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CASL has no impact on email marketing practices at most companies: survey

Nearly a year since Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) went into effect and 70% of businesses say they haven’t changed their email marketing practices at all, according to a new survey.
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Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Small businesses confused by new anti-spam laws

Nearly a year since Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) went into effect and 70% of businesses say they haven’t changed their email marketing practices at all, according to a new survey.

Research released from Constant Contact (NASDAQ:CTCT) June 1 found 13% of businesses have decreased their email marketing activity while 2% have stopped email marketing altogether since CASL went into effect in July 2014.

The survey also found 65% of businesses have not changed the makeup of their mailing lists over the past 11 months and 10% have actually increased the size of their lists.

“There’s a huge untapped potential out there for well-done, permission-based email marketing,” Guy Steeves, Constant Contact’s regional director for Canada West, told Business in Vancouver.

“Social media has had so much cache and excitement over the past give years that email, in some cases, has taken a backseat but people don’t realize it’s the combination of the two.”

The new legislation has seen high-profile fines levelled against Quebec-based Compu-Finder and Vancouver’s PlentyOfFish dating website, after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) determined those companies had violated CASL.

While Constant Contact’s survey results determined CASL has had little impact on businesses, April research from email security firm Cloudmark determined spam originating from Canada has dropped 37% since CASL was introduced last year.

The survey was conducted in April 2015 and examined responses from 501 small businesses and 502 consumers.

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