CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Law) Overview

By: Amber Henry
Account Executive

What is CASL?

CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Law), pronounced "castle", will come into effect July 1, 2014. You do not have to be a spammer or located in Canada for it to apply to you.  If you send messages from Canada or to anyone who may read it there, this new law applies to you. Not sure where your recipients are located? You could ask, use geotracking, or see which emails end in “.ca”.

The general purpose of CASL is to prohibit the sending of commercial electronic messages without permission (consent).  A commercial electronic message is one that “encourages participation in a commercial activity” regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit. This includes messages to email addresses, social networking accounts, and text messages to a cell phone (Government of Canada).

Consequences can be severe. We are only providing a brief summary of CASL. If you feel this applies to you, be sure to consult legal counsel and take the steps necessary to ready your business. For more information visit: fightspam.gc.ca.

What are the requirements?

There are three main requirements of CASL:

• Proper identification - the sender must be clearly identified and include a valid postal address, and either telephone number, email address, or website which must be valid for at least 60 days after the message has been sent.
• Consent - if your email message does not meet one of the various exceptions laid out in CASL regulations, you must have consent BEFORE you send an email.
• Unsubscribe - include a functional and visible unsubscribe mechanism, which must be processed without delay and within 10 business days. The recipient must not be asked to provide any information other than their email address.
  

When is consent not required?

There are two types of consent: express and implied. Either can be removed at all times by the recipient through the unsubscribe mechanism.

Express consent is very clear and the recipient has taken an affirmative action to give you permission to send to them. Express consent never expires until the recipient asks to stop receiving the message.

Implied consent is when a relationship exists, but the recipient has not explicitly asked to receive your emails. If you have implied consent, it is in your best interest to send a confirmation email to gain express consent, which never expires. Implied consent under CASL expires after two years. If a recipient has expressed interest in your product as part of the sales process, implied consent expires after six months.

Some exceptions to having consent:

• Responding to a request for quote/estimate
• Messages that facilitate or confirm transactions
• Providing warranty, recall safety, or security info
• Giving information about ongoing use or ongoing purchases, ongoing subscription, membership, accounts, loans, or similar
• Employment relationships or benefit plans
• Delivering a product, good, or service, including updates and upgrades

 What steps should I take to prepare?

It is recommended that you do some “spring cleaning” to your lists by creating an opt-in campaign.

Assess if you may be sending to anyone in Canada. Figure out whether you have express or implied consent and track it in your database. Develop a plan to obtain required consent and review your email message to make sure it is CASL compliant.

Starting July 1, 2014, you will need consent from any new client and each message must include identification and an unsubscribe mechanism. Where there is an existing business or non-business relationship that includes commercial electronic messages, consent is implied for three years.  It is recommended that you acquire express consent for customers that are on your list through an existing business relationship by July 1, 2017.

In the end, do not be mistaken for a spammer. Maintain the trust and confidence of your customers or clients by following these tips:

1. Do not send a message without their consent.
2. Provide an opportunity for customers and clients to say no.
3. Clearly identify yourself and your organization.
4. Be truthful in advertising.

Please keep in mind that the information provided above does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for seeking professional advice.

Examples of what to do / not to do:

Can I send out an unsolicited email survey for market info, product usage, etc?

Whether it is permitted under CASL or not, it depends on whether the message is deemed commercial. JangoMail’s Anti-Spam Policy does not allow you to send unsolicited email without prior consent.

Someone gave me their business card. Is it okay to contact them?

Under CASL, you would have implied consent for up to two years. As long as they did not specify their wish to be excluded from receiving promotional emails, it would be okay to send messages pertaining to their role. It is recommended to gain express consent.

Should I do anything with my existing lists?

If you have express consent from all of your existing contacts and have basic records of how and when consent was acquired, you probably will not need to take action with those contacts. If you are unsure of the opt-in status of your lists, or have no records, it is probably necessary to run an opt-in campaign as soon as possible.

Part of CASL requires that the sender be clearly identified. My business is a local franchisee. Our franchisor head office sends commercial emails. Is this okay?

You will need to ensure your customers have consented to receive messages from the franchisor head office, not just the local franchisee.

Is an electronic message that contains a request for consent to send messages considered a commercial electronic message?

Yes, it is. You will want to ensure you are following the guidelines when sending.

I am sending messages on behalf of a charity or political organization to raise funds. Do I need consent?

This is permitted under CASL, but JangoMail’s Anti-Spam Policy is stricter than Canada’s law in this regards. We only permit our customers to send to their own direct contacts with whom they have pre-existing relationships.

Resources

Government of Canada, Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation: fightspam.gc.ca

Other Helpful JangoMail Articles

• Make sure your messages have a CAN-SPAM footer! Check out the tools of the v4 Editor or the guide to creating your own basic template.
• Confirm your opt-in list to ensure warm contacts.

On Track With Jack: The Importance of Plain Text

While sum-sum-summertime is here, don’t take a vacation from your email marketing!  There are a ton of great business opportunities to take advantage of - market them all with JangoMail.  Most recently, we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on deliverability, and I have something else to add into the mix this week:

Always generate a plain text version of your email.

Each time you send out a new email, you should include a plain text version.  While most email clients support HTML messages nowadays, there are still some platforms and devices that cannot display HTML.  Additionally, there are a few folks out there that prefer to block HTML emails.  When you send plain text with HTML, you ensure that your recipient can see your email, no matter what.

Need another reason?  Spam filters check for plain text because spammers do not include it.  A lot of messages without it go straight into the junk folder.  Please note that the spam filter also checks for a balance of HTML to plain text so you want to make sure you have an even amount of both.

At JangoMail, we make it easy.  Once you have the HTML portion of your email finalized click on the second tab in the editor labeled “Plain Text”.  You have two options here: you can “Generate now based on HTML message” or “Generate automatically at send time”.

If you want to edit any portion of the plain text, click the first link.  I prefer this option, especially for newsletters because I like to remove any duplicate links, for example.

Choose the second option if you want your plain text to be identical to your HTML message and it will be created when your message sends.  The system will generate the latest version right before your message is processed.

To recap: Make sure that you always include a plain text version.  With JangoMail, you can easily create plain text to ensure your message delivers.

Have questions? Ask. Dial 1-888-465-2646 or drop us a line here.

Jack the Jangolope
Department of Awesome
JangoMail

About Jack

Jack the Jangolope is our JangoMail mascot.  Each week, look for Jack's emails for marketing advice, trends, and quick tips on how to grow your email marketing plan to the fullest!  Hop into email marketing each week with Jack's helpful tips!

What is a Jangolope? Find out HERE

We want to hear from you. Remember, at JangoMail it's your email, your way.  Have a topic you would like Jack to cover?  Email us at marketing@jangomemail.com with the subject line: On Track With Jack.  Follow Jack on Facebook

Subscribe to On Track With Jack

On Track With Jack: Email Deliverability

Happy early Thanksgiving JangoMail Users!

Can you believe it?  Thanksgiving is next week, which also means that you are going to start sending your holiday emails.  Before you add the final touches, take a look at my tip, well question, of the week:

Are you a Safe Sender?

In this day and age, post Pilgrim and Squanto times, email clients have become quite good at upping their security measures, which can affect your email deliverability and send your messages straight to spam.

It's important to make sure you are a Safe Sender, and encouraging your recipients to create a Safe Sender, or White List, will ensure deliverability.

To start, I would recommend sending an email with step-by-step instructions on how to create a Safe Sender List, and remove emails from spam.   Step-by-step guides with screenshots work best.  If you're concerned that your users never check their Spam Folder, post a guide on your website and social media networks.  They work well near your opt-in form and confirmation page.

In JangoMail, you can determine which email client your subscribers use most and shape your instructions around those providers.

In our case, Outlook ranks high and Gmail is king.  Here are the steps we suggest:

Microsoft Outlook 2010 / 2013

To remove from the Junk Folder:
1.  Check your Junk Folder
2.  Click on the email message to highlight it
3.  Go to the Home tab
4.  Select the arrow on the Junk drop-down menu
5.  Choose Never Block Sender's Domain

To create a Safe Sender List:
1.  Under the Home tab go to the Junk drop-down menu and click on Junk Email Options
2.  In the new window click the Safe Senders tab
3.  Click the Add button and enter in the desired email address
4.  Click OK

Gmail

To remove from the Spam Folder:
1.  Go to the Spam Folder
2.  Locate message from us
3.  Select the message
4.  Click the "Not Spam" button

To create a Safe Sender List:
1.  Enter JangoMail in the search bar
2.  Click arrow in the right of the search bar to filter
3.  Click Create filter link at the bottom right
4.  Select Never send it to Spam
5.  Click the “Also apply…” box to apply to similar messages
6.  Choose the blue Create button

To recap: Make sure you are a Safe Sender before your next email campaign.  Send an instructional email to your subscribers to show them how to add you to their Safe Sender / White List.



Sincerely,

Jack the Jangolope
Department of Awesome
JangoMail

About Jack

Jack the Jangolope is our JangoMail mascot.  Each week, look for Jack's emails for marketing advice, trends, and quick tips on how to grow your email marketing plan to the fullest!  Hop into email marketing each week with Jack's helpful tips!

What is a Jangolope? Find out HERE

We want to hear from you. Remember, at JangoMail it's your email, your way.  Have a topic you would like Jack to cover?  Email us at marketing@jangomemail.com with the subject line: On Track With Jack.  Follow Jack on Facebook

Subscribe to On Track With Jack

Are You Heading Straight to Spam?

After all the work you put into your email campaigns, the least your emails could do is reach your recipients. Problem is, when you least expect it, they can miss the mark and hit the spam or junk folders.

The unusual suspects
So, what happened? Before you heavy foot it over to the IT department, consider the content of your emails as the potential culprit. Here's a short list of surprising keywords and phrases that could land you directly in spam land.

• Pennies a day
• Weekend getaway
• While supplies last
• Call now
• Apply online
• Cannot be combined with any other offer
• Billing address
• Call now
• Increase traffic
• Why pay more?

Shocked there's no sign of "free?" Don't be. 
Consider this a trick list - only noting triggers you might not expect. "Free" is still one of the most common ways to profile your email. But, keep this in mind: It's okay to use all these phrases. What weighs against you on the spam scale is the frequency in which you utilize any of these trigger words. Also, using any of them concurrently within the same email isn't a smart idea.


 
Who's pointing fingers and why
There's a lot of noise out there in the email world. And any decent email service provider is trying to protect its valued users, so they continue to utilize them. The problem is, sometimes respectable email communications get caught in the filtering mix for the greater good of keeping inboxes clean. The bottom line is you don't want to associate with the riff-raff and more importantly, have your timely communications get lost on the way to intended recipients.



Moderation is the medicine
Think of spam-folder-avoidance this way: If your email reads more like an infomercial, consider it a trigger candidate for the junk folder. Use trigger words in moderation, and you should be just fine. However, if you are experiencing consistent inbox deliverability issues, revisit your subject lines and main body content to see if you're inadvertently shifting email service provider spam filters into high gear.


Two leg ups
JangoMail's Delivery Optimization Tool analyzes your emails and determines changes you can make to optimize delivery even before you hit "send." We also recommend using SpamAssassin as an additional pre-screening tool. Visit their site for a more detailed trigger list as well (under the Tests tab).

JangoMail also scores your mass email campaign message using SpamAssassin - you can see the score in Broadcast Messages Report Dashboard. Send a message to yourself before sending to your list. Scores under 5 are generally considered to be free of spam.

The rules are always changing too! A good message today can be bad tomorrow; it just depends on how certain words and phrases are used (or over-used). We'll help you stay ahead of the curve on this.

If you have any questions about spam filters and triggers, just ask. Until next time, have a great rest of the week!