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Email Regulatory Compliance and Handling Opt-Out Requests

When saving Email Messages in DemandCenter, you may be prompted with a regulatory non-compliance warning seen below.

 

The reason for this warning is that your email does not include required elements to make it CAN-SPAM Act compliant.

Simply put, the CAN-SPAM Act is a law in the United States that sets the rules and requirements for commercial emailing. The law gives recipients the mechanism to opt-out of your emails and requires that you identify the sender of the commercial email. When you violate the CAN-SPAM Act, you may be subject to penalties and fines.

 

NOTE: The US CAN-SPAM Act is similar in nature to other laws, for other jurisdictions, including, but not limited to; Canada’s CASL (Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation); The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ePrivacy Regulations; Australia’s Spam Act 2003; and Japan’s “New Anti-Spam Law".

 

What to Do When You See the Warning

The DemandCenter application is trying to help you maintain good practice and email compliance. by helping you satisfy CAN-SPAM Act compliance requirements. There are a number of requirements, but the two main ones that the warning covers:

  • Your email must include your physical postal address.
  • Your email must provide a way for recipients to opt-out or unsubscribe from your emails.

NOTE: The warning will indicate whether your HTML version or PLAIN-TEXT needs adjustment in order to meet compliance requirements.


It is recommended that users click Don't Save to proceed back to their Email Message and then add appropriate Special links and Merge tags to satisfy email compliance.

Here is an example screenshot of an Email Message that has the Special links and Merge tags:

 

The address footer in the above screenshot is using Merge tags to satisfy the physical address requirement. When this email is sent, the tags will be filled in with the sender's contact information.

  • The [[sig_companyname]] tag corresponds to the sender's company name.
  • The [[sig_address]] tag corresponds to the sender's address.
  • The [[sig_city]] tag corresponds to the sender's city.
  • The [[sig_zip]] tag corresponds to the sender's zip or postal code.

Right below the address footer is the Special link (Subscription Link). When the email is sent, "Update My Subscription" links to the recipient's Subscription Management page, where they unsubscribe from your emails and choose what types of communications they want to receive from you.

 

How to Add Merge Tags and Special Links

Within your Email Message, click inside a TEXT Content and then use the Merge tags and Special links buttons to add them into your Email Message.

NOTE: Be sure to choose the correct Merge tags that use "Sender" information.

 

Honor Opt-Out and Unsubscribe Requests

The CAN-SPAM Act also describes your responsibility, as a sender, to uphold any unsubscribe requests made by recipients.

  • If your recipients opt-out directly from their Subscription Management pages, DemandCenter will automatically set the recipients' prospect records to Opt-Out status. This status will prevent them from receiving future emails.

  • If your recipients reply back to emails asking to be opted-out, then you as a DemandCenter user must honor the unsubscribe requests. You can do so by logging into DemandCenter and setting that person's status to Opt-Out. For instructions to change the status of prospects, click here.

NOTE: It is good practice to leave individuals as opted-out, unless they explicitly confirmed or re-subscribed to receive emails again.

If you resubscribe a prospect who has previously unsubscribed without their consent, you are in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act and may be subject to penalties and fines.

 

 

Additional Resources and Links

  • eTrigue's Acceptable Use Policy, which includes sending emails: Acceptable Use

  • For more information on the CAN-SPAM Act, please refer to this quick resource provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business

  • The full text of the CAN-SPAM Act can be found here.

  • Spam legislation for Canada: CASL
  • Spam legislation for the European Union: GDPR