In this article
In this one-hour webinar, presented by Jacqueline Ewers, Tech Champion for email marketing, you will explore how being compliant with GDPR and PECR regulations is key to unlocking email marketing success.
You will learn:
Download the webinar presentation slides (PDF) >
Useful links and resources:
Answers to the unanswered webinar questions
UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)
Useful PECR email marketing checklist
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Privacy Policy Template
Age-related Marketing: Children
PECR doesn’t have any specific guidelines for age-related email marketing. The ICO publish separate guidelines including Children’s Code and Children and the UK GDPR
The ICO defines children as follows:
“When we refer to a child we mean anyone under the age of 18. This is in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which defines a child as everyone under 18 unless, “under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier” (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1989). The UK has ratified this convention.”
You may be interested to view the V&A’s website Mused, the V&A’s website for 10 – 14 year olds and their approach to privacy: https://www.vam.ac.uk/mused/privacy-notice/
Email Marketing to schools
In the eyes of the ICO, schools (and their employees) are classed as Business-to-Business contacts or ‘corporate subscribers’ (limited liability partnerships, Scottish partnerships, and government bodies). State schools are considered government bodies, and schools in the private sector hold limited liability, and are therefore corporate bodies. The rules on consent, the soft opt-in, and the right to opt out do not apply to electronic marketing messages sent to ‘corporate subscribers.’ The only requirement is that the sender must identify itself and provide contact details.
Referral Marketing
The traditional Forward to a Friend where you encourage your email subscribers to forward your email to a friend or contact is not permitted by PECR. In brief, the ICO is concerned that forwarding the original email classes you as the instigator. As such, you have a responsibility to ensure that you are compliant with PECR in terms of consent for the individual that your email subscriber is forwarding to which you are unable to do:
Direct marketing emails and texts require consent (the soft opt-in doesn’t apply in this situation) and you must demonstrate it. You can’t collect valid consent when asking a customer to send your direct marketing. This is because you have no direct contact with the people they are sending your direct marketing to.
For reward and ‘refer a friend’ schemes the ICO recommends that you ensure that you are not the instigator of the messages. There are a variety of ways to still capitalise on the benefits of these schemes whilst remaining compliant with the regulations.
The Digital Culture Network is here to support you and your organisation. Our Tech Champions can provide free 1-2-1 support to all arts and cultural organisations who are in receipt of, or eligible for, Arts Council England funding. If you need help or would like to chat with us about any of the advice we have covered above, please get in touch. Sign up for our newsletter below and follow us on X (Twitter) @ace_dcn for the latest updates.
Beginner Webinar recording – Sustainable email marketing: How to be green AND grow
Find out how to improve your email performance whilst being sustainable through list hygiene, segmentation and optimised design.
The Digital Culture Podcast is for creative and cultural professionals to get to know the Digital Culture Network team, learn how we can help your digital skills development, and find out what’s happening across the sector. In this episode, James Akers interviews Jacqueline Ewers, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Email Marketing.
Beginner 10 ways to make your email marketing more sustainable
When email marketing was first introduced it was seen as the sustainable alternative to direct mail and producing print. Whilst it's true that individual emails use relatively small amounts of energy to send; processing, sending, receiving and storing the content of emails builds up. Read this resource to discover steps you can take to make your email marketing more sustainable.
