Email marketers must be cautious to comply with anti-SPAM laws, but this is not always a simple process because spam laws vary from country to country. If you’re doing global marketing, it can be a big task to evaluate all the laws in all the countries. The EU is particularly difficult as some member countries have enacted strict opt-in requirements, but there is very little conformity from country to country.
Here is a helpful resource that summarizes laws in each EU country. http://www.euro.cauce.org/en/countries/index.html (Disclaimer: We have not reviewed the accuracy of this site, so please use due caution.)
The best approach is to ensure that your lists are opted in, and that every email you send includes an option for recipients to opt-out.
I’ve seen a number of different opt-in and opt-out approaches, most of which are not particularly effective. Opt-in campaigns should be strategic, carefully planned, targeted to specific recipient personas, and executed carefully. Review your list, segment it according to the contacts’ titles, roles, industries, departments, and how you obtained their email addresses. Then develop buyer personas that help you understand the interests of each segment. Think about the value of the content you’re planning to provide to each persona, and market that content. Help the recipient understand the value they’ll receive if they elect to opt-in.
Remember, opt-outs are just as important. You want to disqualify and remove leads that don’t represent your targets. So your opt-in campaign should also seek to help those leads self-identify and opt out.
It’s also important to manage your database carefully and scrub it frequently. Process opt-out and unsubscribe requests immediately when they’re received and make sure you remove them from all lists. You should also consider purging recipients without any opens or clicks in a 12-month period. By not sending to contacts who haven’t opened or clicked in the past year, you can reduce ISP complaints and gain higher reputation scores, which leads to better deliverability.
Warm regards,
Candyce
