The Spam act & what you need to know for email marketing.
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- Published on Thursday, 05 August 2010 01:43
Spam, it's something that we have all encountered at some point and dealt with the frustration of not being able to stop the flow of unwanted messages. That is why here at Insermo we don't want you to become one of the spammers. There are a couple of key things that you need to know about the Australian spam act so you don't get yourself caught as a spammer.
What is SPAM?
The term spam is used to describe any junk mail or message that is received as an email, instant message, SMS or MMS to an individual without their consent. These messages can be the promotion of goods or services or ask the recipient to provide specific details about themselves or their bank details, many of which are considered to be fake.
Key things to know to avoid being considered SPAM.
There are three key points that you need to know so your email campaign, SMS or MMS is not considered as spam:
- The message can only be sent if the recipient has given consent.
- It needs to clearly identify who sent the message.
- There needs to be a clear unsubscribe function.
Ensuring you have consent to send.
The two areas of consent that you need to be aware of are express consent and inferred consent.
Express Consent
When an individual has provided you with their email address you must gain their consent by either filling out a form, ticking a box on a website, over the phone, face-to-face or by swapping business cards (provided the recipient is aware that they have provided consent to recieve a commercial message.
Inferrer Consent
Inferred consent can occur when there is an existing business relationship and there is a reasonable expectation to recieve a commercial message or when someone publishes their work related email address and your business wants to send them a commercial electronic message that relates directly to that person's line of work.
These are the two main areas of consent that most marketers will have to deal with. For futher information about consent you can read more a the ACMA website.
There can be exceptions to the rule.
There are some messages that can be sent without consent and not considered spam, it will need to fall into these categories.
- Government Bodies
- Charities
- Religious Organisations
- Registered Political Parties
- Educational Institutions (sent to current and past students and their households)
These messages still need to comply with the provisions of the spam act which means that they must contain accurate information about the person or organisation and how to contact that person or organisation.
For more general FAQ's about the spam act you can visit the ACMA site here.