GDPR Survival guide.
Well, at the time of recording, GDPR has been with us for a few months and in that time we’ve seen lots of varied reactions form people in terms of what they think they can and can’t do.
In panic, some people have stopped sending out their email marketing because of the conflicting messages about what they understand they can and can’t do under GDPR.
Over the past 6 months, the internet has become flooded with everybody voicing opinions about what can and can’t be done, it’s been really difficult for email marketers to pick a way through all of this and create a GDPR friendly strategy.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a handy 10 point GDPR guide, to help you to put together a sound compliant email marketing strategy.
Ok, let’s get started with number 1.
#1 Don’t panic
This is something that we’ve seen a lot of, we’ve had lots of contact from people that just don’t know what to do, because they’ve read so many conflicting articles on the internet.
This is so much misinformation floating around the web that it’s really difficult to make any sense of most of it. We’ve seen many email marketers stopping email marketing because they just don’t know what they should be doing.
But, the main thing is don’t panic. Hopefully this quick video will give you a clear understanding of how you should collect, store and use your contact’s data in a post GDPr world.
#2 Don’t ask your existing customers to re-opt in
This really is the big one, in the run up to GDPR all of our inboxes were full of emails from everybody we’ve ever dealt with asking us to re-opt in to continue receiving emails.
What happened was that hardly anybody clicked on re-subscribe. This lead to many companies ditching their lovingly created customer databases because hardly any of them re-opted in.
Well, GDPR does not say that you need to ask your customers to opt in again. If these people had asked to receive your emails before GDPR, then you don’t need to ask them again. GDPR defines this as ‘legitimate interests’ – these existing contacts of yours have a legitimate interest in continuing to receive email communications.
#3 Add a positive opt in to all of your sign up forms
This is the bit that seems to have caused much of the confusion, GDPR says that your opt in forms must include an unchecked boxed – asking contacts to check the box to opt in.
This needs to be done for all contacts whose information you collect after the GDPR start date of May 25th. You don’t need to ask all of your contacts to do this if they are an existing contact of yours pre-GDPR.
So, from now on, make sure that you opt in forms have a box that isn’t pre-ticked. Your subscriber is required to perform a ‘positive action’ by putting a tick in the box.
The idea is to avoid people being included who didn’t realise that they had joined a list – by not noticing a pre-ticked box.
#4 Include an outline of what and when you will be sending your subscriber
GDPR also says that you need to outline to your subscribers exactly what they can expect and the frequency of emails when joining your list.
So, along with the unticked check box, you could include something along the lines of…
“We’d like to include you in our monthly newsletter, it’ll contain news and product information from us and from time to time exclusive offers just for our subscribers. You can opt out at any point and we’ll delete all of your information”
#5 Include a statement at the top of your mailer, reminding people of why they are receiving your email
GDPR doesn’t say you have to do this, but with everyone being very jumpy at the moment
about what they receive into their inbox; it’s a good idea to remind people of why they are
receiving your emails.
We find that this really cuts down on the amount if people opting out – sometimes, people
Just forget joining a list and without thinking, hit the unsubscribe link.
Putting a small reminder at the top really helps, it just jogs the memory and heps to stop
people opting out. You could consider some along the following lines”
“you are receiving this email because you have previously purchased a product form us and
had asked to be kept up to date with our latest offers.”
#6 Delete subscriber’s who are not engaging with your campaigns
A lot of people are loathed to do this as they don’t want their list to shrink in number, but the reality is that having people on your list who aren’t engaging has a negative impact. Spam filters read a sender reputation that your mailers carries with it behind the scenes, if it’s low, they’ll block your send or filter it into the spam. This sender reputation is heavily influenced by the number of people reading your mailer and clicking on the links. The less interactions – the lower the score.
GDPR also includes something called ‘the right to forget’ this means that you are required to delete details of people who are not active contacts of yours. So, if someone has not opened your mailer or read it over to lengthy time period, then you should be deleting them.
Email marketing is all about quality, not quantity.
#7 Don’t buy lists from third parties
Even pre GDPR, this was never a good idea to do as purchased lists simply don’t work, typically they are old, the contacts are not qualified and often they are stuffed full if duplicates and spam traps that cause damage to your company domain and sender reputation.
GDPR also requires proof of consent to be stored. With purchased lists, you a reliant on the supplier ensuring that this is inplace. Often the source of these lists is ‘murky’ and proof of opt in may not exist. Using a list of unknown provenience means that you are liable for any repercussions.
#8 Make sure your unsubscribe link is not buried
GDPR says that you must offer your subscribers the option to opt out from future mailings.
It’s a good idea to make this link clear and easy to follow. As we’ve outlined before there is nothing to be gained by keeping contacts on your list if they don’t want to be.
I often receive mailers from people where the unsubscribe link is tiny and buried inside a paragraph of small print. This really achieves nothing but create a negative sender reputation. As we’ve previously outlined, a negative reputation will impact your future delivery
#9 Keep evidence of consent
As we’ve previously touched on. GDPR says that you must keep proof of consent, if any one of your subscribers contacts you and asks for details of when and how they opted in, then you must be able to provide this.
Do bear in mind though, that this only applies to people whose details you collected after 25th May. For contacts before this, as long as they had at some point opted in, you are not required to store this information. These people are covered by Legitimate Interests.
#10 Vary your content
This one isn’t a GDPR requirement, but it’s a vital part in building successful email marketing campaigns. If a mailer worked really well the first time you used it, it will get greatly diminishing returns if you send it more than once.
People like to receive fresh content – always offers your subscribers new reasons to stay subscribed. This really adds value and builds loyalty and eventually this means more conversions, more loyal customers
Summary
Ok, so there we are. That wraps up our GDPR survival guide, if you follow our ten point plan, your email marketing will be fully GDPR compliant and successful over a long time.