The Ultimate CASL Email Marketing Survival Guide

O FLORAPANG PRESENTS The ULTIMATE CASL EMAIL MARKETING SURVIVAL GUIDE CANADA'S ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION (CASL) will come into effect on JULY 1ST, 2014 2014 JULY CASL imposes a set of strictrules that govern all forms of commercial electronic messages (CEMS) in Canada CASL strictly forbids spam, malware, spyware, address harvesting, false and misleading electronic communications, etc Penalties for violations can go up to $1 million for individuals and $10 million for companies Sending unsolicited commercial electronic messages will be a thing of the past for email marketers dealing with Canadians MARKETERS NEED TO STAY INFORMED AND COMPLY WITH THE NEW RULES BY FOLLOWING THESE STEPS Internal Awareness and Education Everyone in the organization needs to be aware of the basics and importance of CASL so they won't be caught off guard when new changes are implemented. Make sure all online and offline channels that feed data into your mailing list follow proper proce- dures for acquiring the opt-in and gather evidence to prove your claim. For signup forms, be sure to get rid of pre-checked boxes that enroll people in your mailing list without their active participation. Evaluate Your Workflows Segment your existing database of subscribers into two categories: 1) those who have already given you their explicit consent to receive emails, and 2) those whose explicit consent is still required. Be sure to have evidence to back up the consent. Segment Your Existing Subscribers Now that you have a list of subscribers who need to reconfirm their subscription, you should proceed to get explicit consent from them and save the evidence. Consent can be obtained by inserting a call-to-action in your e-newsletter that requests recipients to verify their subscription, along with a link they can click to act upon it. Acquire Explicit Consent Obtain Double Opt-in Double opt-in prevents fraudulent subscriptions and strengthens your CASL evidence. You can obtain double opt-ins by sending a confirmation email to every new signup with a link they can click to verify their subscription. Remove Non-CASL You should remove subscribers who have not given you their express consent by July 1st, 2014 from your mailing list, to make sure that you only email ČASL-compliant subscribers going forward. -Compliant Subscribers Document Your Efforts Document all the steps you have taken to comply with CASL rules. The ability to demonstrate that you have tried to stay compliant is crucial in the event of a lawsuit. Make sure your email marketing team understands that there are new rules to follow which forbid deceptive electronic messages and practices. They might be tempted to work around the new policies but they should stay compliant. Remind them of the hefty penalties if necessary. Stay CASL -Compliant www.florapang.com O FLORAPANG Sources: http://www.fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/h_00050.html http://www.eliteemail.com/learning-center/casl/ http://www.itbusiness.ca/blog/how-to-prepare-for-canadas-anti-spam-legislation/43211 STEP 7 STEP 5 STEP 3 STEP 1 STEP 8 STEP 6 STEP 4 STEP 2