The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) has gained an increasing amount of attention over the last few weeks. Although the legislation has been in the works since late last year it is only now that businesses have begun to understand the implications of this new law and the impact it will have not only on marketing teams but many other business units as well.
The law was put in place to eradicate online threats and to eliminate the perception of Canada being a safe haven for spammers. As an individual, the idea of a law that will provide more protection online is a welcome one. However, for businesses this means more work to ensure compliance. It’s the legislations broad terms, strict focus on message content, and technology neutral standards that have businesses scrambling to ensure compliance.
How will this affect me?
CASL is considered one of the harshest legislations of its kind. It requires that a sender receive consent from the recipient before any form of commercial electronic message (CEM) is sent. This new law has an international impact, as it applies to CEMs being sent to or from Canada as well as within. It’s important to note that a CEM is not restricted to emails. It is any form of digital communication which could include a text, Facebook message or a tweet. Even a message that does not have profits directly associated with it could be considered a CEM according CASL.
After July 1st you could find yourself facing hefty fines. For organizations, fines could be as high as $10 million and individuals could be facing up to $1 million in fines for non-compliance.
How do I prepare?
How do you avoid being mistakenly labeled as a spammer? Start revising your marketing practices now. For many organizations, this law will change the way they communicate with customers and potential customers. The key is having a CRM database that will track permissions and send emails based on these permissions. Having an up-to-date and accurate database is more important than ever.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM can make compliance simple while bringing additional functionality and value to your business. Many companies are tracking contacts in Outlook, others in a shared Excel spreadsheet or even an Access database. These tried and true methods will get the job done, but offer no additional functionality. Microsoft Dynamics CRM extends your capabilities and offers more than just a silo to store your data. Dynamics CRM allows you to categorize your contact list based on levels of consent – implied or expressed – and send tailored campaigns to these groups. The strength of CRM is the ability to form an all-encompassing record that includes all the information you may want to track. Therefore you can go to one common place to see all the information related to one customer. This makes it easy for your team to record when they’ve reached out to customers and more importantly received consent.
At Navantis we have completed many CRM implementations, and in many instances customized the platform to bring the most value to our customers. With the law taking force in a few short months there has never been a better time to learn more about how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can bring your business up to CASL standards and better your customer experience. Contact eamono@navantis.com, to discuss where to start and how Dynamics CRM can help you be better prepared.
(647) 258-9031
info@navantis.com
