Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) explained

July 16, 2014 Leave a Response

On July 1st, 2014 the Canadian Government put into effect the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (or CASL). Designed to reduce unwanted emails from your inbox, the new law ensures businesses properly broadcast their emails to interested customers, while not emailing others that do not. This effects not only Calgary marketing clients but every business Canada-wide, so its important that everyone be compliant with the new set of laws.

So what does CASL mean for the average Canadian business?

In short, not complying could cost a business upwards to a $10 million dollar fine.
Did that get your attention?

Reviewing the law and knowing more about what you can (and can’t do):

There are two forms of consent from customers online:

Implied Consent:
An example of Implied Consent would be if a business has a relationship with an existing customer.  Communication between business and an active customer is implied. As part of CASL though, ALL customers need to give Expressed Consent in the next 2 years – so by July 1, 2016 there will be no implied consent emails allowed for businesses.

Expressed Consent:
CLEARLY describe WHAT information they will receive, WHO will be sending, and they can OPT-OUT of future mail outs.  This should be communicated on your website, any email outs and ensure your sales representatives verbally mention this and write notes on the backs of collected business cards for paper trails.

So all this being said, what CAN’T you do vs. what CAN you do under CASL?

 CAN’T:

• Collect email addresses from websites randomly.
• Purchase mailing lists for email campaigns.
• DO NOT sell your mailing list to others!
• Have your opt-in forms on your website be automatically checked off for email subscriptions.
• All email outs MUST have an unsubscribe option, and clearly identify your business & contact info.

CAN:

• Send an Opt-In email to your customers. This way you convert them from Implied Consent customers to Expressly Consented customers and you have a paper trail of this.
• Networking events and exchanging business cards  is still a great way of connecting! When doing so, ask them if its ok that you email them about your products and services – if they agree, write that on the back of their business card and note the date. This is your paperwork trail and needs to be kept securely. You must be able to PROVE consent if asked.
• Create a contest to encourage more users to opt-into your email campaigns.  Run a promotion, give away an iPad to a winner, etc.

Not sure if you’re compliant with the new CASL laws or want to learn more about online marketing? Read more about Calgary Online Marketing strategies and drop us a line today to review your current marketing strategies!

Pinterest “Etiquette”

November 20, 2013 Leave a Response

Did you ever notice companies displaying posters and tarpaulins of the products they sell? They do this to inform viewers of these products and how it can benefit them. However, the impact they create is limited to the areas where they are displayed.

Pinterest provides a solution to this “limited space” problem. It allows businesses to pin photographs of their products and share it to the world. As simple as it sounds, Pinterest can actually be used as a serious tool to get your brand known to the world. However, to be able to do so, there are Pinterest “etiquettes” you need to follow:

1. Be respectful of other people’s pins. Keep your comments positive. As the old cliche goes, “if you have nothing good to say, then don’t say anything at all”.Simply refrain from liking or repinning a post if you don’t like what you see.
2. Share quality pins. Remember that everything you pin reflects your business. Make sure that your pins are aligned with your business. Keep things positive at all times and consider whether your target audience will find your posts useful and attractive.
3. Give proper attribution. In simpler words, give credit to where it is due. If a Pinterest site has a “Pin it” button, it means that they allow people to use their images. However, you still need to add credit information. On the other hand, if a site has decided to block users from pinning their images, then respect that decision even if know that you can obtain the image in another way. Unless you are given permission, do not pin images that aren’t yours. Never download images from the web and pin them as if you own them.
4. Never misdirect users for your own purposes. Do not pin links to sites that are not related to your post. If you misdirect users often, people will try to avoid your pins. This is surely the last thing you want to happen.
5. Be responsible for your pins and report inappropriate pins. Do so for the sake of the whole Pinterest community. Also, make sure that the images you pin are not offensive and do not contain nudity, hateful quotes, violence, suicide-related content.

Pinterest is considered to be one of social media’s “newest darling”. As social media’s newest darling, Pinterest is still growing and evolving. Therefore, it’s not easy to understand the network’s unstated rules of etiquette. Like other social media platforms, be a positive force by sharing interesting and useful images and engaging with others without infringing on copyright or intellectual property rights.