Soft Opt-In emails to non-marketing contacts

[CraigEvans]

Hi,

I'm trying to find a way of reaching out to our non-marketing contacts to see if they would consent to opting into our marketing emails going forward (under PECR regulations). I've created an email template ready to go, but am not able to send it as the recipients are non-marketing contacts - it's a vicious circle!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice about reaching out and gaining consent, as ideally I would like this to still be done within HubSpot.

Thanks,

Craig

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @CraigEvans,

Marketing contact status doesn't have to do anything with a legal basis to send emails. Marketing contact status is a billing feature: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/marketing-contacts

This status is required to send any non-transactional email, meaning that you must grant it to a contact before sending any automated email (unless the email is sent with the transactional email add-on).

Granting marketing contact status does not mean that you document any legal basis or consent. Consent is documented via:

• Subscription types: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/manage-your-subscription-preferences-and-types
• Email confirmation: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/set-up-double-opt-in-for-emails

In other words, you would have to make contacts marketing contacts before sending your soft opt-in email.

Keep in mind that HubSpot requires there to be a legal basis prior to sending emails to contacts. Make sure you're not violating HubSpot's acceptable use policy and, when in doubt, consult a legal professional: https://legal.hubspot.com/acceptable-use

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

[CraigEvans]

Hi,

Thank you for the quick reply. So I think it would be best if we email existing contacts directly (outside of HubSpot) and ask if they would be happy to be set up on our system as a marketing contact. If they agree, then we could follow up with an opt-in form via HubSpot for the contact to fill in, and select which subscriptions they would like to opt into. Would this be acceptable under GDPR?

Thanks.

[karstenkoehler]

@CraigEvans I've worked with data privacy professionals who deemed it acceptable to send the form directly but this should be decided by the person in your company who would have to handle a complaint, ideally your legal team.