3 CAN-SPAM Gotcha’s That Every Email Marketer Should Avoid

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The CAN-SPAM Act is a federal law that sets the rules for commercial email marketing. It establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

Even experienced email marketers can fall victim to CAN-SPAM violations. Here are three common CAN-SPAM gotchas to avoid:

1. Not having a clear unsubscribe link

Every commercial email must have a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe link. The link must be easy to find and use, and it must allow the recipient to unsubscribe from your list with a single click.

2. Not honoring unsubscribe requests within 10 business days

When a recipient clicks the unsubscribe link in your email, you must honor their request within 10 business days. This means that you must remove them from your list and stop sending them commercial emails.

3. Sending emails to addresses that you purchased or rented

It is illegal to send commercial emails to addresses that you purchased or rented from a third party. This is because the recipients of these emails have not given you permission to contact them.

If you are caught violating the CAN-SPAM Act, you could face serious penalties, including fines and even imprisonment. It is important to be familiar with the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act and to take steps to avoid violations.

Here are some tips for avoiding CAN-SPAM violations:

  • Only send commercial emails to people who have given you permission to contact them. You can obtain permission by having people sign up for your email list on your website or by collecting their contact information at events.
  • Make sure that your unsubscribe link is clear and conspicuous and that it allows recipients to unsubscribe with a single click.
  • Honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.
  • Do not send commercial emails to addresses that you purchased or rented from a third party.

By following these tips, you can avoid CAN-SPAM violations and keep your email marketing campaigns compliant with the law.

Here are some additional tips for avoiding CAN-SPAM violations:

  • Use accurate and truthful subject lines. Your subject lines should accurately reflect the content of your emails.
  • Avoid using deceptive or misleading language in your emails. This includes using false or misleading sender information, using all caps or excessive punctuation in your subject lines, and using deceptive or misleading content in your body copy.
  • Do not send emails to people who have not opted in to receive them. This includes sending emails to people who have unsubscribed from your list or who have never given you permission to contact them.
  • Monitor your email marketing campaigns carefully. Track your unsubscribe rates and bounce rates, and make sure that you are not sending emails to people who are not interested in receiving them.

By following these tips, you can help to ensure that your email marketing campaigns are compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act and that you are not sending emails to people who do not want to receive them.

What is the difference between POP and IMAP email?

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POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and was designed as a simple way to access a remote email server. The most recent version is POP 3, and is supported by virtually all email clients and servers.

POP works by downloading your emails from your provider's mail server, and then marking them for deletion there. This means you can only ever read those email messages in that email client, on that computer. You will not be able to access any previously downloaded emails from any other device, or with any other email client, or through webmail.

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, and was designed specifically to eliminate the limitations of POP.

IMAP allows you to access your emails from any client (Apple Mail, Outlook, etc.), and any device (mobile, tablet, desktop), and webmail login at any time, until you delete them. Your devices seem to “communicate” with each other and you are always seeing the same emails, no matter how you access your provider's server.

Since your email is stored on the provider's server and not locally, you may run into email storage limits, when using IMAP.