Overcoming Email Marketing Legal Issues

Nov 11
09:41

2010

Scott Bradley

Scott Bradley

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There are certain legal issues connected with Email marketing that prevents it from being used in an extensive manner. The data protection act plays a...

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There are certain legal issues connected with Email marketing that prevents it from being used in an extensive manner. The data protection act plays a big role in making sure that you manage your subscriber list in a proper manner. There is a need to comply with the law and ensure that you do not continuously send mails to people who are not interested in your product or services.

When you send emails to your subscribers make it a point to avoid revealing recipient’s details within the mail. Create the mail group so that it can send a blind carbon copy to each of the members in the subscribers list. While sending out the email marketing mail,Overcoming Email Marketing Legal Issues Articles it is important to avoid revealing your own personal identity. Certain e-commerce regulations are also in place whereby these email marketing mails need to include information related to the business including full name and contact details.

If you are offering products and services that can be purchased then the price has to be included in the mail. It is also mandatory to have a link that allows subscribers to opt out from the mailing list in case they are not interested in receiving mails from you. Another important thing is that you cannot send unsolicited marketing messages unless there is prior consent from the subscriber.

All these measures have been taken for protecting the interest of the consumers. There will be no exemption if the address was collected during sale or other events. Consent of the consumer is important to avoid legal hassles in the future. When we talk about individual subscribers then make sure to avoid including companies or individuals within these companies. 

The e-commerce regulations have been specifically put in place so that there is differentiation between commercial mails and other mails being sent out through the email medium. The most important thing that leads to legal issues has been the unavailability of unsubscribe mechanism that allows people to ‘opt-out’ for getting hold of further email marketing content through their mail.

There is a need to make sure that email marketing does not turn into spamming. Spam mails are basically unsolicited commercial email that is sent to individuals without their consent. Unrequested messages are considered as spam mails. Therefore, to avoid legal issues make sure not to send them at all. The only exception can be when you have a long-standing business relationship with them.

In case the customer keeps purchasing a lot of things from you then it can be a possibility that you send out mails to inform them about new products in a similar category of purchased products. It is also important to let your subscriber have an idea regarding the number of emails they will receive in a certain period. This is the differentiating factor between regular emails and occasional ones. Occasional commercial mails should not be sent in a frequent manner. There can be a situation where your customer will be fed up of your daily mails and opt out of the mailing list in a quick manner.