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The information provided here is intended to be educational and should not be construed as legal advice. Please consider professional counsel on how to ensure that you are compliant with data protection regulations.
With big tech corporations selling user data to marketers, data privacy laws were created to protect the average consumer.
These laws set the rules and requirements for tech companies and marketers to follow, otherwise they risk being fined, sued, or restricted from their platforms.
One of the most well-known data privacy laws is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is effective in countries of the European Union.
What Are Email Regulations?
Some data privacy laws include requirements for email, while some countries created laws specifically for email.
Email marketers collectively refer to these as email regulations, email compliance laws, or anti-spam laws.
When marketers send emails to recipients, they need to ensure that their email contents follow the anti-spam laws of each recipient’s country.
For example
If you’re sending an email to a list that contains subscribers from the United States, Canada and Australia, then your emails must meet all the requirements listed in the CAN-SPAM act, the CASL, and all Australian anti-spam laws, otherwise you risk being fined, sued or even removed from your email marketing platform.
Why Do Email Regulations Exist?
Spam was a much bigger problem before data privacy laws and email regulations existed.
There used to be no rules for sending emails; you could receive an email from anyone with any sort of email contents (like NSFW content, viruses, chain mail), and you couldn’t do anything about it.
By setting boundaries and punishing spammers, email regulations gave power back to the average consumer.
Under anti-spam laws:
- companies must now ask website visitors for their consent before they can add them to their email marketing lists
- emails must contain opt-out language, giving consumers the option to stop receiving all future emails
- emails that don’t follow the rules can be reported, and the spammers behind bad emails will face penalties
Key Regulations To Consider
Here are some email regulations to consider when email marketing, and the countries or regions they govern:
- CAN-SPAM
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing
United States of America
Read more about CAN-SPAM - CASL
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation
Canada - GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation
All countries within the European Union
- CCPA
California Consumer Privacy Act
State of California - Florida Mini-TCPA
Mini-Telephone Consumer Protection Act
State of Florida - Australian Anti-Spam Laws
Spam Act 2003 and Spam Regulations 2021
All countries within Australia
Best Practices For Email
Each individual law has a hefty list of requirements; it’s challenging to read through and remember them all.
Imagine having a global audience: emails sent to large groups will have to follow several anti-spam laws at the same time!
Thankfully email marketers have adapted a set of best practices to easily navigate these regulations. Email marketing platforms also have some built-in features to help marketers with compliance.
1. Collect Consent
Your sign-up forms should give your viewers clear information about what they’re signing up for.
As a bonus, you should give your subscribers options for what kind of emails they want to receive from you such blog posts, sales/promos, or brand updates
This should be considered for any sign-up form on your website, including:
- pop-ups
- embedded forms
- landing pages
Email marketing platforms like MailerLite can add extra options for consent.
2. Use Opt-Out Language
Your emails should provide an option for people to unsubscribe or adjust their email preferences; this is often written in the footer of many marketing emails.
Most email marketing platforms check for this in your emails, and others can automatically add a default opt-out line if none is provided.
3. Include Your Business Address
Your emails should include your business address, which is often included with the opt-out language in the email footer.
Some email marketing platforms automatically check for this in your emails, and would even prevent you from sending the email until you’ve added your information.
4. Write Clear Header Information
The email should clearly state that it’s from an organization, or a person from that organization; for example:
Subject: Thanks for signing up!
From: Cam, from Lo & Co. Marketing
The subject line and preview text of the email should also be consistent with its contents, and not intentionally misleading.
Using a misleading subject line to get more email opens is frowned upon. Although you may not get into legal trouble, you will likely lose subscribers instead.
Conclusion
Overall, navigating email regulations isn’t too difficult, but it’s a huge responsibility.
That’s why marketing agencies trust our white label email marketing services, which comes with built-in data privacy compliance.
This way, they can focus on building client relationships while we do all the technical work.
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