Amid the growing number of questions surrounding email privacy laws, subscription management, and the storage of cookies, this blog series aims to shed light upon strategies to leverage tools such as Eloqua and Marketo to keep in line with new privacy laws. Most countries have laws outlining the extent to which marketers can collect and use customer, prospect, or company data. Ensure that you wont hurt your global brand or database engagement due to lack of insight into each country's respective laws; educate yourself to build your customers’ trust with your brand.

In this first installment, we will focus on the different laws that shape marketing campaigns in the European Union and United Kingdom, much of which is described in Directive 2009/136/EC. Our aim is to not only better inform marketers about the letter of the law, but also to suggest ways to leverage current marketing tools to consistently maintain a solid legal footing. For official inquiries into whether your marketing efforts are in line with the law, please consult with your legal department.

Here’s a breakdown of how the current legal landscape is impacting marketing strategies:

Double Opt-In

Double Opt-In refers to someone who has given consent to receive communication on behalf of a company, contrary to single opt in, which simply means entering an email into a database without consenting to receive future communications. For marketers, utilizing double opt-in allows you to identify your brand’s most engaged customers, while minimizing the effects of spam and invalid email addresses. All countries within the jurisdiction of Directive 2009/136/EC forbid sending emails to personal email addresses without prior consent.

As you can imagine, this presents a slippery slope for marketers. The major exception to the law states that direct marketing is allowed if it is “in the context of a sale of a product or service,” so long as recipients are “given the opportunity to object, free of charge and in an easy manner.” For marketers in countries requiring double opt-in, you need a system in place to manage these subscription preferences. This not only allows you to track double opt-ins, but also differentiates business addresses from personal addresses.

Tip: Leverage the same system throughout your business to ensure data quality and governance across the board.

Subscription Management

Businesses are required to inform subscribers if they pass along their information, and are required to give subscribers the opportunity to “opt-out” if desired. Although this portion of the law may sound cumbersome for marketers, it does have an upside: it allows marketers to provide materials for products or services related to the original offering — as long as it is done tactfully and in a transparent manner. This is extremely beneficial seeing as those who are interested in a product or service are likely to be interested in similar offerings.

Privacy Policies & Cookies

The European Union and United Kingdom have made it a priority to curb surveillance efforts without a user’s consent. Cookies are among the main focal points of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Article 5(3) of the law states that member states must ensure that collection of data is “only allowed on condition that the subscriber has given his or her consent.” More information on how cookies are defined within the law.

While these laws restrict the reach of email marketing campaigns, they also offer an opportunity to build trust between you and your customer base. By respecting their right to privacy, you address your customers as individuals rather than targets. Now is the time to embrace privacy laws. Here are some key to capitalize on your customer relationships:

1. Leverage technologies that automate your business processes to help your company abide by your country’s respective laws.
   Within the past decade, there have been a myriad of laws that have been passed in Europe centered around surveillance and privacy. By leveraging your marketing automation tools — such as Eloqua and Marketo — you can minimize the risk of breaking the law by implementing constructive fixes to your sales and marketing initiatives. The last thing your organisation needs is a fine for not playing by the rules.
2. Develop a governance and compliance board within your organisation to provide insight into upcoming regulations and to set milestones against them.
   Gather key stakeholders to keep everyone up to speed on new campaigns, forms, landing pages, and have them check against possible areas of concern. Additionally, this presents a great opportunity to align on new policies moving forward.
3. Be transparent with your marketing efforts to gain trust with your customers.
   Being upfront about your marketing strategies is the key to building trust among your customers. Companies that hide behind their questionable tactics damages trust with their customers in the long run. Global firms can proactively segment their strategies based upon geography and offer dynamic content relevant to specific countries and their current privacy laws.
4. Templatize your assets for future usage.
   It can be extremely easy to miss out on a small technical detail, especially in crunch time. By creating templates for your assets, you can ensure your marketing efforts are consistent and, most importantly, minimize the time needed for QA.

Be sure to check out more blogs in this series delving into privacy laws in other countries and their effects on marketing. Have opinions on email privacy laws? Connect with Jared, tweet @JKirschenbaum.

Looking to boost your email marketing initiatives? Check out our free guide, 3 Steps to Effective Email Marketing.