Affiliate
Marketing: Know The Can-Spam Act
The amount of false information available about e-mail
marketing on the net is staggering. If you are advertising your affiliate
program through e-mail campaigns, make sure you know what your responsibilities
are.
The lawless days of spam e-mail are over, at least for
U.S.A. based advertisers. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) sets forth specific requirements
for advertising via e-mail. The law has been tested numerous times since being
passed and fines have been levied, property seized, people have even been
sentenced to prison.
As an affiliate marketer obviously you don't want to be on
the wrong side of this law. Luckily, complying with the provisions in the law
is fairly simple. Here is what it requires:
No misleading or fake header information. This includes the
"From:" and "To" fields.
No deceptive subject lines. You want your customer to know
what you're selling anyway, so this should be no problem.
Messages must be labeled as advertising. Again, the moral
is: no sneaky stuff.
An "internet-based" opt-out method must be
provided. You have 10 days to stop e-mailing a person once you have received
their remove request.
Messages must include your business (or home) physical
address. This provides accountability and a way for the customer to verify that
your business is real.
Breaking any of these rules could lead to a fine of up to
$11,000 per violation! Honesty is now truly the best policy. You may be
thinking: if this is such a big deal, why is my inbox flooded with spam every
day?
It's not a perfect world, and the short answer is that many
of those advertisers are breaking the law. Commonly they are outside the United
States in areas where prosecution may be unrealistic. You, on the other hand,
would probably be quite easy to catch.
Be sure to read the detailed requirements for yourself. You
can find more information at the Federal Trade Commission's website,
http://www.ftc.gov/spam
Summary:
The amount of false information available about e-mail
marketing on the net is staggering. If you are advertising your affiliate
program through e-mail campaigns, make sure you know what your responsibilities
are.
The lawless days of spam e-mail are over, at least for
U.S.A. based advertisers. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) sets forth specific requirements
for advertising via e-mail. The law has been tested...
Keywords:
affiliate marketing,
affiliate, internet marketing, SPAM act, e-mail marketing, email marketing
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