The short answer
Cold email to businesses is generally legal in the US under the CAN-SPAM Act, which does not require prior permission. It does require honesty about who you are and what you are sending, a real postal address, and a working way to opt out that you honor.
Does CAN-SPAM apply to business email?
Yes. The Federal Trade Commission's compliance guide says the law makes no exception for business-to-business email. Any commercial email, one sent mainly to promote a product or service, has to follow it, whether it goes to a consumer or to someone at their work address.
The seven requirements
The FTC summarizes the main requirements like this:
- Accurate header information. The From, To and Reply-To details must be accurate and identify who sent the message.
- An honest subject line. It must reflect what the email is actually about.
- Identify the message as an ad. Commercial email must disclose that it is an advertisement, clearly and conspicuously.
- Say where you are. Include a valid physical postal address.
- Explain how to opt out. Give a clear, conspicuous way to stop future emails.
- Honor opt-outs promptly. Within 10 business days, and do not sell or transfer the address.
- Watch what others do for you. If someone sends email on your behalf, you are both responsible.
What happens if you get it wrong
Each separate email that violates the law can bring civil penalties of up to $53,088, according to the FTC's guide. In practice, the bigger everyday risk for a small business is reputational: annoyed recipients, spam complaints and damaged sending domains.
Inbox providers have their own rules
Being legal is not the same as being delivered. Gmail and Yahoo require senders to authenticate their email and keep spam complaints low, with stricter rules for bulk senders. Our guide on how many cold emails to send covers what that means in practice.
Outside the United States
Other countries are stricter. Canada's anti-spam law and privacy rules in the UK and European Union generally require consent or a narrower legal basis before sending commercial email. DemandSwarm works with US businesses writing to US businesses for now.
How DemandSwarm handles this
Every email a swarm sends says who it is from, uses an honest subject line, includes the sender's real postal address, and honors every request to stop, right away. Anyone who asks to stop is not contacted again by that customer. Each email goes to one person about their work, never a blast. Customers agree to an acceptable use policy that rules out misleading claims.