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Against the Law, Not Cool or Good Enough?

by taliesin2165
6 replies
I provide marketing services for a niche B2B industry. Besides a website and print materials, my clients receive an autoresponder and email marketing services.

My clients provide me a .cvs of their customers to add to their email database. Upon uploading that list to me, they check a box on my site stating they received permission to add these customers to their email list (no different than MailChimp or GetResponse).

I then have the list cleaned, upload into Interspire Email Marketer and a welcome autoresponder is sent out from my client. This welcome email tells the customer they're now on the monthly newsletter list, shares a link to previous newsletters and tells the customer they can unsubscribe anytime, including removal links in the header, the footer and a large one in the body that sits between the copy and my client's signature.

So, against the law, not cool or good enough?
#can-spam #cool #good #law
  • Profile picture of the author OTrap
    Originally Posted by taliesin2165 View Post

    I provide marketing services for a niche B2B industry. Besides a website and print materials, my clients receive an autoresponder and email marketing services.

    My clients provide me a .cvs of their customers to add to their email database. Upon uploading that list to me, they check a box on my site stating they received permission to add these customers to their email list (no different than MailChimp or GetResponse).

    I then have the list cleaned, upload into Interspire Email Marketer and a welcome autoresponder is sent out from my client. This welcome email tells the customer they're now on the monthly newsletter list, shares a link to previous newsletters and tells the customer they can unsubscribe anytime, including removal links in the header, the footer and a large one in the body that sits between the copy and my client's signature.

    So, against the law, not cool or good enough?
    Based on what you've explained, this would be legal. However, I would caution you that you may be asking for trouble. One unscrupulous client would be all it would take in order for someone to ruin your sender reputation.
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  • Profile picture of the author taliesin2165
    Thanks, OTrap. My biz is in a clean niche that I come from with regular ole' LinkedIn folk who aren't trying to game anything. They just need the turnkey solution from someone who knows their world and the digital/design world to manage their B2B marketing, without having to hire someone in house. Pretty simple stuff. I appreciate the reply and heads up.
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  • Profile picture of the author b2cemail
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      If I am not mistaken you still need to get permission( or have some disclosure overtly seen by them) for these people to be receiving emails from your client. I do not think just buying from your client makes it OK to automatically put them on a online mail out



      - Robert Andrew
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      • Profile picture of the author OTrap
        Originally Posted by discrat View Post

        If I am not mistaken you still need to get permission( or have some disclosure overtly seen by them) for these people to be receiving emails from your client. I do not think just buying from your client makes it OK to automatically put them on a online mail out



        - Robert Andrew
        It depends on the country from which the subscribers hail. If they're US customers, it's legal, though not considered best practices. If the subs are Canadian or from the UK, you do need confirmation of permission.
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      • Profile picture of the author taliesin2165
        Thanks, discrat. Attached is a screenshot of the upload page. I would think this is enough, but I just don't know.

        @OTrap. I'm wondering if it's not best practices, how do legitimate marketing and advertising agencies around the country provide email marketing services to their clients? I thought I was doing it as legit as could possibly be done, but I appreciate the extra concern given. I'm going to get into some agency forums and ask as well.

        The opening paragraph says, "We’re very careful not to include email addresses that have not given you permission to receive your newsletter. If you want to be certain of what can and can not be included, click here for examples." Then, there's a checkbox that says, "These contacts have given us permission to receive our newsletter."
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        • Profile picture of the author OTrap
          Originally Posted by taliesin2165 View Post

          Thanks, discrat. Attached is a screenshot of the upload page. I would think this is enough, but I just don't know.

          @OTrap. I'm wondering if it's not best practices, how do legitimate marketing and advertising agencies around the country provide email marketing services to their clients? I thought I was doing it as legit as could possibly be done, but I appreciate the extra concern given. I'm going to get into some agency forums and ask as well.

          The opening paragraph says, "We're very careful not to include email addresses that have not given you permission to receive your newsletter. If you want to be certain of what can and can not be included, click here for examples." Then, there's a checkbox that says, "These contacts have given us permission to receive our newsletter."
          I actually do email marketing in an "agency" capacity, much like you describe. By comparison, it's notably easier when compared to anything ecommerce or affiliate related. Brands are more easily recognized. There's less skepticism, because there's no call-to-action that requires payment. The content itself has less in common with other messages traditionally associated with "spam" (often incorrectly, but that's a topic for a different time).

          This is how marketing firms traditionally do third-party email marketing. If I were you, I'd make a strict "no ecommerce" policy and just work with brick-and-mortar businesses.
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