Customers always have a lot of choices. This is great for the market. However, it gives marketers an additional headache. 

Marketers must ensure clear communication with their potential audience to create a great email campaign that really appeals to customers.

Email marketing is undoubtedly great for this. It enables organizations to send users giveaways, promotional content, and marketing material to gain traction and build connections with them.

For many years, it worked well. However, the GDPR, adopted in 2016, made things harder for email marketers. The GDPR aims to protect users’ rights related to their data privacy. But how are GDPR and email marketing connected? 

In the context of email marketing, GDPR defines how and when companies can contact their potential customers via email. 

Luckily, thanks to email template generator tools, it’s easier to make sure your emails have all the elements to be GDPR compliant. They give you access to quality, done-for-you consent forms, and privacy notices and allow you to add unsubscribe links. 

Email Marketing and GDPR: Fines for Breaking GDPR Laws

Failure to meet GDPR requirements in marketing is likely to trigger huge fines. Here’s a great example that gets this point home well. Austrian Post had to pay a solid €9 million penalty charged by the Data Protection Authority. The reason? They failed to adhere to the data subject request properly.

Users have the right under GDPR to 

1. view, 

2. erase, 

3. or correct their personal data. 

Austrian Post permitted users to submit requests through various channels, such as mail, phone, or a website form.

For example, businesses must ensure subscribers give clear consent to get emails before sending them newsletters. This requires a more sophisticated registration process with a double opt-in and simple unsubscribe option. This also eliminates mandatory or automatic opt-ins.

How Does GDPR Affect Email Marketing?

Double Opt-In

A double opt-in ensures users genuinely want to receive emails from marketers. 

• This prevents all fraudulent or unintentional requests (such as negligence in unchecking a pre-selected subscription box).

• When a lead provides their email address for a subscription, they must also confirm it in their inbox a second time.

• This practice of double opt-in serves as a safety measure for businesses that send promotional emails.

Better Emails 

Loren McDonald, a consultant and analyst of electric vehicles at EVAdoption, stated that marketers were initially really skeptical and hesitant about data and privacy regulations such as the GDPR in the U.K. and anti-spam laws in Canada, as they limit brands’ ability to access and utilize client data.

However, their data indicates that these laws are effectively making GDPR email marketing campaigns better. They challenge marketing firms to create quality newsletters and build better relationships with their subscribers. They focus more on customer experience and trust.

Brands are now using AI more frequently to personalize emails, analyze large data sets, and identify poorly performing campaigns. This also drives improvements in permission and data management practices.

Transparency in Email Marketing Campaigns

Make sure you are transparent with your customers about your marketing initiatives. Give them a detailed description of the data you are collecting and your intended use for it. Whenever you make changes to your privacy policy, notify your contacts and provide them with an opt-out. 

Many subscribers would like to opt out of each privacy policy update. However, it’s more efficient to send personalized messages to your subscribers than a more generic message to a wide audience. To successfully acquire and retain new contacts, you would like to engage them effectively.

Jennifer Horner, senior marketing strategy relationship director at Merkle, stated that she anticipates brands experiencing a spike in deletion requests and unsubscribes. She added that customers tend to either disregard a privacy policy update email or opt-out.

Final Thoughts

So, how will email marketing be affected by the EU GDPR? Now you know. Let’s quickly recap. It will trigger double opt-in, better quality emails, and more transparency in email marketing. To get people to sign up and stay on their lists, email marketers have to create better newsletters and deliver more value for their subscribers.