[July 17, 2014] |
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Canadian Small Businesses Not CASL-Ready According to New Constant Contact Survey
TORONTO & VANCOUVER, British Columbia --(Business Wire)--
Canada's long-anticipated Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) came into effect
July 1, ushering in a new era for online marketing. However, new
survey data from Constant
Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) reveals that the majority
of Canadian small businesses do not fully understand the law and how to
be compliant and have taken limited action to date to adhere to the new
regulations. Less than half of Canadian small businesses (42 percent)
feel they understand how to be CASL compliant. Just 33 percent of
Canadian small businesses are aware of the penalties associated with
CASL non-compliance.
"Despite the fact that CASL came into force July 1, it's clear that
small businesses are behind the curve when it comes to fully
understanding the new legislation and what steps they need to take to be
compliant," said Lisa Kember, regional director for Canada East at
Constant Contact (News - Alert). "Getting educated is the first step to being CASL
compliant, and ultimately, achieving marketing success. Constant Contact
has free CASL resources available to help small businesses and
organizations, both in terms of education and marketing tools, to enable
them to become compliant marketers."
Delayed CASL Preparations
Despite the long ramp-up to CASL's enforcement, Canadian small
businesses appear to be just starting to adapt their marketing to adhere
to CASL regulations. Only 29 percent of Canadian small businesses
surveyed began preparations for CASL before July 1. Another 21 percent
of respondents reported that they would begin preparing soon, while the
remaining half was evenly split by small businesses that were either
uncertain about when they would begin preparing (25 percent) or were not
planning to make any changes or preparations at all (25 percent). Time
and resources are always an issue for small businesses and, not
surprisingly, are playing a role in small businesses' lack of
preparation. One-third of respondents expressed concern about finding
the time and resources to ensure CASL compliance.
The small businesses taking steps to prepare for CASL are largely
focused on:
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Educating themselves about regulations and how to be compliant (85
percent)
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Reviewing current email contact lists to ensure proper permissions
were in place (59 percent)
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Keeping records of when, where, and how permission to email was
obtained (51 percent)
Limited action is being taken when it comes to other aspects of CASL
compliance:
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35 percent of respondents are working to obtain express consent to
continue emailing those contacts they had implied permission to contact
-
28 percent have deleted contacts from their lists if they did not have
permission to email them
-
28 percent have included opt-in check boxes in online transactions
allowing customers informed of CASL to join their email lists
-
15 percent have posted the necessary legal language on physical email
list sign-up sheets (e.g., in a store)
CASL Concerns
When asked to share their biggest concerns about CASL, the following
responses rose to the top:
-
Feeling uncertain about what needs to be done to comply (44 percent)
-
Collecting express consent for existing lists of email contacts (41
percent)
-
Managing/ tracking email permissions from contacts (39 percent)
"The relative inaction on the part of small businesses, and their
uncertainty about what needs to be done, underscores the need for CASL
education," said Guy Steeves, regional director for Canada West at
Constant Contact. "While there is a grace period for some aspects of
CASL, all businesses need to be taking action at this point. By focusing
on permission-based marketing the way CASL outlines, small businesses
will avoid possible penalties and at the same time set themselves up for
marketing success."
Mixed Expectations of CASL's Impact
Most Canadian small businesses surveyed think CASL will be good for
consumers and businesses but are less certain of the direct impact on
their own businesses. More than half (63 percent) think CASL will be
good for consumers and 58 percent of businesses believe CASL will
help mitigate spam. Another 44 percent think CASL is good for businesses
in general but when asked if they thought CASL would have a positive
impact on their business, only 23 percent agreed, while 47 percent were
neutral/ had no opinion, 22 percent disagreed, and 8 percent did not
know.
Sentiments of neutrality and uncertainty also rose to the top when
participants were asked specifically about how they thought CASL would
impact their business. The majority expect CASL will not impact their
profitability, gross revenues, and number of customers.
Impact on Marketing
When asked how CASL will impact their marketing, 43 percent of
respondents said that they do not think it will limit their reach. When
asked specifically about CASL's impact on email marketing activity, most
respondents reported that their efforts will remain largely unchanged:
-
45 percent said they would do the same amount of email marketing
-
20 percent said that they would do less email marketing
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4 percent said that they would stop doing email marketing
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3 percent said that they would do more email marketing
"At this point it just seems too soon to tell what the true impact of
CASL will be," said Kember. "From what we have seen in our many years of
helping small businesses, those that embrace a permission-based approach
are able to achieve stronger results and greater success."
For more information on CASL, visit Constant Contact's CASL Resource
Center: constantcontact.com/casl
About the Data
This data was compiled from a Constant Contact-sponsored survey,
deployed to a Research Now panel of 500 Canadian small businesses in
June 2014. The survey is the first of an ongoing series addressing the
impact of CASL for small businesses across Canada.
About Constant Contact®, Inc.
Constant Contact helps small businesses do more business. We have been
revolutionizing the success formula for small businesses, nonprofits,
and associations since 1998, and today work with more than 600,000
customers worldwide. The company offers the only all-in-one online
marketing platform that helps small businesses drive repeat business and
find new customers. It features multi-channel marketing campaigns
(newsletters/announcements, offers/promotions, online listings,
events/registration, and feedback) combined with shared content,
contacts, and reporting; free award-winning coaching and product
support; and integrations with critical business tools - all from a
single login. The company's extensive network of educators,
consultants/resellers, technology providers, franchises, and national
associations offer further support to help small organizations succeed
and grow. Through its Innovation Loft, Constant Contact is fueling the
next generation of small business technology.
Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered
trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names
and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names
may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
(CTCT-F)
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