CAN-SPAM Checklist for B2B Cold Email
· 4 min read
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and differ by country and by state. If you send at scale, ask a lawyer who knows where you and your recipients are.
People often believe CAN-SPAM only covers newsletters to consumers. It does not. In the United States it applies to any commercial email, including a business writing to another business. A cold email that offers your services is commercial email.
CAN-SPAM does not require the recipient's permission before you send the first message, which is why it is called an opt-out law. It requires that you are honest and that you stop when asked.
The seven rules, in plain words
| # | Rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do not use false or misleading header information | The From, To and routing details must be accurate. The name and address must really be yours. |
| 2 | Do not use deceptive subject lines | The subject must match what the message is about. No fake "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first email. |
| 3 | Identify the message as an advertisement | Make clear that it is a commercial message. The law leaves the wording to you; saying plainly that you are offering a service is the usual way. |
| 4 | Tell recipients where you are | Include a valid physical postal address: a street address, a post office box registered with the postal service, or a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail receiving agency. |
| 5 | Tell recipients how to opt out | A clear, easy way: a reply that says STOP, or an unsubscribe link. It must work without a fee and without more than a simple step. |
| 6 | Honor opt-out requests promptly | The law allows up to ten business days. Do it at once: stop the same day. |
| 7 | Monitor what others do on your behalf | If an agency, a contractor or a tool sends for you, you are still responsible. |
The details that catch people out
- The opt-out must work for a period after you send. The mechanism has to stay working for at least thirty days after the message.
- You cannot make people jump through hoops. No login, no payment, no forms asking for more than their email address.
- An opt-out covers the sender, not one campaign. If someone opts out of one email, do not write to them from another campaign or another mailbox of the same business.
- Do not sell or hand on the address of someone who opted out, except to a company that helps you comply.
- Penalties are per message. Each violating email can carry a civil penalty of tens of thousands of dollars, and the figure is adjusted every year.
A checklist you can paste into your process
Before a campaign:
- The From name and address are really mine.
- My postal address is in the footer.
- The footer says how to opt out.
- The subject describes the message honestly.
- The message makes clear that I am offering a service.
- I have a single list of people who opted out, shared across every campaign and mailbox.
After sending:
- Replies that say STOP, "unsubscribe" or "remove me" are acted on the same day.
- Nobody is written to again after opting out.
- Anyone who sends for me follows the same rules.
Other countries are different
CAN-SPAM is only one set of rules. A message sent from the United States to a business in another country is also subject to that country's rules.
- The United Kingdom and the European Union generally ask for more than opt-out. The rules treat a limited company differently from a person, and in the United Kingdom sole traders and some partnerships are treated like individuals. Local rules vary from country to country.
- Canada's anti-spam law requires consent for commercial messages, with narrow exceptions for publicly published business addresses. Check them before you rely on them.
If your list crosses borders, do the checks per country, or write only where you are sure.
What this means for how you send
Make the legal minimum the default, not an afterthought:
- Put the postal address and the opt-out in every message, not only the first.
- Keep one shared opt-out list. AyePin keeps a do-not-contact list across campaigns, checks it when you approve a message and again at the moment of sending, and puts your postal address and an unsubscribe link in every email.
- Handle replies carefully: how to handle STOP and "not interested" replies.
For the writing itself, see a cold email template for local business owners.