Issue #167 All About Email

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #167 of All About Email!

Last week, we continued our new mini-series by looking at “Tips and Best Practices for Data.”

This week, in part three, we look at Santa Claus, GDPR and “Privacy First” marketing. I’d also like to share a special offer from my newsletter provider, Beehiiv.

Let’s go! 👇

20% Off Black Friday

🐝 Beehiiv powers this newsletter and my newsletter about WordPress, “Loop WP”.

🎉 I switched from Mailchimp in June and haven’t looked back for either of my newsletters.

Until Monday, December 2nd, they’re offering 20% off annual plans.

Naughty, Naughty Santa

OK, friend, all joking aside.

👨‍⚖️ This is not legal advice. I am not a legal professional.

✅ Make sure you aren’t breaking the law with your audience.

Even if you are not based in the UK or EU, your ESP will likely require you to comply with the US CAN-SPAM Act.

🇺🇸 Luckily, compliance with spam email laws in the UK and EU will help you become CAN-SPAM compliant.

Data Compliance Best Practices

Last week, we looked at the importance of two “customer-first” data types and how email is the perfect way to gather this data:

• Zero-party data (information someone gives you proactively, like their email address, phone number, or birthdate).
  

• First-party data (information observed by a brand about someone on their owned properties, like what products they clicked on or links they visited from an email).

🤔 So, how do we gather compliant data (whether it is zero, first or third-party)?

• You’ve got to ask.
  

• Give them a way to unsubscribe (in every email).
  

• Tell them who you are (physical address).
  

• Remind them often (where/why they signed up).
  

• Keep them safe (don’t ever give your subscriber data away).
  

• Be honest with your subject line & content.
  

• Maintain cleanliness (remove folks who never open or read). **

** To help keep my newsletters healthy, I use ZeroBounce.

⚡️ I first reviewed ZeroBounce almost three years ago and still recommend and use it today.

ZeroBounce is having a BFCM sale, with 40% Bonus Credits and 1 Month Free of their “Team Deliverability Toolkit.”

An Important Exception

Now, friend, I want to draw your attention to something: cold emailers “who have researched my business” 🤣 fall foul of all the time.

🚨 Most cold emailers legally can’t send me marketing emails.

That might sound like a bold statement, so let me explain.

🤔 The context:

• I am UK-based (it’s pretty complex because I live in Northern Ireland, so I am also part of the EU).
  

• I am not a limited company (I’m a “sole trader”).

Still, following? Good, here’s that important exception. 👇

“Soft Opt-In” B2C Marketing Emails

💡 “Soft opt-in” is an exemption for business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing emails to be sent without consent.

Soft opt-in can only be used if the following criteria are met:

• The individual’s contact details are collected during the course of a sale (or negotiations of a sale) of a product or service.
  

• An opportunity to refuse or opt out of the marketing is given at the point of collection and in every subsequent communication.
  

• You only send marketing about your own similar products and services.

💭 Exemptions exist for a reason, and sometimes, they are good, but I want to share some personal thoughts. 👇

Privacy First Marketing

There are many different privacy laws worldwide, so responsibilities may differ where you are and your laws.

Remember, friend, I am writing from an EU/UK privacy perspective.)

Ultimate Responsibility

In my context, data privacy is the ultimate responsibility of the business owner.

🧠 However, as marketers, we cannot abdicate all responsibility for data privacy.

🚨 As marketers, we are responsible for respecting customers, their privacy rights and the law.

Moral Compass

I don't know what your attitude to ethics is or where your moral compass points.

❤️ I am equally not writing this to shame anyone.

We work with email and data every day.

Businesses hire us to do that, and they trust us.

💪 Let's not try to circumvent privacy or ignore it completely (no matter what country we work in or advertise to).

Further Reading

📰 As part of our mini-series, each topic covered might include additional reading resources for building the workshops and these emails.

This week’s resources on GDPR are:

• CAN-SPAM requirements.

• Email Marketing Legal Compliance - NI Business Info (UK-based advice).

• DPN - Quick Guide to UK GDPR, Marketing and Cookies.

• DPN - Marketing and the ‘soft opt-in’ – are you getting it right?

• DPN - UK email.

• ICO - When can we rely on legitimate interest?

• Braze - Sneak Your Way Into the Inbox With These 3 Weird Tricks.

⚠️ I can’t emphasise this enough. Even if your newsletter is not based in the UK or the EU but has subscribers from these regions, you should adhere to GDPR and UK-based laws.

(Remember, friend, all of the above is not legal advice.)

That’s it for This Week 👋

⏭️ Next week, we will continue our mini-series with part four as we look at “Breaking Down the Basics of Deliverability”.

🚨 Also, I have a special announcement (once I upgrade my Beehiiv plan using their 20%-off discount). 🎉

See you next week! 😀

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 If you’re interested in sponsoring the “All About Email” newsletter, you can find all the details in this Google Doc. I currently have “Classified” slots and a Main Sponsor slot available.

Email Marketing News & Tips

This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:

• Substack Success - How Ana Calin Earns Up To $6,000 a Month With Her Newsletter. (Email Tooltester)

• The Small Screen - Mastering Mobile-Friendly Email Templates. (Beehiiv)

• Conversations - Want To Grow Your Audience? Start By Talking To Them. (Inbox Collective)

• Alignment - Do we care about SPF alignment? (Word to the Wise)

• Bouncing - The Email Bounce Rate Benchmark — How Do You Compare? (ZeroBounce)

• Happy Birthday - Beehiiv turns Three. (Beehiiv)

• The Same Boat - The rocky seas of deliverability and some troubleshooting tips. (Lauren Meyer)

• ExtendedID - Is Klaviyo’s new tracking feature that good? (Edward Upton)

• Questions - Is cold outreach spam? (Alison Gootee)

• Accessibility Testing - How do I test my emails? (Sarah Gallardo)

• Avoiding Blocklistings - Part 3 - Take Matters into Your Own Hands to Protect Your Senders. (Lauren Meyer & Spamhaus)

• I Geeked Out - Comparing DKIM keys.
(Word to the Wise)

• Inbox Oasis - The Ins-and-Outs of Modern Deliverability. (Braze & Alison Gootee)

• Deliverability - How to Tackle Common Email Authentication Issues and Improve Email Deliverability. (ZeroBounce)

If you have a question about this email or email marketing, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week! 👋