Businesses now need to have an un-subscribe button on all mass emails thanks to Canada’s Anti Spam laws which come into effect on July 1 2014. That’s good news! And it doesn’t mean you have to panic about CASL, because hopefully you’re already compliant.
Here’s a 9-Point Summary To Give you Peace of Mind that you might already be CASL Compliant.
And if you’re not, some copywriter’s best practices to strategically get CASL complaint now, so you don’t get burned later like everyone else did.
Back to Linked In. I love LinkedIn for business and use it all the time. I also use email but for different reasons.
But getting mass emails on LinkedIn can be annoying and it makes me lose respect for the sender. So it ruins the relationship they are trying to strengthen. While LinkedIn may have control of your published email address and you don’t explicitly say “Don’t add me to your list” on your LinkedIn Profile, and while LinkedIn may also have implied consent to communicate because you are connected to a contact, LinkedIn mass emails still fail the Canada's Anti Spam Laws (CASL) test for me because they don’t give unsubscribe options on LinkedIn.
In my email inbox, I’m in charge of how my messages display, which is how I like it. That’s why I use email for subscriptions. I hate it when I am added to a list via social media because I know I didn't opt in that way. I opted in via email for a purpose, so I could continue to control the flow of information. I also know I would have connected to someone via Linked In, Twitter and Facebook for a specific purpose - it fits my social media content strategy. But social media and email are not one and the same, and because someone implies consent in one avenue, I don’t believe it is ethical to steal their information and throw them on multiple platform lists.
Or, if you sneakily decide you want to connect with your list through every possible avenue, just make sure you stay CASL compliant by offering an UNSUBSCRIBE option in every mass email, for the sake of not annoying your contacts and harming the relationship. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to follow you on Twitter, or connect with you on Linked In, it just means they might not want to receive certain types of information from you through that platform, and you should respect this right to control information in your prospects, or what’s the point??
If your business is using LinkedIn for mass emails: STICK IN AN UNSUBSCRIBE option in EVERY email. And do it now before frustrate any more users.
Of course it’s OK to re-post or advertise your recent digests through your LinkedIn Profile and social media updates - you just can’t email or direct message their social media accounts without offering an unsubscribe option.
That’s what the Canada Anti-Spam Laws are all about giving users control to contacted in meaningful ways - not domineeringly manipulated to comply with corporation mandates.
If you’re not sure if you are being compliant with your e-newsletter, read this CASL: Do you need to Panic? and get briefed on CASL’s cornerstones with this 9-Point CASL Compliance summary.
