN-SPAM Act. The “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003,” otherwise known as CAN-SPAM, was introduced to give marketers a set of easily understandable guidelines for sending compliant emails.
At the time of its introduction, CAN-SPAM was a landmark regulation designed to help combat the ever-increasing number of spam emails in our expanding digital world. It continues to have a lasting impact today, paving the way for enacting other privacy regulations, such as GDPR, CCPA, and more.
Essentially, CAN-SPAM lays a framework for all marketers to follow that allows them to send compliant mail. This framework consists of guidelines that range from avoiding deceptive content in the subject line to specifying how long an advertiser has to honor a recipient's opt-out request.
When it comes to sending compliant emails, CAN-SPAM has established itself as the “law of the land” in the United States and should always be adhered to.
Who Does CAN-SPAM Apply To?
In short—CAN-SPAM applies to everyone, even organizations who employ partners to send out marketing emails for them.
This tactic is common among many companies. Most will utilize a partner’s expertise and contact database to send bulk emails. But just because a company uses a partner does not absolve it of any responsibility regarding compliance.
In fact, the company that employs the affiliate is still responsible for ensuring that anything utilizing its brand complies with the law.
This means that even though the company is not sending the email themselves, they are still legally responsible for any compliance violations that may occur.
The Risks of Non-Compliance
If an organization fails to comply with CAN-SPAM, it may face potential repercussions and consequences that could be detrimental to the business.
Legal Consequences
Email non-compliance can lead to steep monetary penalties for any offending organization.
According to the FTC, “Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $51,744.”
If an organization sends multiple emails in violation to a large list of recipients, the monetary fine could quickly add up to a large amount, potentially adding a sizable financial impact to the company.
It’s important to consider that this isn’t just for bulk marketing emails. CAN-SPAM applies to all commercial messages a business sends, even to other organizations, so checking for compliance on every message a company sends is imperative.
Brand Damage
Organizations that fail to adhere to email compliance measures also risk suffering brand damage that could follow a legal event. A negative portrayal in the news could create a perception that a company is dubious or doesn’t respect its consumers. This could lead to reputational damage that could harm business in the long run.
Companies should remain aware of the potential brand damage they could incur if penalized for non-compliant emails.
Customer Trust
With consumers in mind, CAN-SPAM and other compliance measures were created to improve their emailing experience. If an organization blatantly disregards the guidelines and instead chooses to spam their lists with a barrage of non-compliant emails, they risk losing and eroding that customer’s trust.
After all, why would someone want to conduct business with an organization that does not seem to respect them or their time?
Companies should expect side effects like high unsubscribe rates and lower engagement metrics with their emails.
Losing customer trust due to non-compliance can have a downstream ripple effect on future repeat sales for an organization, especially if they are in the eCommerce space or another highly competitive environment.
How to Ensure Compliance
For organizations that want to ensure CAN-SPAM compliance, resources are available to aid in that goal.
Utilizing something as simple as a CAN-SPAM compliance checklist can go a long way toward sending compliant mail. Companies should also take the time to train their employees on the importance of adhering to compliance measures like CAN-SPAM and give them the guidance and tools they need to do so.
For companies that outsource their email marketing to an affiliate or partner, using a tool like ComplianceMonitor can help provide the crucial visibility needed to see what partners are sending on your behalf and receive proactive alerting on potential compliance issues.
That way, your organization can be protected from CAN-SPAM non-compliance and help significantly reduce the risk of impacted brand reputations and customer trust from an enforcement event.
