Email can be an economical way to keep customers informed, but access to an email address is not permission to use it for every purpose. Marketing messages need to comply with electronic-marketing and data-protection rules.
The same broad issues arise with marketing texts. Decide how you will collect details, explain their use and handle objections before launching a campaign.
Check whether you can send the message
For unsolicited marketing emails to individual subscribers, consent is generally needed unless an exception applies. The products-and-services “soft opt-in” can apply to your own similar products or services where the required conditions are met.
Those conditions include obtaining the details during a sale or negotiations, offering an opt-out when collecting them and providing an opt-out in each subsequent message. It is not a general permission to email anyone who has contacted you.
Rules for corporate subscribers differ, but identifying yourself and respecting objections still matter. Use the ICO’s electronic-mail marketing guidance to check the position for your recipients.
Be clear about who is writing
Do not conceal the sender’s identity. Give recipients a valid, straightforward way to stop further marketing and act on those requests.
If you collect details through your website, explain how you will use personal information in your privacy information. Do not treat silence or a vague opportunity to object as a substitute for consent where consent is required.
Be careful with bought lists
A supplier’s assurance that a list is suitable does not remove the need to check how it was collected and what people agreed to receive. Establish whether the permissions actually cover marketing from your business.
Poor-quality or unsuitable data can waste money as well as create compliance problems. The same care is needed when moving from email campaigns to text messages.
This is a starting point for planning, not a complete legal assessment of a campaign. The ICO’s small-business guidance explains the interaction between data protection and direct marketing.