Digital Marketing Proficiency13% of the exam
CAN-SPAM, GDPR and sender authentication rules
The CAN-SPAM content and unsubscribe rules, when GDPR applies, how to order mixed transactional and commercial content, why purchased lists break the anti-spam policy, and how SPF, DKIM, DMARC and the Google, Yahoo and Microsoft bulk-sender rules fit together.
Describe governance and compliance in relation to digital marketing.
~8 min read · 10 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- List the six CAN-SPAM guidelines for a commercial email, including the 10-day and 30-day unsubscribe windows and the single-page opt-out.
- Decide whether GDPR applies to a sender from where its subscribers live, not where the company sits.
- Structure a message that mixes transactional and commercial content.
- Explain why a purchased list is a compliance problem, not just a data-quality one.
- Separate SPF, DKIM and DMARC, fix a DMARC failure on a private domain, and name what the 2024 bulk-sender rules require.
- Key terms: CAN-SPAM (the U.S. federal law regulating commercial email); GDPR (the EU privacy law covering processing of EU individuals' data); affirmative consent (an explicit opt-in); DMARC (the policy that tells receivers what to do with mail that fails authentication); identifier alignment (the authenticated domain matches the From domain).
Key facts
CAN-SPAM unsubscribe deadline
- Detail
- Process an unsubscribe within 10 days
Opt-out mechanism lifetime
- Detail
- Works for at least 30 days after the mailing
Opt-out effort
- Detail
- No login, no more than a single page
Postal address
- Detail
- Required somewhere in every commercial email
GDPR scope
- Detail
- Any organization processing EU individuals' data, with or without EU presence
Mixed messages
- Detail
- Non-promotional subject; transactional content above commercial content
Purchased lists
- Detail
- Anti-spam policy requires explicit consent; buying data violates the contract
DMARC failure on a private domain
- Detail
- Ask Support to enable multi bounce domain so From and bounce domains match
2024 bulk-sender rules
- Detail
- Domain authentication, list-unsubscribe header, limited complaints
New DMARC policy
- Detail
- Start in monitoring mode, then the strictest policy
Sources for this section (4)
- Why does a company with no EU offices still have to follow GDPR for some subscribers?
- When an email mixes a receipt with a promotion, what goes first?
- Why can't the admin import a purchased list even if every address is valid?
- Which three elements do the 2024 Google, Yahoo and Microsoft bulk-sender rules include?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Marketing Cloud Engagement Administrator pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
The pack includes:
- All 20 lessons of the Marketing Cloud Engagement Administrator guide, with reading progress
- Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
- Inline practice questions and one-click topic practice (10 questions for this lesson)
- An official source cited for every claim
- An AI tutor that answers from the guide
- Unlimited timed practice exams