Best practices for working with bulk email

To ensure that your message reaches your intended recipients and respects the current standards for acceptable bulk email practices, we suggest that you follow these guidelines when building and sending bulk emails.

SPAM email is a growing problem in Internet usage. To combat SPAM, bulk commercial email is now regulated in the United States, Australia, and a growing number of additional countries.

Do

• Use straightforward subject lines and message bodies. Misleading subject lines are a way to identify viruses and SPAM.
• State why the recipient is getting the message, for example, "You signed up for the Tech Deal of the Month list on Sep. 4, 2023."

If you get addresses from a co-reg (co-registration lead), tell the recipient where they signed up. Do not refer to general sources as "one of our marketing partners."

• Include instructions in telling users to allow your "Send from:" address in their SPAM rules.
• Promptly remove from your bulk emailing lists any addresses that you have been asked to remove.

Don't

• Use JavaScript or other security-challenged features in HTML mail. Most mail programs don't run JavaScript in mail messages anyway.
• Use "web bugs" (images with a CGI query string) in HTML mail messages. These are frequently used in SPAM to "confirm" address validity, and some mail clients will block them.
• Use IFRAME html tags in HTML mail messages; they are commonly used in viruses, and some virus-blockers will block them.
• Send huge messages. If your email contains large volumes of text, or large images, consider creating landing pages on your Web site with this information. You can then cut down your email copy and include links to the Web pages instead.
• Send marketing type emails to recipients that have Opted Out, for at least 30 days after they opted out the first time.