The new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation has thrown advisors a few curveballs when it comes to reaching out to new and existing clients, requiring a re-think on how their email and databases should be utilized.
The new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation has thrown advisors a few curveballs when it comes to reaching out to new and existing clients, requiring a re-think on how their email and databases should be utilized.
The legislation – finalized in December 2013 – represented a serious shift in the way online communication works. In a previous WP article, lawyers at Miller Thomson characterized CASL as “one of the toughest laws of its kind in the world.”
While email marketing is a fairly simple and easy thing to do, there are quite a few steps that need to be taken to ensure that the campaign delivers optimal results, while following the strict CASL rules.
For those looking to build a client list, you need a way to send them email – and that means acquiring an email marketing service.
Once the list is assembled, then you need to manage it and ensure subscriber engagement, or risk getting lost with the rest of the spam in clients’ junk folders, or risk running afoul of CASL.
Tanner Holtman, an associate consultant with Investors Group, says that his company began implementing compliant requirements long before the July 1 deadline, “to ensure that we were completely ready for the new legislation.”
One of the keys to becoming CASL compliant is the inclusion of an “Unsubscribe” option to the initial email signature, and the addition of extra steps for “cold” prospecting in terms of documenting that communication.
“The biggest changes are similar to the Do Not Call legislation,” says John Easton, the director of wealth management CRM for Maximizer Services Inc., “as there are a few extra checkpoints you have to clear before you can make business emails to individuals.”
There are programs and software solutions for firms that need to be not just CASL compliant, but following the firm’s policies.
