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Most businesses collect data on their customers and potential customers, and many will use this for marketing purposes. It’s a very simple and effective way to build your business. But do you know the law on email marketing?
Any marketing campaign you are planning must comply with the relevant regulations. Take email marketing, for example: if you are planning on collecting customers’ data through a Facebook application or your website and then staying in touch with them by email, you must ensure the person you will be contacting has given your permission to receive your emails.
This ‘permission’ can be given by the individual in a number of ways, including some known as ‘soft opt-ins’. These include:
- 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; and
- 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.
You must include your company name and contact details and in any email marketing you send out.
The simplest way to remain on the right side of the law is to ensure you always collect data in an ethical way and make sure you explain exactly what the individual’s details will be used for in the future. You should also include an ‘opt out’ option on your email marketing.
If you need any support with managing your email marketing campaigns and customers’ data, we can help create secure applications that conform to the regulations required. Contact us to have a chat and make sure you stay within the law!
For detailed information on data collection law, please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
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