Emailing people after they've unsubscribed?
I work for a charity that is putting on an event next month, a fundraising walk.
The event registration page was originally built with an email unsubscribe checkbox. People who checked this box got flagged in our back end as "do not ever email", i.e., unsubscribe is global.
Approximately 150 people checked this box. This means that not only do they not receive emails from us in general (which is OK, that is what unsubscribe does), they do not receive emails about the event (not OK - they are not going to get info about things like directions, parking, day-of-event instructions, etc.)
The original unsubscribe language was very general, so there is a good possibility that unsubscribers did not know they were unsubscribing from all our emails, even for the event for which they just registered.
The event registration page has since changed so that event registration constitutes a global email opt-in. So I am dealing solely with this group of 150.
I am being asked to email this group of 150 about the event (directions, parking, day-of-event instructions, etc.). We would still respect the general unsubscribe and thus not include these people on our regular email list.
How kosher is this? How would you handle this? First send them an email saying, "We know you unsubscribed, but...?" Could event-related emails to this group be construed as "transactional" and thus be OK to send despite the receivers unsubscribing?
Hi CL—It sounds like you're sending them logistical info they need to have in order to participate in the event they registered for, so I would classify that as "transactional". You'll want to be very careful not to veer into marketing territory, though—no promoting another event or asking for a donation. Keep it really straightforward. In the footer where you'd typically have an unsubscribe link, I'd call out that they're receiving that email because they signed up to participate in the walk and the email contains necessary logistical info for the day.
100% kosher. Unsubscribe does not equal "do not email ever". They need this information. Maybe use a different IP/service/from name etc to differentiate.
Thank you, Erin and Daniel, I appreciate the insight! I will take the advice of both you and do a send from a separate IP address with the "why you are getting this" language.
All due respect but I don't agree:
Unsubscribe 100% DOES mean "don't ever email me again".
Trying to use an alternative delivery service or deceptive From Name is basically saying "I know this is wrong, but i'm gonna try and be sneaky about how i do it so i can get away with this"
FIrst rule of the FCC page: Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
Many brands clarify on their unsubscribe confirmation page that the person will continue to receive transactional emails such as blank. If you don't spell that out on yours, that's a good addition to help better set expectations. That said, customers expect you to them vital event info after registering for an event.
That's really good insight, thanks! Our unsubscribe page needs a lot of work anyway. Boilerplate language about transactional emails would indeed be helpful there. I'll see if we can implement that.
I disagree with all above:
this is from the FCC website:
Q. How do I know if what I’m sending is a transactional or relationship message?
A. The primary purpose of an email is transactional or relationship if it consists only of content that:
Did all (or any) of the 150 people sign up for the event?
I think you could POSSIBLY have a legal argument (not defense) if you sent additional emails to "unsubscribed" people IF THEY SIGN UP FOR THE EVENT.
Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $40,654, so non-compliance can be costly.
Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
"The event registration page has since changed so that event registration constitutes a global email opt-in. So I am dealing solely with this group of 150."
This is not legally binding either.
you can state "by accepting these terms... I agree to receive emails about it" **BUT EVERY ** email must contain an opt-out method that over-rules any "global email opt-in"
He's indicating the recipients directly acted in a way communicating their interest in the event.
Yes, they have indicated they don't want to be contacted anymore.
Your citation proves you wrong.
Q. How do I know if the CAN-SPAM Act covers email my business is sending?
A. What matters is the “primary purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose, remember that an email can contain three different types of information:
Commercial content – which advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose;
Transactional or relationship content – which facilitates an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction; and
Other content – which is neither commercial nor transactional or relationship.
If the message contains only commercial content, its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the requirements of CAN-SPAM.
--> If it contains only transactional or relationship content, its primary purpose is transactional or relationship. In that case, it may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.
Hi,
Unsubscribe people click it means they are surely not interested. This can happen usually when their area of interest is not sent to them. It does not mean that no email should be sent to them. But having wrong header information like From Name or Subject line etc will be wrong practice.
In fact sending one more email asking about specifying reasons or providing preferences would be an optimum way to know them. At the end they are part of that brand, since they subscribed to that brand. In fact some of them would their customers. So an email to know about preferences or feedback on what made them unsubscribe can certainly be sent. That would eventually help brand understand their subscribers and built healthy relationship with them. Some might have just problem with getting promotional email. But then they might be interested in getting notification of something new in market.
So certainly, no more email after unsubscribe is not necessary but using another domain etc is not needed.
Thanks
Kevin
Email Monks
" It does not mean that no email should be sent to them."
Really? Please show me where in the law this is stated.
Again, from the FCC website "That means all email – for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law."
So here's my question about this audience of 150... have they somehow indicated that they are participating? If so, that makes any message you want to send into a Transactional message - only to those who have signed up.
If you are soliciting/inviting their participation, then it's a no-go because at the time they engaged with your opt-out form, the overly broad opt-out was the promise you made with them. You may need to reach out to them in a different manner, such as an outbound phone call or mailed postcard. (You could even make mention of the fact that "we're using this method because you've opted-out of ALL communications. If you'd like to receive emails regarding events, but not our other messages, please contact our office.")
If it's been any length of time since they opted-out, you're also looking at diminishing returns and may need to draw the funnel on the board for your stakeholders... (caution, the math will be fuzzy, but it may prove the point)
150 people
x 90-95% deliverability take your current average and reduce maybe 1% for each six months since you last emailed
x 10-20% open rate [take your current average and reduce by 25% to factor for this audience being less engaged) (13-28 people)
x response rate again, take off about 25% for this being a less engaged audience
Let's say my numbers are correct - then it's whatever % of 13-28 would typically sign-up, minus the curmudgeon factor (forget you, I told you not to email me!)
Unless your remaining audience is really small, you'd be much better served sending the rest of your audience another email asking them to recruit two friends to walk with them.
No matter what, best of luck on your fundraising effort!
James, yes, these 150 people each paid the fee to register for the event.
A global unsubscribe policy would mean that we can't send them logistical information about the event they paid to attend.
We've thought about reaching out to some of them in the different manners you indicated to see if they might want to opt in to our general email list. But the emails I am tasked with sending them are solely about the event. We would not email them after the event about non-event-related things, to respect the general unsubscribe.
Conceptually, I sort of equate this to buying a product from a retailer, unsubscribing from the retailer's email list, and still being able to get purchase receipt and shipping confirmation emails for the product I bought. But I'm open to being corrected on this analogy.
I missed that distinction. Yes, I think it's perfectly fine to email them (or at least I would if I were in your situation). You could even say that this communication is part of what they paid for.
" still being able to get purchase receipt and shipping confirmation emails for the product I bought. "
this is one of the examples of a transnational relationship
"facilitates or confirms a commercial transaction that the recipient already has agreed to;"
is this a receipt of a commercial transaction?
Hey Andrew,
A receipt for a commercial transaction is one example of a transactional/operational email. In this case, the transaction is the event which people have registered for. The email in question has details that registrants need to know in order to participate, much like a shipping notice would be part of a commercial transaction.
Another example is that for our Litmus Live conferences, we send an email the week before the conference letting people know pertinent logistical info that they need in order to attend the event—and we send that to everyone, regardless of opt-out status, because without that info, they can't attend the event they paid for. This is all in compliance with CAN-SPAM, which allows transactional emails that “delivers goods or services as part of a transaction that the recipient already has agreed to.” Sending logistical info about an event to someone who has registered for it could be classified as delivering a service.
"you may need to reach out to them in a different manner, such as an outbound phone call or mailed postcard. "
Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
that will be my last post on this thread - but i would suggest you consult with an actual Internet Attorney