Email marketing, but safely
The most important legal questions
Anyone who takes the subject seriously will quickly realize that email marketing is a very demanding discipline and not just a bit of text with a few pretty pictures. In addition to good content and a target group that is tailored to it, the legal component also plays an important role. Simply sending a newsletter to everyone whose email address is available is not an option. This can even be very expensive - but that was the case even before the GDPR. If you follow our legal tips, you will minimize the risk of having problems here.
But what do you need to consider when using email marketing to avoid receiving an expensive letter from a lawyer? We sat down with our lawyer and data protection expert, Mr. Oberbeck, to answer the most important questions with our legal tips.
1. Opt-in and address generation
Since email marketing starts with the recipients for your emails, we will first address the legal requirements for a valid opt-in and address generation.
1.1 Who can I send newsletters and promotional emails to?
Advertising emails and newsletters may only be sent to recipients who have previously given their express consent.
In addition to conventional newsletters, the consent estonia phone number data requirement also applies to commercial information via SMS, WhatsApp or messages via social networks (e.g. Facebook, XING). Newsletters are also considered advertising if they are essentially editorial in nature. As a rule, press releases or seminar announcements are also classified as "advertising" because they indirectly serve to promote the sales of the company sending them.
“Advertising” is any form of communication that directly or indirectly serves to promote sales.
1.2 When is there legal consent for advertising emails?
In order to obtain legally valid consent, the following points should be considered:
The recipient must have expressly and actively agreed to receive advertising emails (opt-in). The consent must not be part of predefined contractual conditions or general terms and conditions (GTC) and cannot be derived from any other context. A pure right of objection (opt-out) is not sufficient. This means that the checkbox for the declaration of consent that is familiar on websites must not be pre-filled.
The declaration of consent must clearly state which company is permitted to send advertising or newsletters for which purpose. General information such as "partner companies" or "interesting offers and promotions" is not sufficient. If consent is obtained for sponsors, it must be presented simply and transparently. It is ineffective, for example, if consumers have to laboriously deselect partner companies listed in a list (BGH of May 28, 2020).
It must also be clear for which specific products the advertising consent is given. Abstract references such as "interesting products and services" are ineffective.