It involves using email to send advertisements, request business, or solicit sales or donations.
In 1978, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent out the first mass email[1] to approximately 400 potential clients via the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET).
He claimed that this resulted in $13 million worth of sales of DEC products,[2] and highlighted the potential of marketing through mass emails.
The GDPR in 2018 imposed "a number of new requirements on companies that collect, store and process personal data from EU users, which impacts email marketers" - in particular, users' right to access information held about them; and the right to have all such information deleted at their request.
[citation needed] The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was passed by Congress as a direct response to the growing number of complaints over spam emails.
[23] However, it does not ban spam emailing outright, but imposes laws on using deceptive marketing methods through headings which are "materially false or misleading".
In addition, there are conditions that email marketers must meet in terms of their format, their content and labeling.
As a result, many commercial email marketers within the United States utilize a service or special software to ensure compliance with the act.
The service providers supply email templates and general best practices, as well as methods for handling subscriptions and cancellations automatically.