Yes you can, however you need to comply with legal requirements. Otherwise you will be classifeid as spam.
- You need consent from the recipient,
- You need to clearly indentify your business and how you can be contacted,
- The ability to unsubscribe at no cost, this can be as simple as a line of text saying “To unsubscribe reply with unsubscribe in the title.”
- Adhere to the Privacy act.
What if I don’t comply with the legal requirements?
Failing to meet these requirements can result in court imposed penalties of up to $500,000.
How can I gain consent?
You cannot send commercial electronic messages if you do not have consent, Consent falls into 3 categories:
Express consent
This is where a person has explicitly given you the approval that is okay to send them messages. Such ways include:
- Filling in a paper form,
- Ticking a box on a website,
- Approval by phone or in a meeting.
Note: it is up to the sender to prove they had permission. So you should keep records of the approval.
Inferred consent
This is where the person has not directly give you consent to send a message, but there is a clear indication that they may receive a message. Inferred consent is limited to messages related to the business that consent was given for. Such ways include:
- Follow up after a sale,
- The exchange of a business card.
Note: If someone is in your existing address book, and they just have not asked to be removed, consent may not be implied.
Deemed consent
This is where a person publishes there contact details, they may receive relevant business information.
Note: if they express that they do not wish to receive unsolicited messages, consent is not given.