CASL list segmentation
Segmentation is the key to tracking CASL consent

Unless you’ve been living in Gollum’s cave the last few months, you’ve probably heard that the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation- more fondly known as CASL- came into effect on July 1st.

The new rules have many marketers worried, especially those who rely on email campaigns and other modern marketing strategies.

But not us!

We’ve been to Mordor and back when it comes to digital marketing, and we’re excited to see increased open rates and more qualified leads in the sales funnel.

(If you’ve disregarded the email market as “dying”, then you’re missing out on your share of over $10 billion in revenue from 2013 alone.)

But the problem with email and CASL is, it can’t improve your campaigns without a little effort on your part.

If we’re expecting good things to come out of this legislation, then we need to be following the best practices for all our communications.

(If you’re not confident in your anti-spam knowledge, brush up on the CASL basics .)

The One List

I’m sure you’ve encountered an excel spreadsheet of “qualified” leads that are really cold calls, or maybe you have an impressive database of 10,000 contacts…all on one list. (And those lists will only continue to grow with email users increasing to an estimated 2.7 billion by 2017.)

The point is, one of the main things you should take away from CASL is that segmenting your “one list” into sublists is important.

(If you’re not already segmenting, take a moment to give yourself a slap on the wrist. Okay, now we can move on.)

Thinking that people are interested in everything you have to say might have worked in the pre-CASL land of the Shire, but the rest of Middle-earth are far less forgiving:

  • The riders of Rohan only want to hear about horses (breeding, grooming, the art of fighting orcs on horseback- you know, the usual)
  • The dwarfs just want the latest drool-inducing issue of Gems & Mithril Weekly
  • Saruman wants more tips on how to subvert grey wizards to do his bidding
  • And the rangers want to read the latest interview with Strider giving expert advice on surviving face-to-face encounters with cave trolls, orcs, and The Nine.
CASL email meme
Your contacts will hate irrelevant promotions

The Bottom-line is, everyone wants to hear about their precious, not yours. (This is as true in the real world as it is in Middle-earth.)

That’s why you need to segment – so you can tailor your message to a specific audience.

 

Separating the Orcs from the Men

Segmenting your “one list” will also help with tracking who has given you express consent and who hasn’t– a definite necessity since July 1st.

Not sure how to segment?

  • Any reputable email marketing platform will allow you to group or segment your list into different sublists that you can target for specific email types.
  • If you have a marketing database setup with segments for each customer type, you can contact the most relevant potential customer whenever you feel like it.
  • The customer will appreciate getting timely information about what they want- and you’ll get more sales as a result.
list segmentation
Targeted messages bring you closer to conversion

Smoke supply sales will soar when the wizards of Middle-earth get the latest issue of ‘Kicking back with Pipe Weed’!

And you better believe that 101 Recipes for Man-Flesh will be a big seller amongst the orc community in Mordor.

What’s not to like? Everyone wins!

This is why CASL is your new best friend. It forces you to be more relevant and targeted with your commercial communications.

The Fourth Age of Marketing

With new legislation comes a new age of digital marketing- but we’re only scratching the surface of what you can do with segmentation.

Platforms also allow you to:

  • Email the people who have been in your database the longest.
  • Email the hyper-responsive people who open and click on the links in all your emails.
  • Email customers and subscribers and market to them in different ways.

And yes, there will be times when mailing your entire list will make sense– like when you have a storewide 36 hour sale that really does apply to all of your customers.

So in the end, CASL is actually good news for you. It’s the kick in the pants and the accountability that is going to make email campaigns a whole lot more effective.

(Hooray for increased open rates!)

We hope you’re starting to see how segmentation is not only the right thing to do by the law, but the right thing to do for your business.

If you need help setting up an email database, getting CASL compliant, or putting together a kick-butt email marketing strategy– we’re here to help you out.

While the above information was sourced from credible resources, it should not be taken as binding legal advice- we advise you to seek professional legal council if you believe you have an issue.