It is coming up to that time of year when many areas of business, particularly retail, will start to see a massive increase in their sales. Understandably it is a time as well to increase your marketing to make sure you are attracting customers to buy from you. In this article we talk about some does and don’ts from a GDPR perspective for your Christmas marketing.
So you might want to send out some emails promoting your Christmas lines or you have a special offer you don’t want your customers to miss or you want to send out an e-Card wishing your customers a Merry Christmas.
Privacy & Electronic Communication Regulation (PECR)
In these circumstances you need to make sure you have a couple of things in place to not only be compliant with GDPR but also the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR).
If you are sending emails to business contacts it is slightly different to if you are sending emails to individuals. Business contacts you can send emails to them if:
- You have got informed consent to send them marketing emails
- You have previously sold them something or quoted them for something
- It is in your legitimate interest to send them marketing emails and you have checked, by carrying out a Legitimate Interest Assessment, that it will not infringe their rights and freedoms.
For individuals you can use all but the last one in order to send out marketing emails.
You must also remember if someone opts out of receiving emails from you that you DO NOT CONTACT THEM AGAIN. This could potentially lead to a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). If you are still not sure then book a free 15 minute consultation with one of our data protection specialists.
If you stick to these rules then you will ensure you have a very Merry GDPR compliant Christmas.
