How to Build GDPR Email Campaigns in HubSpot

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a 2018 law by the European Union governing data privacy and security. The law applies to all businesses targeting or collecting data on people in the EU (regardless of where the company is based). 

If your business is targeting people based in the EU, then this post will teach you how to create GDPR email campaigns that comply with the law. 

Complexity and compliance with GDPR 

First, let's start off with the complexity of the GDPR law; it has 99 articles and over a hundred recitals. However, this is not an excuse to not be GDPR-compliant. If you're unsure whether you're following the rules, you should consult advice from a legal expert. The fines for those who don't comply with the rules are harsh and high - they can even reach into the millions!

But besides that, you want your contacts to trust you! If you take advantage of personal data people have shared with you - and they find out - you'll be in big trouble not only with the law, but also with your clients. Don't risk losing loyal customers; according to Outbound Engine, "acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer". 

Getting started with GDPR for email

Under the new rules, you need to receive explicit consent from your contacts about your engagement with them.

HubSpot makes it easy to track this consent through detailed contact records. Luckily, a core tenet of Inbound Marketing is providing valuable content in order for someone to willingly exchange their personal data for that content (normally through forms or gated content). With GDPR, we just need to be more specific about how you will store and use their data. This is often called lawful basis to process and lawful basis to communicate (source). 

Essentially, what this means is that you need to update your privacy policy and cookies policy to be specific and clear (if you haven't already done so). These policies will accurately explain what you or any third-parties are doing with user data. 

Updating your email lists

You also need to update your email lists and types of subscriptions. For a start, this will mean having 2 lists: those who have provided GDPR-quality consent and those who haven't.

Your current emails could be violating GDPR in these common ways:

1. They do not have an unsubscribe option
2. They were sent to someone who did not opt-in
3. They do not advertise a related service relevant to the contact (source). 

Setting up GDPR Email Campaigns

For the contacts you do not have GDPR-compliant consent from or those you're unsure of, you need to carry out a GDPR email campaign for re-permission. This will give your contacts the opportunity to refresh their consent. If they don't give you GDPR-quality consent, you need to remove them from your mailing list (source). 

Existing subscribers before the GDPR-era law may very well have explicitly opted-in, but you should consult with a legal expert if you have any doubts. If you do not have proof that they gave explicit consent, you should consider adding them to your re-permission campaign.

If you have proof of consent, you have a legitimate interest to communicate with them, and there is an unsubscribe option, you can probably keep them on your mailing list.

Anyone who was automatically opted-in via a pre-checked box or purchased mailing list will need to be included in the re-permission campaign. Do not send any communications to people that have opted-out. (source). 

GDPR Email Campaign Design Tips

How you structure your re-permission campaign emailings is ultimately up to you, but mbudo can offer you some tips to increase your chance of success:

• Your subject line should immediately show your intent.
• The CTA should be the focal point of the email.Remember, you must gain affirmative consent from users, so try to build that into your CTA. 
• Convey the benefits of why they should stick with your email campaigns. What will they receive? What can they expect in the future? Consider if a video or infographic could explain this better than text. 
• Create an eye-catching, but simple and clean design. There should be no distractions preventing users from your CTA. 
• Stick to your usual branding and colors, so that the audience is immediately aware of whom they're interacting with. 
• You cannot forget to include links to your privacy policy and cookies policy. 
• Include an unsubscribe option or a way to manage their subscription preferences. 
• Don't stick with just email! Integrate your GDPR email campaignswith campaigns on social media, Landings, and banners. 

GDPR Email Campaign Results

We know what you're thinking: "Am I going to lose my entire mailing list by running a re-permission campaign?" The answer is: probably not. What you'll most likely see is similar engagement to what you're seeing now. The people who are opening and clicking your emails already will probably renew their subscriptions and those who are dis-engaged will continue to be so. In the end, it's only to your benefit to spend time, effort, and resources on those who are interested in you. In fact, you may increase your open and click-through rates and decrease your spam reports (source). 

Just remember, you may lose some people on your mailing list, but Inbound Marketing is all about quality over quantity. 

Account Defaults for GDPR in HubSpot

HubSpot has been on top of GDPR since it premiered in 2018. Administrators can now set the account defaults to take GDPR into account through a variety of features:

• Send Marketing emails only to those you're legally allowed to communicate with. 
• Cookie consent banner turned on by default.
• Delete a contact fully.
• GDPR-ready forms with notice/consent messaging.
• Unsubscribe links for emails turned on by default.
• Meeting links with notice/consent messaging. 
• Lists with consent/processing info on import, bulk edit, or manual creation.
• More (source)

Still need more info on this topic? Discover HubSpot's ultimate guide to GDPR. After you've made sure that GDPR compliance is in order, don't forget about crafting a great Marketing email. Here we offer you 5 tips. And discover our write-up on creating your Content Marketing Strategy.