Resubscribe Campaign

[Heather_Correa]

One of our departments would like to send an email to users that had previously unsubscribed asking if they would like to update their communication preferences and opt-in. Someone mentioned that we could legally email users who unsubscribed over a year ago. I could not find this in regards to CAN-SPAN and would love to know if this is in fact true. If so, is there a date range you can email unsubscribed users under CASL and GDPR?

[Amy_Goldfine]

From both a Marketo technical perspective and a legal perspective, if someone has Unsubscribed = True you can not send them a marketing email! The only exception is an "operational" or "transactional" email which is very narrowly defined (webinar confirmation, purchase confirmation, etc.). The same rules apply across CAN-SPAM, CASL, and GDPR, but the last two are much more strict in terms of enforcement and fines. Absolutely do not do it!

[Heather_Correa]

Thank you that's exactly what I thought.

[Amy_Goldfine · Accepted solution]

The one thing that they might be thinking of is expiring implied consent under CASL. When someone first shows interest in your company (fills out a marketing form, contacts Sales, etc.), they are giving you implied consent to email them. That consent expires either 6 months after the last inquiry, or 2 years after they stop being a customer. Many companies send emails when someone's implied consent is expiring, trying to get them to opt in to "express consent" which does not expire. But once the consent has expired, you have to wait for them to make another inquiry.

However, this assumes that you have set up a fairly sophisticated Marketo program for CASL with fields for consent and a consent date stamp.

[Heather_Correa]

Ok this sounds much more like what they are talking about. Thank you so much.