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Sending Email: are you breaking the law?
What is the Australia SPAM Act?Every single email that is sent must adhere the Australian SPAM Act.
It isn’t just a good idea, it is the law!
Being a spammer will;• ruin your sender reputation, • can cause you to incur fines, • and can close down your email account.
Also, you’ll likely have your emails re-routed to the Junk Folder and as a result, could cost you thousands in potential sales.
Most people are breaking the law without even realising. Being a spammer isn’t about the number of emails you are sending. It is about the implied agreement between you and the recipient and whether you are deemed to be honouring that agreement.
I’ve broken down the key points and simplified the SPAM Act on the next three pages.
Are you emailing to a personal address or a business address?
Emailing to a personal address has stricter rules.
What if you are emailing a consumer?If you are emailing to a consumer, then this person must give you their express consent to receive your email or newsletter.
This could be:
Tick a box on a physical or web form
Enter their email address on your website
Enter their email address on a phone or tablet app.
What is not expressed consent?
If they contact you with an enquiry, this is not express consent. They have not expressly indicated they want to receive your newsletters.
Emailing to a business address is a little easier…but be careful.
What if you are emailing a business?If the email is going to a business address, you have more flexibility. The recipient does not have to give their express consent.
Their email address must be published in a conspicuous location, e.g. in the yellow pages, on the company brochure, on the company website.
The public nature of their email address implies inferred consent.
What if you are emailing a business?The email you send must be related to their role in the business
The public nature of their email address implies inferred consent, and you are withinthe law to email them as long as what you offer is relevant to their role within their business.
For example: if you offer printing services, you may ‘legally’ emailing [email protected] but be considered a spammer if you emailed [email protected]. The role of the recipient is the key.
Two more important must-haves!
You must allow an easy ‘unsubscribe’You must have an obvious and easy way to allow the recipient to unsubscribe from your list.
And if they do unsubscribe, you must do that within 5 days of their request.
If you use an email service providers like Aweber, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Get Response and so forth, then this will be automatically included on each and every email template.
However, if you are using Outlook or Gmail or your own email system, then you must tell the recipient how to unsubscribe easily.
If you don’t, you are breaking the law.
Your business details must be listedYour business details must be included within each email.
This should include:
the legal name of the organisation
how someone can contact you
If these details aren’t available, you are breaking the law.
Four ways to de-spam your emails
#1: Sound like a real personEver seen those ‘[email protected]’?
Usually they come from your phone company, and invariably they have an invoice attached.
Use:
1. your business email address
2. add your name to it so that it feels like a personal email.
E.g. [email protected] is better than [email protected] isn’t it?
Be careful.
Do not use your Hotmail or Yahoo or Gmail account when sending emails. This is what spammers do.
#2: Use a double opt inWhen people subscribe to your newsletter, you can choose whether to add them onto the newsletter immediately, or require them to confirm their subscription.
This extra step – a double opt in – is an option you can switch on in your email service provider settings.
Many businesses prefer not to use a double opt in, as it can be a little frustrating for the new subscriber.
However, it appears that when you get the double opt ins, you have a slight reduction is the likelihood of being marked a spammer in the future.
#3: Welcome and build rapportWhen a new subscriber joins your email list, build rapport with them before you start selling to them.
The quicker that rapport is built, the less likely they’ll mark you as a spammer.
Instead of waiting until the next newsletter is sent out, create an auto-responder sequence of emails designed to share a little of who you are, and start building that rapport and engagement.
You’ll want to have at least 3 emails and often we recommend up to 6 emails in this sequence. These are triggered immediately the person subscribes to the newsletter.
All email service providers have this capability. It is also known as a follow-up sequence.
#4: Clean your list regularlyCleaning your list on a regular basis is critical to ensure you don’t end up in the spam trap.
If you send out an email that has a high bounce rate, this sends a warning flag to the recipient’s ISP (internet service provider) and they may block your email or send you to the Junk folder.
There are two types of bounces; soft and hard.
A soft bounce is when the email can’t be delivered due to a temporary issue, like a full inbox.
A hard bounce occurs when the email can’t be delivered due to a permanent issue such as a closed account.
Remove any email addresses that flagged as hard bounces – you’ll be able to locate these in a listing provided by your email service provider.
What should you do if you are blacklisted?
What if I’m blacklisted?You can check the status of your website, and see if you have been blacklisted, at http://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx
This is a handy place to check on a regular basis. If you have been blacklisted, follow through the steps to see if you can remove the listing. Also, go back to your email service provider and inform them, and see if they will also work on your behalf.
Hi, I’m Jenny Spring from Spring into Sales
I’m the only Australian to be awarded the Top 10% in the world for email excellence out of 500,000 businesses … twice.
I’ve used email extensively since 2005 in my e-commerce business to grow regular and repeat sales. Note: I’ve sold that business.
I’m a published Amazon author with two books on email
I’ve been a guest speaker for Constant Contact, and hold Expert Status at Flying Solo, Mailchimp, Digital Marketer Engage.
I provide Done-For-You Email services for regular newsletters, write cold emails and auto-responders sequences to nurture prospects.
Contact details: [email protected]/www.springintosales.com
