In communications, email marketing, and marketing in general, permission became a fuzzy word open to interpretation. That is, the interpretation on the part of the sender and that of the recipient. However, since the passage of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, there are guidelines that make it clearer for you. Let’s get into some specific scenarios so it’s clear what Maple Street Mail considers permission:
The Type of Permission You MUST Have
You can only email subscribers using Maple Street Mail if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways:
- They opted in via your website
- They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed
- They gave you their business card
- They purchased something off you in the last 2 years
Scenarios That DON’T Equate to Permission
- You obtained the email addresses from a third party
- You scraped or “copy and pasted” the addresses from the Internet
- You haven’t emailed that address for more than 2 years
The Type of Permission You MUST Have
You can only email subscribers using Maple Street Mail if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways:
They opted in via your website
They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed
They gave you their business card
They purchased something off you in the last 2 years
Scenarios That DON’T Equate to Permission
You obtained the email addresses from a third party
You scraped or “copy and pasted” the addresses from the Internet
You haven’t emailed that address for more than 2 years
