Step two: Double check your
unsubscribe process
Just as auditing your subscription process is
very important for complying with the CAN-SPAM
act, auditing your unsubscribe process is also
important. Amazingly, some companies have been
operating without any working unsubscribe process
whatsoever. Of course, the CAN-SPAM act mandates
a working unsubscribe in every email, but this
is something that every responsible email marketer
should have been doing all along anyway.
The action to take here is to physically test
your unsubscribe process with your own email
address. It's amazing how many times companies
think they have a working unsubscribe link, but
then ultimately find out that the link isn't
working properly at all. A non-working unsubscribe
link will certainly land you in hot water with
both your email subscribers and possibly the
FTC.
The second action of this step is to make sure
that your email unsubscribe handling technology
updates your source database in a timely manner,
so you’re not accidentally emailing that
person a second or third time after they've asked
to be unsubscribed from your list. This sounds
simple, but again, it’s stunning how many
companies fail to update their databases in a
timely manner following unsubscribe requests.
This
is especially difficult if you're using an email
service to conduct your email marketing campaigns,
since email services require that unsubscribe
requests be sent back to you in a batch, and then
consolidated with your source database. An easier
approach is to use email marketing software like
Campaign Enterprise
that automates this entire process for you: it
places the link in your outbound emails, it hosts
the unsubscribe confirmation page, and it writes
the unsubscribe requests back to your source database
in real-time, so that your data always reflects
the wishes of your subscribers.
No matter what approach you use, make sure your
unsubscribe process is working properly right
now, and is updating your database in a timely
manner.
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