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Exhibitrac is compliant with the CAN-SPAM law passed by Congress in 2003. Every client who orders a list with e-mail addresses is required to sign our order form in which they agree to comply with the CAN-SPAM law. For a brief summary of the main points of the law, click here. To view a complete version of the law, please visit http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/can-spam.shtml
Here are our recommendations and insights on how best to utilize the e-mail addresses within our database, including a few points on “opt-in”, “opt-out” and “SPAM”:
1) If using a third party vendor such as Constant Contact, emailbrain or Vertical Response, please read their guidelines on list usage. If required, we can suppress “role” addresses such as sales@, marketing@ and info@ type e-mail addresses before delivering a list.
2) Our list is not an “opt-in” list in the true sense of the term. A true “opt-in” list would be built in only one way: by you, with a link on your website, asking website visitors to sign up and give their permission for you to send them an e-mail. ANY list you rent from a third party, whether it be Exhibitrac or any other company, will not have a list which has opted in to receive YOUR SPECIFIC MESSAGE or e-mail. What we do offer is a list with ONE common bond: they exhibit in trade shows. We do NOT simply harvest e-mails from websites or directories. We DO call each company and ask for the contact name and title of the decision maker on trade shows, and always try to obtain that specific person’s e-mail address. If we cannot obtain that person’s specific e-mail address, then we will list a general company e-mail address if given. We then send a test message to every e-mail we obtain, to verify accuracy and deliverability.
3) Are we sending SPAM if we use the Exhibitrac list? That depends on your (and the recipients, mainly) definition of SPAM. Some interpret SPAM as absolutely any e-mail they receive that they were not expecting and/or did not sign up for. Some will call your message SPAM even if they have signed up, opted-in, double opted-in and even done business with you already! It’s hard to win the SPAM game if literally any e-mail you send to anyone at any time, regardless of your relationship with them, can be called SPAM by the recipient depending on their mood that day.
4) Our view, of course, is that the messages our clients send to our list of exhibitors is not SPAM, since our clients are sending targeted, relevant messages regarding trade show exhibiting to exhibitors. As long as our clients conform to the CAN-SPAM laws and offer any recipient an easy way to opt-out of future messages, then no laws are being broken and commerce can commence.
5) Increasingly, e-mail marketers in the business to business community are moving towards the “opt-out” model of e-mail marketing. Here are some ways to increase response rates when e-mailing:
-Send an e-mail once a week for four weeks. Express your value proposition, tell the prospect why they should want to receive your e-mails, and include a link asking them to opt-in. Of course, give them the option to opt-out as well (per CAN-SPAM)!
- After four weeks of e-mails, suppress those addresses on the list who have shown no open or click behavior.
-Include testimonials from current clients. Sell prospects on the validity of your company. Include anything about your company which will build trust.
-Subject lines should be clear, and content should be short and to the point. It helps to include a special offer or action item which will pique the prospects interest.
PLEASE REMEMBER: There is nothing "magical" about marketing via e-mail. We have clients who have used our e-mail lists for years and years and have done very, very well with them. We also have clients who have used an e-mail list once, gotten an 85% deliverability rate, received one complaint and given up on e-mail marketing. E-mail marketing is like any other channel in that you will be most successful if you are offering a product and price that appeals to the prospect in a relevant and timely manner. Our most successful clients will market via e-mail, but will also follow up with a phone call and even, yes, that dinosaur we know as a direct mail campaign. People still read their mail, believe it or not, and will respond to a well designed marketing piece!
For those sending e-mails in which the primary purpose is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, the following requirements must be met to comply with the law:
*A clear, conspicuous, and easy to read 'opt-out' notice and mechanism, whereby the recipient may decline to receive further commercial messages from the sender. If the recipient does 'opt-out', the sender may send no subsequent advertisements or promotions more than 10 business days after the 'opt-out' request. Additionally, the sender may not request, sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise transfer or release the e-mail address of the 'opt-out' recipient.
*The e-mail message must include a functioning, legitimate return e-mail address. This return address must be capable of receiving mail for at least 30 days after the transmission of the original message.
*The e-mail message must be clearly identified as an advertisement or solicitation. There is no requirement for any specific labeling (i.e. ADV in the subject line), but the onus of identifying the message as an advertisement falls on the sender.
*The e-mail message must include a valid physical address of the sender. A PO Box does not fulfill this requirement. The address must be a physical location, where the business and its employees may be found.
Things you may not do under the law:
*Send a commercial e-mail message with a false or misleading header or subject line.
*Use deceptive subject headings.
*Use "open" relays to disguise the commercial e-mail's origin.