Getting back to the legality of things, the rules are much stricter with cold emailing consumers. Here is a rundown of the laws you need to be aware of.
1. Cold emailing in Europe
GDPR is a European regulation and applies to every email sent to European citizens. It states that people who did not opt in to communication should not receive an email, which would mean that cold email is dead in the water.
However, it does leave the door open for businesses to contact other businesses if they believe the recipient will have a “ legitimate interest ” in hearing from them. So you need to be able to show that you have a process in place to identify the likelihood that other businesses will be interested in what you have to offer.
Please note that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but bahrain mobile database many lead generation companies rely on this exact clause to conduct their business in Europe.
2. Cold Emailing in the US
Don't care about GDPR because you only serve the US market?
The US state of California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act on June 28, 2018, which came into effect on January 1, 2020. And there are chances that similar laws will be adopted for the rest of the US states.
There is no doubt that rules to protect consumers will only become stronger over time.
This makes it difficult for B2C companies to cold reach out to potential consumers. We recommend avoiding emailing B2C consumers directly.
If you run a B2C business, you can still use cold email, but you'll need to shift your focus to a group that can influence your target prospect: for example, cold emailing a celebrity in your niche, reaching out to retailers, or finding contacts for partnerships.
Now, B2B is no guarantee of success with cold emailing. The “Report as Spam” button doesn’t disappear from the email client if the recipient is a business, but it’s a start.
So, no, cold emailing doesn't necessarily mean spam. My advice is to follow the law and have your unsolicited emails searched.
It's a fantastic way to make new connections, open dialogue and start conversations.