Email marketing

Legal issues

Email marketing is governed by laws on data protection, privacy and e-commerce, so you should plan your campaign carefully:

• The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates how you build and manage your customer database. You need to comply with the law when sending emails to people who aren't already customers. Read about privacy laws affecting your email marketing on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) website - Opens in a new window.
• It is illegal to reveal recipients' details on any emails. Create a mailing group that sends a blind carbon copy to each recipient.
• When sending email marketing messages, you must not conceal your identity.
• Under e-commerce regulations, marketing emails must include certain information about your business, including its full name, contact details and a clear indication of prices if you refer to them.
• There must be a valid address for people to opt out of receiving emails from you.
• You cannot send unsolicited marketing messages by email to individual subscribers unless you have their prior consent. There are exemptions if their address was collected in the course of a sale or if the recipient has expressed an interest in 'similar' items and chose not to opt out when the address was originally collected. 'Individual subscribers' do not include companies or individuals within companies.
• E-commerce regulations require you to make all commercial email clearly identifiable as such, either in the header or the text of the email.

See our guide on privacy and data protection in direct marketing.

Respect people's preferences

Some people choose not to receive sales or marketing by email by registering with the Direct Marketing Association's Email Preference Service. Check you don't send marketing emails to anyone who has registered. Read about the Email Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association website - Opens in a new window. It isn't a legal requirement, but it's strongly recommended.

Online selling rules

When sending sales messages by email, the rules covering distance selling and online trading apply. See our guide to distance selling and online trading.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Target the right people
• Get people to opt in to your email marketing
• Create an email newsletter
• Make your email newsletter engaging
• Monitor and follow up your campaign
• Legal issues
• Here's how I used email marketing effectively

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