How to grow your email list and be GDPR compliant
5th October 2021
When the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force in the EU in May 2018, it meant that many email marketers had to rethink their way of building an email list. No longer could you just add someone to it; you now needed their explicit permission to send them marketing emails. Here, we look at how you can grow your email list and still be GDPR compliant.
Double opt-in
Customers must click on a link in an email to confirm that they wish to receive email and SMS marketing from you if they want to be included in your marketing database. An automatic confirmation email is sent to the email address entered by a customer when they subscribe to your online store through your website.
Obtaining more engaged subscribers through double opt-in is mandated by law in some countries, and it is also considered a best practice when it comes to getting more engaged customers. Customers that sign up for your mailing list before you enable double opt-in will not need to validate their subscription status with you.
Optimize your sign up forms
Email sign-up forms must clearly explain what potential subscribers may expect from your marketing emails, how they will benefit from them, how their data will be processed and safeguarded, and what will happen to their data if they decide to unsubscribe. Pre-ticked checkboxes are not compliant with GDPR. Affirmative opt-in is all about ensuring that the recipient's consent to receive advertising messages is clearly understood.
Ensure you are offering them value in exchange
Consumers now expect firms to provide them with value in exchange for providing them with their data in the post-GDPR world of marketing. Make it clear what people will receive from you if they subscribe to your email list. What benefit will they derive from becoming a subscriber?
Create a lead magnet
Collecting email addresses through the creation of a calendar, how-to guide, or eBook is a good strategy. In exchange for marketing consent, make this content available for download.
Run a giveaway
Always ensure that a separate, clearly defined action that allows the participant to give consent is included in the contest, giveaway, or prize draw. This could be something as simple as checking a box. To ensure that consent is taken into consideration and is explicit, it should be requested separately from other inquiries and not bundled together with excessive terms and conditions as a whole.
Do not attempt to perplex your viewers. It is counterproductive to have subscribers in your database who did not expect to be there, to begin with. Within your terms and conditions, you are not permitted to conceal entry requirements; one of which is being added to a mailing list. Doing so will simply serve to undermine your email marketing efforts.
By following these simple tips, you can keep your customers engaged without breaking GDPR.
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