Industry News
In today’s regulatory environment, it’s hard to determine which is the best way to get your message across, and how to avoid lawsuits in doing so. There is a legal tightrope that all marketers must walk to comply with the consumer laws on record.
It started with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 which restricted the use of telephone and fax to deliver unsolicited calls, and required companies to keep their own list of names that have asked to be removed.
Then came the National No-Call Registry, which the FCC and FTC added to the TCPA. The constitutionality of the registry was just upheld last month (March 2004) in the US Court of Appeals. Fines can be up to $11,000 per violation. Some states have their own laws, which can be more restrictive than the national one.
Then there is CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing) which legislates e-mails and carries fines that can range from $100 per piece of spam to in excess of $3 million for repeat offenders.
The Direct Marketing Association has a Mail Preference Service (MPS), which allows individuals to opt out of mailing lists.
Now updates to CAN-SPAM and TCPA are being considered this month to extend to cell phones.
How do you comply with all of this legislation and still be able to reach out to your intended audience?
Telemarketers must check the Do-Not-Call Registry on a regular basis. (There is discussion on increasing how often they would be required to check the Registry.) E-mailers must keep a Do-Not-E-mail List that must be adhered to for every e-mail sent, even if it is not on a mass basis (so employees must be aware of your list as well). And Direct Mail campaigns must preclude your own Do-Not-Mail list.
These are all relatively attainable because they are within your control. You also need to guard against situations that are not within your control. These would include rented lists and co-op mailings. The best way is to have a suppression list for every medium, and to submit it every time you rent a list, or send your e-mail list to a mass mailer, or include it when you are giving your database to a mail house. And don’t forget to update your suppression lists as soon as there is a change.
You can still mail or e-mail someone on the Do-Not-Call list, as long as the name doesn’t appear on either of your mail or e-mail suppression lists, and the reverse is true. With vigilance and upkeep, you can still get your message across to your target market in any medium, or reach them through the method that they prefer.
© Copyright 2004 MDF Systems
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