Recently the first fine was handed down from the CRTC for violations of the new Canadian Anti Spam Legislation (CASL). The abuse had two parts:
- having no unsubscribe function
- content not relevant to those receiving it
Those two parts go hand-in-hand. If you have an unsubscribe function, subscribers can easily signal that the content isn’t relevant. (Tweet This!) And that’s likely the only step they’ll take.
This is a relatively easy solution to a risky situation. Reputable bulk email service providers (ESPs) are not that costly to use. It also sends a message to your subscribers that you care about their opinions and are willing to pay for them.
If you make unsubscribing easy, it will be a non-experience rather than a bad one – for both you and the subscriber.