Managing Subscribers

• Use double opt-in subscriber lists

  To ensure you have the express permission of each of your recipients, you should use our double opt-in process when capturing new subscribers from your web site. When someone subscribes to a list you have set up, they will be sent an email with a confirmation link. When clicked, the subscriber will be added to the list, ensuring they have given you affirmative consent to hear from you.

  Don't worry. You can customize this entire process, including the contents of the confirmation email and all landing pages so it's as painless as possible for each registrant and consistent with the design of your web site.

• Process all unsubscribe requests within one week

  This won't apply if you use our single-click unsubscribe method, because it's immediate and 100% automated. If however you process your unsubscribes manually, you should ensure that an unsubscriber is removed from your list within 7 days of the request being made.

Sending Campaigns

• Use a legitimate from name and from email address

  The From Name and From Email address you specify in Step 1 of the Create/Send process must be a legitimate company or staff member name and the email address must be valid.

• Use accurate and descriptive subject headings

  The CAN-SPAM act means you can't use subject lines that mislead your recipients about the subject matter of your campaign. This doesn't mean you have to describe the entire contents of the email, but you should ensure that it somehow relates to some of the content within your campaign.

• Use a valid reply-to address that can function as an unsubscribe mechanism if required

  The law states that your campaign should either have a return-to address through which someone can unsubscribe or another "Internet-based mechanism, clearly and conspicuously displayed".

  Without doubt the best approach for both you and your recipients is to use Campaign Mark's single-click unsubscribe method (It's in the templates we build for you) to your campaign. Until the courts make it clear exactly what constitutes "clear and conspicuous" however, you should also ensure you use a valid reply-to address for each campaign that someone will actually check, just in case a recipient replies with an unsubscribe request.

• Always include the street address in your campaigns
  

  The law requires the sender to include a 'valid physical postal address' in every campaign. When we build your template, we will ask for this information and require it to be in place.
  

While following these steps can't provide an absolute defense to a CAN-SPAM violation, it should certainly reduce the chances of a violation occurring in the first place.