Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is a very hot topic at the moment, and we better get used to it because it’s here to stay. We have to buckle down and play by the rules. CASL applies to any electronic message sent for commercial purposes, including, of course, email marketing. As a Canadian company or organization you are required to comply.
The most popular US-based email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Get Response, Aweber, iContact, etc.) may not the best tools if you want to comply with CASL.
Here are the 3 main reasons:
Complete consent history
The CRTC requires you to save complete consent history for each of your subscribers.
Before we get any further, it’s important to understand the difference between implied and express consents. When the person has given you his / her consent to receive your communications (eg subscribed to your newsletter from your website), this is an express consent. When you can demonstrate a business relationship with a person without having their consent to send communications, then it is an implied consent.
Let’s look at a common scenario. You add an active client to your subscription list. Which gives you an implied consent. A year later, this same person fills out a form on your website to sign up to your newsletter. At this point, your email marketing platform updates the contact profile and replaces the proof and date of consent with the new express consent. Which causes you to lose any prior proof of consent.
In other words, popular platforms update (or overwrite) the consent of a contact without keeping the complete history. This becomes problematic when you have to prove consent going back one, two, or even three years!
Cyberimpact on the other hand was made to help you comply with CASL efficiently. Contact consent history is thus preserved in its entirety, even if the person unsubscribes, re-registers, passes from an implied consent to an express consent, etc.
Contact and consent management executed according to list type
When it comes to importing a contact list into your email marketing platform, it may seem very simple, you import your Excel or CSV and you’re done. But remember, if that’s the case, there are very important components missing for CASL compliance.
On the contrary, Cyberimpact applies the necessary information needed for CASL compliance, depending on the type of consent. Click here to learn more about this feature.
To ensure the seamless management of consents, Cyberimpact will also send you a monthly consent expiry report, which will allow you to take action.
Transforming implied consents into express consents
In addition, Cyberimpact has an automated way help you turn implied consents into express consents. The consent block! When you add a consent block to your emails, only people who haven’t yet subscribed will see a link they can click to confirm their consent (express). Once they click on it, they will stop receiving it. You add this block to your campaigns with a few clicks, and the system does the rest of the work for you!
Why not use a custom-made tool
Don’t get me wrong the popular platform you are using today is probably great tool. Obviously, these companies would not be so successful if their tool wasn’t up to par. However, the fact is that Cyberimpact has developed a tool with CASL compliance in mind every step of the way. Therefore makes it the best tool to address the specific needs of small businesses and organizations in Canada.
Not a Cyberimpact user yet? Give it a shot.
Other than making it much easier to comply with Canada’s Anti-Spam Law, let’s look at other benefits of using Cyberimpact over american solutions such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Get Response, Aweber, iContact, etc.
Data stored in Canada
It goes without saying that these popular american platforms store their data in the U.S., and use local servers, which means that the US government could have access to your data; they have a different privacy policy than the one we have here in Canada. Some entities such as banks, insurers, government entities, etc. have the obligation to store customer data in Canada; Cyberimpact makes this possible. The emails are also sent from Canadian servers, which may lead to faster and all around better deliverability, which is a huge bonus!
Better deliverability rates
The opt-out law in the US allows more users to send out mass mailings to strangers, which may promote the purchase of lists. Sure on the surface it sounds like our American friends have it made, it sure does sound a lot easier than the opt-in law we have here in Canada. But don’t be fooled, let’s dig a little deeper. There is a downside to this, as it can affect everyone’s deliverability rate. When someone who is using the same servers you are, gets flagged for spam, or gets too many hard bounce backs because of inactivity or undeliverable mail, it will affect the server’s reputation, and lowers the general delivery rate. Which in turn will cause your emails to start automatically falling into spam. Think of it as everyone getting detention after class, because that one kid was misbehaving. It seems totally unfair, but that’s how it works. Keep in mind that Cyberimpact has very strict policies on keeping their reputation and score up to par.
Guidance
Most email marketing platforms only offer support to their paying customers. Sure they have some self serve tools, but I get frustrated just using self-checkout at the grocery store. Whatever happened to human interaction? If you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate having a go to person to contact if you get stuck. Cyberimpact offers the same 5 star treatment across the board. Whether you have no contacts or 10 000 contacts, you will have access to the customer service team. They are available 9-5 (from coast to coast), by phone or chat.
Cyberimpact doesn’t just provide support, they are with you every step of the way giving you the tools you need to eventually become self-sufficient. Think of them as your partner, not just an email solution. They facilitate a weekly introductory webinar in both official languages, French and English, for new users. They also have an extensive library of articles and webinars always available for your perusal. They understand that before you’ll be able to maneuver the platform on your own, you may need some guidance. After all, you’re not a marketer, and they expect everyone to learn at their own pace.
Simplicity
Cyberimpact is a small Canadian business, who specializes in meeting the needs of small businesses in Canada, so they sure do know their clientele. Cyberimpact really understands that simplicity is a winner when it comes to providing an email marketing platform to non-marketers. But don’t take my word for it, see what their clients have to say!
Even though popular platforms claim to be great solution for businesses of any size, the amount of advanced features they have available makes them the perfect solution for more advanced users with a little more technical knowledge. Which is usually not the case for your regular small business owner.
Bilingual campaigns
If you’re thinking of marketing your business across Canada, a bilingual solution will definitely come in handy. Even though the English language dominates in Canada, why not maximize your sales by targeting French speaking areas as well. Believe it or not, there are francophones scattered around the country in every province. Not only can you use the platform in the language of your choice, you can also choose to have your campaigns in English or in French. This means that every link your contacts click, or every footer text, by default, will be in your audience’s preferred language.
If you’re a small business owner in Canada, and you’re using email marketing, you should reevaluate and give Cyberimpact a try, if not for the CASL compliance, try it for the additional benefits. And the best part is that you’d be supporting a Canadian business. After all, Canadians have to stick together, eh!
Do yourself a favor and make your own comparison.