What makes a follow-up email commercial?
ACMA's unsubscribe fact sheet says the spam laws apply to commercial electronic messages, and that a message which offers, advertises or promotes a product or service must comply, even if only one part of it does that. A quote follow-up saying 'we can start next week if you accept' promotes your service. A review request that adds 'ask us about our maintenance plans' promotes another service. An email that only answers the question the customer asked, with no offer, is a service reply. The test applies to the content, so the same template can move from one category to the other when someone edits it.
What consent does a commercial follow-up need?
ACMA describes two types of consent: express and inferred. Express consent is given by filling in a form, ticking a box on a website, over the phone or face to face. Record who gave it, when and how, because under the Spam Act it is up to you to prove consent. Inferred consent can apply where a person has a provable, ongoing relationship with your business and the marketing is directly related to that relationship. ACMA says inferred consent does not cover sending messages after someone has just bought something from you, and that you cannot send an electronic message to ask for consent, because that message is itself marketing.
For quote requests, the simplest route is an optional tick box on the enquiry form that asks permission to send follow-ups and offers, with the exact wording and the date stored next to the contact record.
Does an email enquiry give you consent to market?
ACMA lists this as a common mistake. Its guidance asks whether your business automatically adds consumer email addresses to marketing lists after a one-off purchase, or when someone has simply submitted an email enquiry, and says this may breach consent requirements. Answering the enquiry is a service reply. Putting the person into a nurture sequence or newsletter is marketing. ACMA also says automated welcome sequences sent to new and prospective customers are not exempt, because they often contain commercial content. Keep enquiry handling and marketing lists separate so automation cannot move a contact across without consent.
What must every commercial follow-up include?
Each commercial message must identify you as the sender and include your contact details. ACMA says to use the correct legal name of the business, or your name and ABN, and the details must stay correct for at least 30 days after the message is sent. If another business sends on your behalf, the message must still identify you as the business that authorised it. The unsubscribe must have clear instructions and be actioned within 5 working days. It must not charge a fee or cost more than the usual cost of replying, it must keep working for at least 30 days, and it must not require a login, an account or extra personal information.
How do AI drafting tools create spam risk?
A language model writing a follow-up tends to add helpful extras: a mention of another service, a seasonal offer, a link to book. Each addition can turn a service reply into a commercial message. Control this at the template level. Give each follow-up category fixed parts that the model cannot change, ban offers in service categories, and have a person approve drafts in categories that are allowed to promote. ACMA's fact sheet says your business is liable and you cannot outsource your risk, so a vendor's tool sending the message does not move responsibility away from you.
- Service categories: answer only, no offers, no links to other services.
- Reminder categories: invoice or booking facts only, template locked.
- Commercial categories: consent check before sending, sender details and unsubscribe in the template.
How should unsubscribe replies be handled?
People rarely type the exact word unsubscribe. They write 'please stop emailing me', 'take me off your list' or reply STOP to a text. Your inbox triage should catch these in any wording, add the address to a suppression list and action it within the five working days ACMA allows. The suppression list has to reach every tool that sends marketing for you, such as the CRM, the email marketing platform and any follow-up automation. ACMA also warns that messages encouraging people who withdrew consent to become a customer again or resubscribe may breach the rules.