Guidance on Remaining Compliant With the Data Protection Act 1988 & 2003
Strict data protection and anti-spam laws place a number of obligations on all Email and mobile marketers alike.
A good provider will take care of these for you - including unsubscription management and bounce handling.
The most important thing to remember is that you can only carry out electronic marketing if the person you're targeting has given you their permission.
Under the Data Protection Act, providers must have strict security and opt-in/ opt-out policies.
However, there is an exception to this rule.
Known as the 'soft opt-in', it applies if the following conditions are met: - where you've obtained a person's details in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale of a product or service - where the messages are only marketing similar products or services - where the person is given a simple opportunity to refuse marketing when their details are collected, and if they don't opt out at this point, are given a simple way to do so in future messages Privacy and Permissions Permission and recognition minimize complaints Generating a high number of complaints from subscribers that use Email addresses Yahoo!, AOL, or Hotmail increases your chance of ending up in the junk folder.
These systems share filtering - each time a subscriber of one service reports your Email as spam, your chance of ending up in the junk folder increases for subscribers using any of the others.
Make sure you send only to subscribers that have given you explicit permission and know what content to expect.
Always include an opt-out message and make it easy Email marketing is a permission-based medium.
A surprising number of recipients will look for the opt-out instructions at the bottom of your Email marketing message as much to establish company credibility than to opt-out.
Confirm opt-out status Configure your opting-out procedures so that, when users make this request, they receive a confirmation.
This can take the form of a return Email, or a web page telling the user that they are now off the list.
Again, this establishes credibility.
Link to your privacy policy Privacy is a big issue among Internet users.
So, alleviate their concern with a link to your company privacy policy.
The best place for this within your Email marketing message is below your opt-out instructions.
But you can also add this link to your landing page as well.
When you send an electronic marketing message, you must tell the recipient who you are and provide a valid contact address.
The rules on emails don't apply to emails sent to organizations, though you must still identify yourself and provide an address.
A good provider will take care of these for you - including unsubscription management and bounce handling.
The most important thing to remember is that you can only carry out electronic marketing if the person you're targeting has given you their permission.
Under the Data Protection Act, providers must have strict security and opt-in/ opt-out policies.
However, there is an exception to this rule.
Known as the 'soft opt-in', it applies if the following conditions are met: - where you've obtained a person's details in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale of a product or service - where the messages are only marketing similar products or services - where the person is given a simple opportunity to refuse marketing when their details are collected, and if they don't opt out at this point, are given a simple way to do so in future messages Privacy and Permissions Permission and recognition minimize complaints Generating a high number of complaints from subscribers that use Email addresses Yahoo!, AOL, or Hotmail increases your chance of ending up in the junk folder.
These systems share filtering - each time a subscriber of one service reports your Email as spam, your chance of ending up in the junk folder increases for subscribers using any of the others.
Make sure you send only to subscribers that have given you explicit permission and know what content to expect.
Always include an opt-out message and make it easy Email marketing is a permission-based medium.
A surprising number of recipients will look for the opt-out instructions at the bottom of your Email marketing message as much to establish company credibility than to opt-out.
Confirm opt-out status Configure your opting-out procedures so that, when users make this request, they receive a confirmation.
This can take the form of a return Email, or a web page telling the user that they are now off the list.
Again, this establishes credibility.
Link to your privacy policy Privacy is a big issue among Internet users.
So, alleviate their concern with a link to your company privacy policy.
The best place for this within your Email marketing message is below your opt-out instructions.
But you can also add this link to your landing page as well.
When you send an electronic marketing message, you must tell the recipient who you are and provide a valid contact address.
The rules on emails don't apply to emails sent to organizations, though you must still identify yourself and provide an address.
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