Having trouble sending email to your opt-out list? Don’t panic. We know the marketers in the room are getting nervous, but we’re not talking about sending marketing emails to unsubscribed contacts to boost sales and generate leads. Actually, we’re not talking to marketers at all.
Professional communicators: this one’s for you!
Sending emails to unsubscribed contacts is common practice for communications professionals working at universities, municipalities, in public service, or similar organizations. Why? Often, these communicators have a legal or contractual obligation to send essential emails their contacts must receive, even if they’ve unsubscribed from optional emails.
Are you a communicator stuck using marketers’ tools and need help sending mandatory emails to your contacts? Try Envoke – we are an email platform purpose-built for communicators! Our 30-day free trial period will give you full access to all our tools so you can fully evaluate Envoke and see if it’s the right fit for you.
Try Envoke today: Create a free trial account.
Email for communication, not lead generation.
- Includes ALL Envoke features.
- No credit card needed for trial.
- Free, unlimited support.
- Free coaching call with tech support (not sales).
Mailchimp and Constant Contact Don’t Let You Email Your Opt-Out List
Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp or Constant Contact have no tools to help you email your unsubscribe list. That’s because marketers send commercial messages to generate leads or sell products. Anti-spam regulations like CAN-SPAM in the US, CASL in Canada, and GDPR in Europe regulate these commercial emails and strictly forbid sending them to unsubscribed contacts, which is a good thing.
But when it’s time to send a mandatory email, communicators need a Mailchimp alternative, because it won’t accommodate the mandatory consent use-case.
Send Email To Your Opt-Out List With Envoke
So what do communicators do? Often, all they can do is hack the process. This might mean sifting out unsubscribed email addresses one by one, and sending them one at a time. It’s an error-prone, frustrating process that takes a very long time.
There is a better way. Envoke’s Mandatory Messaging lets you easily send emails to all contacts, even if they’ve unsubscribed.
How Does Envoke’s Mandatory Messaging Work?
If you can demonstrate a legal or contractual obligation to send Mandatory Messages, you can quickly set up the feature by contacting the Envoke support team. Start a support chat anytime! Once enabled, the feature is simple to use. Simply designate an email as mandatory in your Envoke settings, and every person on your contact list will receive the email, even if they are on your email opt-out list and have unsubscribed from optional content.
Every Mandatory Message you send has a note in the footer of the email explaining the reason for sending a Mandatory Message and a link where your contact can review their Subscription Preferences.
Is it Legal to Send Emails to Unsubscribed Contacts?
Yes, it’s perfectly legal for communicators to use Mandatory Messaging to send essential, non-commercial emails to unsubscribed contacts. Because they are not commercial in nature, these emails are not governed by anti-spam regulations like CASL. In fact, as we mentioned above, communicators often have a legal obligation to send these emails and they must demonstrate this reason to use the feature. Mailchimp is not built for communicators and won’t help in this scenario.
Mailchimp Charges You for Unsubscribed Contacts
By the way, there’s more to this story. If you’re a Mailchimp user, you know that Mailchimp won’t let you email your unsubscribes, but it will charge you for them. Why pay for contacts you are not actively using? Unlike Mailchimp, Envoke doesn’t charge for unsubscribed contacts and we offer straightforward pricing that automatically adjusts to your list size, avoiding the expensive overages that Mailchimp charges.
Why Do People Need to Email Their Opt-Out List?
Picture this: A local resident has unsubscribed to emails from her municipality, opting out of updates about road work alerts and library hours. No problem. But what happens when election time comes around and the municipality is contacting citizens to ensure they are on the voter’s registry? Everyone needs to receive that email, subscription or not, right? Obviously!
Many institutions across diverse sectors like universities, associations, regulators, healthcare, and the public sector have a duty to share mandatory information with their contacts and constituents.
Here are some more examples:
- Internal Announcements: Critical company updates for employees
- Safety Communications: Product recalls or urgent safety notices
- Public Alerts: Emergency notifications or vital public health information
- Educational Updates: Program changes or schedule adjustments for students
- Terms of Service: Important modifications to user agreements
Mandatory Doesn’t Mean “Everything”: Contacts Can Still Unsubscribe from Optional Messages
Mandatory Messaging is crucial for sending essential emails that organizations are obligated to send. But that doesn’t mean your contacts cannot opt-out from mail that is not mandatory. Envoke’s mandatory consent setting lets you differentiate between opt-in and mandatory consent to send email.
- Optional Communications: Content that contacts have opted in to receive.
- Mandatory Communications: Information that contacts must receive, regardless of subscription status.
This distinction offers peace of mind, knowing you can fulfill your communication obligations. Stakeholders will never miss out on the essential information they need.
Give your Contacts Options
Every mandatory message links to a page where contacts can request to be removed from your Mandatory Messaging list. Contacts cannot self-serve unsubscribe from Mandatory Messaging, so this page lets them explain why they are requesting removal (perhaps they have moved or retired and are no longer required to receive mandatory messages). Each request must be reviewed by an admin in your organization. By opening a dialogue, you reduce the chances your contacts will mark your emails as spam.
Key Benefits of Envoke for Communications Professionals
- Compliance: Easily align with opt-out regulations while ensuring critical updates reach the right people.
- Efficiency: Streamline mandatory communication processes, saving time and resources.
- Reliability: Reduce errors associated with manual email practices.
- User Experience: Maintain trust by clearly differentiating between essential and optional content.
FACT: The link to the Subcription Preferences page is critical. You can’t remove this and you shouldn’t. Without it, your emails may be classified as spam by spam filters before they even arrive at inboxes.
Communications professionals are not marketers, and they need different tools. Unlike traditional email marketing platforms, Envoke’s tools are purpose-built to meet the needs of communicators working in diverse sectors including education, public service, healthcare, and more. With powerful segmentation tools, customizable subscription management, straightforward pricing, and support for Mandatory Messaging, Envoke empowers organizations to deliver essential information while respecting user choices.
