You open your email and see 5 more ads asking if you’d like to meet THE cutest-50-and-up-singles in your area and you think, “Why do I keep getting these emails and how do I make them stop? Is there anyone I can talk to about this? Who can I get even with?”
All vengeful feelings aside, here’s what you need to know about SPAM emails.
What makes an email SPAM?
Does your message offer you the chance to win a, “$$$million$$$ dollar sweepstakes!!!!!$$$!!?” Are you going to get, “The latest and GREATest revolutionary onion chopper for FREE!!! (shipping and handling not included)?”
SPAM emails are normally so absurd they’d be laughable if you weren’t getting 20 plus a day. Some traits of SPAM include:
• ludicrous language and offers (unbelievable, wacky, nonsensical … I could keep going)
• abusive use of punctuation (too many exclamation points is offensive)
• the message could be written to anyone (emails starting, “Hello Sir/Madame,“ belong in a SPAM folder )
Have you asked them to stop?
By law, every commercial email you receive must include:
• an easily accessible opt-out or “unsubscribe” button
• their address or a physical mailing address
• who the email is from and how to reach them via the internet
I pushed that unsubscribe button thing and nothing happened!
Companies do have 10 days to comply with your unsubscribe request so it can take a few days to see results. Now I know you’re thinking, “Isn’t there a master unsubscribe list so that I can click once and be done?”
The answer is, unfortunately not. We here at UnsubCentral manage opt-out lists for our clients. Not only are we trying to help our clients stay compliant but we want to make sure their customers are happy. That makes our clients happy and us happy.
Who is ultimately responsible for unwanted emails?
The advertiser and the sender of the unwlecome email is responsible for keeping track of opt-out lists. UnsubCentral helps make this process easier and more effective by hosting unsubscribe lists for our clients.
SPAM Fighting Bonus!
There are a few things you can do to combat SPAM:
• Push that unsubscribe button, that’s why it’s there! While the sender has 10 days to honor it, odds are you’ll be off their list within a day.
• Be aware of who you’re giving your email.
• For more tips and resources for reporting SPAM check out the links to OnGuardOnline, Yahoo, and Gmail at the bottom of our
resource page
I sincerely hope this has helped lower your blood pressure when it comes to CAN-SPAM compliance. If you start to see red again, give us a call. We have a few more tips up our sleeve and would be happy to share them!
