Marketers or List Owners should only send commercial e-mail to individuals with whom they have a pre-existing or current business relationship, or when consent/permission has been obtained. Marketers who implement affirmative consent permission practices accompanied by clear and conspicuous notice generally have higher response rates and lower complaint rates and blocking issues.
- Inform the recipient about the nature of e-mail the individual will receive and the frequency of those communications. The more specific the information about the type of offer or product, the better. Marketers/List Owners should also consider sending all recipients a confirmation or “welcome” message that reiterates this information (types and frequency of communications) and provides an opportunity for the recipient to opt-out of subsequent e-mails.
- Create and make readily available a clear privacy policy statement that is easily accessible to recipients, and explains what data is collected, how it will be used, or shared. Marketers/List Owners’ privacy practices must be consistent their privacy policy/privacy statement
- Track and record all customer permissions and the date and time received in order to expedite responses to inquiries.
- Develop comprehensive and flexible online preference centers/registration pages where e-mail subscribers can indicate and/or modify their specific interests and desires for content, frequency, and other pertinent information. Recipients should be able to easily change their preferences at any time they choose to do so, and have the opportunity to remove themselves from subscriptions or other e-mail lists. Marketers are encouraged to collect preferences for both online and offline campaigns, but only collect preferences that you intend to use.
- Encourage customers and prospects to add the marketer’s legitimate sending address to their personal “approved list/address book” and provide up-front instructions on how to do so in registration pages. Benefits vary by Mailbox Provider, but may include special icon designation and full image content/link rendering.
- Obtain permission for Wireless Domains carefully. The CAN-SPAM Act mandates adherence to strict and highly specific notice and consent requirements for commercial wireless messaging. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and DMA maintain wireless domains suppression lists. This impacts ALL e-mail marketers, even if you do not intentionally engage in messaging to wireless devices. See Appendix B for a sample wireless registration page that complies with the notice and consent requirements.
BEST PRACTICE PART #2: CONSIDER CONTENT AS CONTENT IS THE KING
Recipients are increasingly labeling any e-mail communication that is not relevant or looks suspicious as spam. To avoid this misappropriation, marketers should carefully consider the nature of the recipient’s consented interest, the content and presentation of the message and the quality of the pre-existing or current business relationship when developing offers or content. Marketers are reminded to review all content for CAN-SPAM compliance prior to deployment.
- Communications should be relevant to the recipient and devoid of objectionable content. Communications should only contain the type of content described in the notice the customer originally received and agreed to and should be relevant to their pre-existing or current business relationship.
- The subject line must accurately reflect the message, purpose and content. Marketers should avoid potentially deceptive prefixes in the “Subject” line, such as “RE” or “FW”.
- A marketer’s brand should be prominent in the “From” and/or the “Subject” lines. The marketer in the “From” line must be an entity who is “a Sender” of the message as defined by the CAN-SPAM Act.
- Marketers should pretest creative elements and content with anti-spam software to avoid words, phrases, coding, punctuation, and design common to spam.
- Marketers should carefully balance the use of images and plain text. Some Mailbox Providers currently “hide” all images by default. Therefore, make sure that every e-mail message contains a carefully considered balance of images and plain text. In particular, critical CAN-SPAM compliance features such as opt-out request functionality and your postal address should be visible to all potential recipients.
- The content should clearly describe the offer and its benefits to the recipient. Tips, special offers, and educational information based on each recipient’s own behavior, interests, and needs often generate the best response rates and the lowers complaint rates.
- Marketers must include a physical postal address (Note: Compliance with DMA guidelines requires that this is not a PO Box address, but a street address) in every e-mail. This address provides an additional channel for customer service and removes requests. Telephone or e-mail contact access for opt-outs may also be welcome by your subscribers.
- Marketers must include a remove request or unsubscribe functionality that offers a simple, cost-free, Internet-based and effective option that recipients can use to prevent future communications from the sender. All remove requests should be honored promptly and express to the subscriber how long it will take for their opt-out to take effect.
- Provide a link to the e-mail preference center and privacy policy in the footer of every message to allow recipients to opt-out and/or to update their e-mail address and interests/preferences.
BEST PRACTICE PART #3: ASSURE DELIVERY
Mailbox Providers and other e-mail gatekeepers rely on a range of tools and techniques to block spam, including filters based on content, volume, and other delivery parameters. While policies differ by Mailbox Provider, it is essential for marketers and e-mail service bureaus to build direct relationships with Mailbox Providers and to follow established protocols and processes to ensure compliance and delivery.
- Follow all delivery policies, including acceptable use policies and “whitelisting” criteria established by Mailbox Providers.
- An “acceptable use policy” is a document maintained by Mailbox Providers specifying the rules for sending e-mail into, and out of, their networks.
- A “whitelist” is a list or process that some Mailbox Providers use to e-mail marketers to enter their networks without being subjected to certain (potentially stricter) levels of anti-spam filtering (e.g., volume filters).
- Register for all feedback loops. “Feedback loops” are a system whereby some Mailbox Providers share spam complaints with “whitelisted” senders in order to unsubscribe complainants from their lists. Feedback loops should also be used by marketers to identify and resolve high complaint e-mail campaigns and messaging streams emanating from their IP addresses/computer networks. In general, complaint rates (total complaints divided by total delivered e-mail) in excess of 0.1 percent can result in temporary or long-term blocks.
- Implement compliance with authentication standards including SPF and the Sender ID Framework immediately (for senders, compliance with both only requires the publication of SPF records). Also consider implementing more advanced cryptographic solutions like DomainKeys (and coming soon “DomainKeys Identified Mail”/DKIM)) Authentication compliance already is, or is expected to be, a component of all major Mailbox Provider delivery decision-making processes.
- Do not use the “bcc:” field to address solicitations.
- Monitor campaign delivery, and open and click-through rates. A low open rate or high bounce rate may indicate a delivery issue.
- Review inactive customers carefully and consider reconnecting offline with inactive customers who have previously granted permission. During this process, marketers should carefully monitor refreshed permission communications for complaints and delivery issues. It’s best that attempts to refresh include the original permission date and time and remind recipients about what they will receive and how often.
- Use separate IP addresses for different types of messages. Separating marketing messages from customer service messages, bills, and newsletters will enable better management and intelligence on various communication types, with respect to complaints, delivery and problem resolution.
- Time-and-date-stamp each e-mail communication in the header or e-mail body to indicate when the communication was sent/received.
- Monitor automated or inbound replies to ensure timely response to customers and to track challenge-response notifications.
- Audit e-mail infrastructure to ensure it is secure and there are no open relays/open proxies. For up-to-date links to information
BEST PRACTICE PART #4: HYGIENE AND SUPPRESSION
Sending e-mail to addresses that don’t or no longer exist is considered by Mailbox Providers to be the hallmarks of spamming and poor marketing practices. Good list-hygiene practices help facilitate message delivery and are critical to developing consumer trust.
Develop a list-hygiene policy that outlines the procedures which will be used to address such issues as:
1. format, syntax and domain errors
2. problem addresses such as role addresses (all@, admin@)
3. reply/inbound handling
4. processing of remove requests
5. handling of bounce-backs, including communicating unsubscribe time frames to each recipient, suppression of known invalid addresses, and address format validation
The goals of the policy should be to:
1. minimize bounce rates
2. keep incorrect, incomplete, or outdated addresses to an absolute minimum
3. process online remove requests immediately and to process remove requests received offline within ten business days tell those opting out how long it will take to be effective
This will set appropriate recipient expectations, thereby limiting the potential for complaints.
Process and suppress hard bounces immediately.
- Track soft bounces to maintain list validity and suppress these addresses according to rules that support the sender’s business and Mailbox Providers’ recommended best mailing practices. A general rule is to remove soft bounces after three soft bounces.
- Use all appropriate suppression files including DMA’s e-Mail Preference Service (a national list of individuals who do not wish to receive any e-mail solicitations), the DMA Deceased Do-Not-Contact List, DMA's wireless blocker, requests from call centers, Mailbox Providers, e-mail service bureaus, or from offline customer communications. The remove option should be in type that is easy to read and in a location that is easy to find. The best practitioners use research or focus groups to ensure that recipients are aware of and understand the remove options being offered.
- Manage Wireless Domain suppression carefully. The CAN-SPAM Act mandates adherence to strict and highly specific notice and consent requirements for commercial wireless messaging. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maintains a mandatory wireless domains suppression list. This impacts ALL e-mail marketers, even if you do not intentionally engage in messaging to wireless devices. To download the list, which under the law must be done on at least a once-a-month basis, visit: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/DomainNameDownload.html.
BEST PRACTICE PART #5: EDUCATE STAKEHOLDERS
Marketers, list owners, Mailbox Providers, e-mail service bureaus and industry associations all share the responsibility for providing information and education to recipients about anti-spam tips, tools, technologies, laws, and industry programs developed to separate legitimate communications from spam.
- Promote the benefits of adding legitimate sending address to their personal “approved list/address book” on registration pages, e-mail communications headers and marketing materials. Benefits of being listed in the address book often include further delivery assurance of requested e-mail communications to the inbox.
- Encourage recipients to use the provided remove/unsubscribe capability to remove themselves from legitimate marketers’ lists from which the customer receives legitimate, permission-based e-mail communications, instead of reporting these as “spam.” Make the unsubscribe option easy to find and use.
- Show recipients how to improve delivery by their Mailbox Providers and provide information on adjusting e-mail filters on registration pages.
- Educate Mailbox Providers and recipients about what is spam and phishing, how to avoid falling victim to e-mail fraud and how to avoid falsely tagging legitimate e-mail as spam. An easy-to-understand graphical guide for consumers is available from The DMA online at http://www.the-dma.org/antispam/E-mail_Chart.pdf. DMA has also partnered with the FTC to distribute On Guard, Online, a brochure offering consumers important tips for safe and secure electronic communications.
- Talk to Mailbox Providers about how their policies may sometimes conflict with federal and state regulations governing your industry including service messaging programs.
- Communicate with legislators and regulators about how current or proposed policies may affect your company. Information is available on DMA’s web site (http://www.the-dma.org/government/) on specific legislative and regulatory issues, and how you can make your voice heard and be more effective in the policy arena.
BEST PRACTICE PART #6: RESPOND AND RESOLVE
Marketers/List Owners and/or the e-mail service bureaus that send on their behalf share responsibility for handling any inquiries and disputes regarding e-mail delivery in a responsible and efficient manner that honors the individual’s request and complies with existing and established guidelines for ethical business practices.
- Treat complainants with courtesy and respect. Remove complainers from your file immediately.
- Cooperate with list owners and Mailbox Providers to resolve complaints, as well as blocking and filtering disputes quickly and efficiently.
- Provide individuals with information, upon request, including when consent/permission was granted, or remind the individual of a previous business relationship (including details and the extent of that relationship).
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