Is ZoomInfo's interpretation of CAN-SPAM accurate regarding email marketing best practices?

Key findings

• Legal vs. Deliverability: The CAN-SPAM Act primarily addresses legal requirements, such as accurate headers, valid physical addresses, and an opt-out mechanism. It does not mandate explicit consent (opt-in) for commercial emails. However, legal compliance does not guarantee email deliverability or inbox placement.
• ESP and MBP Policies: Most ESPs and MBPs have far stricter policies than CAN-SPAM. They prioritize user experience and actively filter or block emails that are perceived as unsolicited, even if legally compliant. These policies often require clear consent or highly engaged recipients to ensure successful delivery.
• Sender Reputation Impact: Sending to purchased or unverified lists, even with an unsubscribe link, significantly risks damaging your sender reputation. This can lead to emails landing in spam folders or being blocklisted, regardless of CAN-SPAM compliance.
• Terms of Service Violations: Many ESPs explicitly prohibit the use of purchased or scraped email lists in their terms of service, making ZoomInfo's data usage potentially problematic for their customers. Violating these terms can lead to account suspension.

Key considerations

• Beyond Compliance: Focusing solely on CAN-SPAM compliance can lead to poor deliverability. A robust email strategy must go beyond legal minimums to ensure messages reach the inbox and engage recipients. For more on avoiding common pitfalls, see the dangers of scraping emails.
• Permission-Based Marketing: The most effective and deliverable email programs are built on permission, where recipients have explicitly agreed to receive communications. This reduces spam complaints and improves engagement.
• Understanding ESP Rules: Marketers must understand and adhere to the specific terms of service of their chosen ESP, which often includes policies against purchased lists and requirements for opt-in consent. For detailed compliance information, refer to the FTC's CAN-SPAM Act Compliance Guide.
• Email List Quality: Prioritizing clean, opt-in email lists is crucial for long-term deliverability success, as it minimizes bounces, spam complaints, and the risk of hitting spam traps.

Key opinions

• Terms of Service Over Law: Marketers frequently highlight that ESP terms of service are often more restrictive than CAN-SPAM, making compliance with these terms essential for continued service access. Violating these rules can lead to account termination, regardless of legality.
• Beyond Legality: The CAN-SPAM Act may permit cold emails with an opt-out, but marketers stress that deliverability is heavily influenced by recipient engagement and whether the email is perceived as spam, which legal compliance alone cannot guarantee.
• Data Quality Challenges: While data sources like ZoomInfo offer extensive contact information, marketers often find the accuracy of email addresses to be a significant challenge, leading to high bounce rates and potential deliverability issues.
• Reputation Risk: Sending to purchased or unverified lists, even with the intention of being compliant, carries a substantial risk of damaging a sender's reputation, potentially resulting in emails going directly to the spam folder.

Key considerations

• Buyer Beware: Marketers should critically evaluate claims about compliance from data providers and understand that legal compliance does not equate to effective email marketing or inbox placement.
• Prioritize Deliverability: It is crucial to focus on building engaged lists through opt-in methods and maintaining high data quality, rather than relying solely on the minimum legal requirements.
• Long-term Strategy: Prioritizing short-term gains from purchased lists over long-term email best practices can severely harm sender reputation and overall marketing effectiveness. This can lead to a sunk cost.
• Verify Data Sources: Even when using data enrichment tools, marketers need to implement robust email verification processes to minimize invalid addresses and protect their sender reputation.

Key opinions

• Mailbox Provider Policies Reign: Experts assert that ESP and MBP policies are driven by what is needed for successful message delivery, not solely by legal frameworks like CAN-SPAM. These policies are designed to protect their users from unwanted mail.
• Consent is Key for Deliverability: While CAN-SPAM permits cold emails with an opt-out, experts from sites like Word to the Wise highlight that mailbox providers prioritize user experience, making emails sent without explicit consent highly susceptible to spam filtering.
• Data Purchase Pitfalls: Experts note that the purchase of data, often justified by its targeted nature, frequently leads to deliverability issues because recipients did not explicitly opt in, undermining the very audience marketers attempt to reach.
• Reputation Management: Maintaining a positive sender reputation is paramount. Sending to disengaged or unverified contacts, even if legally permissible, negatively impacts reputation and inbox placement.

Key considerations

• Holistic Deliverability: Email deliverability is a multi-faceted challenge that extends beyond mere legal compliance. Factors like engagement, sender reputation, and complaint rates are crucial.
• Abuse Prevention: ESPs and MBPs develop their policies as a constant struggle against abuse and to protect their infrastructure and users, not just to avoid legal liability. This directly impacts email blocklists.
• Understanding Provider Rules: Email senders must thoroughly understand and adhere to the specific policies of their ESPs and the major mailbox providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook), as these are the real gatekeepers of the inbox.
• Educate Clients: Experts recommend educating clients on the nuances of email deliverability, emphasizing that good sending practices are essential for long-term success and cannot be circumvented by legal loopholes.

Key findings

• CAN-SPAM Requirements: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) details that the CAN-SPAM Act requires commercial emails to have accurate header information, non-deceptive subject lines, a clear indication that it's an advertisement, a valid physical postal address, and a clear, conspicuous opt-out mechanism that is honored within 10 business days.
• No Opt-in Mandate: CAN-SPAM does not require senders to obtain opt-in consent before sending commercial emails. This is a key legal distinction often misinterpreted as sufficient for good email practices.
• ESP Terms vs. Law: While not part of CAN-SPAM, most ESPs (e.g., Mailchimp, HubSpot) have acceptable use policies that are far more stringent, often requiring explicit permission or prohibiting purchased lists, to maintain their own sending reputation and deliverability. This can impact whether individual sales emails require CAN-SPAM compliance.
• Authentication Standards: Technical documentation, such as RFCs, defines email authentication standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are crucial for verifying sender identity and preventing spoofing, directly impacting deliverability regardless of CAN-SPAM.

Key considerations

• Beyond Legal Compliance: While the CAN-SPAM Act sets the legal floor, businesses aiming for high deliverability rates must adopt practices that exceed these minimums, focusing on recipient consent and engagement.
• Adherence to Provider Policies: Marketers should always consult the terms of service and acceptable use policies of their chosen ESP and be aware of common unprofessional email marketing tactics, as these often dictate deliverability more directly than the law.
• Technical Setup: Proper implementation of email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is a fundamental technical requirement for deliverability, distinct from content-based legal compliance. The FTC's guidance focuses on legal rather than technical aspects.
• User Experience Focus: Mailbox providers' spam filtering algorithms heavily weigh user engagement and complaint rates. Even legally compliant emails can be filtered if recipients mark them as spam, indicating a lack of desired content.