Is your business all set? Or, are you still busy organizing data, privacy actions and your opt-in campaign? In both cases, it could be good to look at the best practices of others. Because why would you reinvent the wheel?
When we start thinking about a GDPR-compliant way of working we often start with an audit: what data do I already have, what can I do with it and who gave me permission to start mailing? Now we can launch our opt-in email campaign, right? At the end that would be the easiest way to reach out to our contacts in the database.
Opt-in email campaigns
First of all it is important to decide how you want to make use of your data. Because the GDPR has such a big impact on web shops, the organization Thuiswinkel.org explains the difference between marketing consent and legitimate interest as follows:
“The GDPR has to make sure that the process of personal information is organized in a consistent way. That is why you always need a foundation for the process of personal information. The foundation is of course the ‘consent’, but for a webshop ‘legitimate interest’ can also be an important foundation for the process. There is a case of legitimate interest when there is a ‘relevant and fitting relation’ between the organization and the person whose data is being processed. You can find this relationship between organizations-customers and organizations-employees.”
GDPR and customer consent
There is good news about the existing customers. You can mail customers, if they have a legitimate interest. You don’t need to ask customers that you have a working relationship with for permission to mail service updates.
Types of opt-in email campaigns
Below we discuss some types of opt-in email campaigns that are used by companies.
- The Blunt approach
This is where a mail is directly sent to a customer to ask his or her permission to receive emails. This is how telecom company Tele2 Zakelijk tries out multiple versions and continuously evaluates which works better. We advise the use of different versions for different segments of your database, and role out the campaigns step by step.
- The hit-reset approach
In the example of Wetherspoon, even though this is B2C, they explain to all of their contacts that they will delete all data.
- The positive approach
Last but not least a HubSpot example, HubSpot has a more positive approach with “Yes! Keep me opted in”
Success factors for a successful opt-in campaign
- Make different mails/campaigns fitting the segments and goals of your database.
- Test your subject lines, design, format and messages.
- Make your message as personal as possible.
- Make sure links to the privacy statement and cookie policy are in the mail.
- Optimization for mobile is key.
- An unsubscribe option needs to be there as well.
Read more on this practical guide for GDPR!
