How Canada's Anti-Spam Laws Impact Your Email Marketing Campaigns

This year Canada began implementing Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), which targets spammers. The U.S. first passed the CAN-SPAM law in 2003 that also targeted spammers, however, the CASL is set to impose more severe consequences. These can include multi-million dollar civil penalties and even grants permission to authorities to hold individual officers of a business responsible. How does this affect you and what can you do to protect yourself?

Marketers need to pay attention to their mailing lists and be aware if they have any subscribers in Canada. In the U.S., CAN-SPAM refers only to email lists and the regulations are still pretty lenient. Emails simply must contain the following: a mailing address, either a phone number, email, or web address, and an unsubscribe mechanism.

Canada's CASL however, refers not only to email, but SMS, text messages, and to some phone calls as well.The new legislation requires that email recipients give consent before they receive any commercial email. Even if you are sending the content from the U.S., if it is opened in Canada, you need prior consent.

Opt-in email services, which require customers to sign up and acknowledge registration, are a great way to protect yourself from this. While the CASL will not take full effect until 2017, now is a great time to review your opt-in practices, and consider re-opting in any Canadian subscribers you have.

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SEO Truths You Need To Know

The one thing you can expect from search engines is that they are always changing. What worked well last year, or even last month, may not be the case today. If your company is not taking a proactive approach with online marketing and SEO, you can bet your competition is. The following tips will help you get back in the game.

Integrate Your Online and Offline Efforts

Gone are the days of separated marketing departments. In order to be truly successful online and offline, your SEO, paid search, social media, content marketing, etc, all need to work together in order to create a total brand experience. Your online presence influences your sales, and your sales have an impact on your online reputation. 

You Do Not Own Your Rankings

Ultimately, what Google thinks, goes. Therefore, while you may achieve a high-ranking status, it is not yours to own. It is essential that you continuously work to give Google a reason to respect your business, and be careful not to fall into the rut of only focusing on new traffic. Do not assume that your current rankings will remain forever. Rankings change all the time and losing your search engine rank could put a huge dent in your traffic. Make sure that you are constantly working to maintain and improve your position.

Consult an SEO Expert before Making Site Changes

When making any type of changes to your website, be sure to include an SEO strategy. Even minor changes can quickly kill your traffic. With reduced traffic, you will see decreased sales. Your SEO expert will make sure all necessary redirects are put in place, page URLs are defined, meta descriptions and title tags are appropriate, and duplicate content is avoided. As long as these migrations are properly completed, you will avoid any penalties and decrease in traffic.  

Effective Plans Take Time

One of the biggest things to remember is that SEO is not simply a piece of the pie, rather it is the entire buffet. A good SEO strategy should not only be making one-time changes to your website. Rankings cannot be easily manipulated or “fixed” and an effective strategy requires long-term, continuous efforts.

Everything regarding your brand is connected, and when a change is made online or offline, the effects are felt everywhere. It needs constant attention and ongoing work. New forms of technology are constantly being created, therefore the way people are searching is constantly changing. Make sure that your business is staying ahead of the game.

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Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Pinterest Account?

Pinterest is quickly becoming more and more popular for businesses. If your business is on Pinterest make sure that you are getting the most out of your efforts. When users look at Pins on Pinterest they can click on the image and be taken to a link. Too many businesses are making the mistake of sending these users to a link with nothing more than that image (ex. goo.gl/aQlPq6).

If you are posting company photos to your Pinterest page, make sure that you are linking them to your website to get the most website traffic out of your social media efforts.  Here’s how:

1.       Log in to your Pinterest account.

2.       Click on your profile name in the upper right-hand corner.

3.       Select “Your Profile & Pins” from the drop down menu.

4.       Select the board that you want to edit a pin for.

5.       Hover over the pin that you want to edit. Click on the pencil that appears in the upper right-hand corner of the pin.

6.       In the text box labeled “Source” type the URL that you would like to have your pin sent to. Make sure that the link is related to the pin and do not try to be deceiving. 

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B2B Tips for Twitter

In order to have a legitimate online presence, you need to have a social media strategy in place. One of the most popular social platforms is Twitter. They are reported to have over 115 million users every month! How can you make sure your business is getting the most out of this monster social network?

For starters, schedule out Tweets, and do not be afraid to share control of the account. Assign a few employees to regularly post on Twitter. This gives your followers various perspectives, as well as guarantees your account to remain fresh and active.

Search for business phrases industry specific to you and join in on conversations. This is a great way to grow your brand and potentially join in on industry events as well. The more recognized your name, the more you are seen as an authority in your field.

Twitter is also a great place to learn about your customers. Look for feedback on both your brand and your distributors, and learn about what motivates customers to seek you out.

While it may seem obvious, make sure to avoid talking negatively about your competitors. The more positive and knowledgeable you are,the more credible your brand becomes.

Use a URL shortener. Not only is this more aesthetically pleasing, but with Twitter's limited character requirements, you are able to add more substance to your Tweets.

Lastly, analyze your Twitter results with a site like followerwonk.com. Here you will be able to find out information such as who are your followers? Where are they located? When are they most likely to read your Tweets?

Using these Twitter Tips will help get your business on the right track for social media success!

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