Summary
Sending emails to individuals who have viewed a product but have not explicitly opted-in is generally not recommended due to potential harm to sender reputation, deliverability issues, legal implications (GDPR, CAN-SPAM), and ethical concerns. Experts and marketers suggest prioritizing permission-based marketing, building engaged subscriber lists through opt-in methods, and ensuring transparency in data collection practices.
Key findings
- Deliverability Impact: Sending emails to non-opted-in individuals can negatively impact sender reputation, leading to increased spam complaints and potential blacklisting.
- Legal Risks: GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act impose regulations on sending unsolicited emails, requiring explicit consent and providing opt-out mechanisms.
- Ethical Concerns: Sending unsolicited emails is considered unethical and can damage brand reputation.
- List Validation: Sending emails to unvalidated or scraped lists negatively impacts deliverability and is likely to trigger spam traps.
- Relationship Building: Company culture valuing relationship building may find sending unsolicited emails contradictory to their values.
Key considerations
- Obtain Explicit Consent: Ensure you have explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails, complying with regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
- Implement Double Opt-in: Consider implementing a double opt-in process to validate email addresses and ensure genuine interest in receiving your emails.
- Build Engaged Lists: Focus on building engaged subscriber lists through opt-in methods like signup forms, lead magnets, and valuable content.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or unengaged subscribers, improving sender reputation and deliverability.
- Be Transparent: Be transparent about how you collect email addresses and ensure users are aware of how their data will be used.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Sending emails to individuals who have viewed a product but haven't explicitly opted-in is generally discouraged due to potential damage to sender reputation, deliverability issues, and legal implications (GDPR, CAN-SPAM). Experts recommend prioritizing permission-based email marketing, building engaged subscriber lists through opt-in methods, and providing valuable content to encourage subscriptions. Contacting non-opted-in users is considered unethical by some, and could be a waste of resources.
Key opinions
- Deliverability Impact: Sending emails to non-opted-in individuals can significantly harm sender reputation and deliverability, leading to potential blacklisting.
- Legal Risks: GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act impose regulations on sending unsolicited emails, requiring explicit consent and providing opt-out mechanisms.
- Reputation Damage: Emailing non-subscribers is considered spam and can damage brand reputation, leading to unsubscribes and complaints.
- ROI Impact: Sending emails to purchased or scraped lists is a waste of resources and negatively impacts email marketing ROI.
- Relationship Impact: Company culture may value relationships over flooding prospects with discounts, degrading customer loyalty.
Key considerations
- Opt-in Methods: Focus on building an engaged subscriber list through opt-in methods, such as signup forms, lead magnets, and valuable content.
- Permission-Based Marketing: Prioritize permission-based email marketing to build trust and improve deliverability.
- Ethical Concerns: Consider the ethical implications of sending unsolicited emails and the potential harm to your email marketing campaigns.
- Segmentation: Emailing non-opted-in recipients is not ethical and it will likely harm your email marketing campaigns in the long run due to deliverability issues.
- Brand Image: Loyal customers will think the brand has gone down market, degrading the brand image if people are flooded with discounts.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the original question wasn't intended as a deliverability question but more about whether it's worth flooding people with emails who are looking at products. He adds that if these people didn’t opt in then that provides a stronger argument that it is not worth it, as that approach is likely to lead to deliverabilty problems.
25 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit shares that emailing people who visited your website without opting in is a terrible idea. He explains that it will get your domain blacklisted very fast. You need to get people to subscribe to your list first, and use lead magnets to attract subscribers
5 Jul 2023 - Reddit
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts advise against sending emails to individuals who viewed a product but didn't opt-in due to the increased risk of spam reports and the lack of permission. Obtaining email addresses without consent, especially through methods like web scraping, raises concerns about deliverability and ethical email marketing practices. Permission is key.
Key opinions
- Increased Spam Risk: Sending emails to non-opted-in users significantly increases the likelihood of recipients reporting the emails as spam.
- Permission is Crucial: Sending emails without explicit permission is not advisable and can be compared to unwanted solicitation.
- Deliverability Concerns: Obtaining email addresses through non-opt-in methods raises concerns about deliverability, as it increases the risk of being flagged as spam.
Key considerations
- Obtain Consent: Prioritize obtaining explicit consent from individuals before sending them any marketing emails.
- Ethical Practices: Adhere to ethical email marketing practices by respecting users' preferences and avoiding unsolicited communication.
- Email Source: Be clear how you obtained someones email, for example how you collect email address needs to be transparent to users.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that sending emails without permission is not advisable. She uses the analogy: "It's like walking up to someone on the street and trying to sell them something they didn't ask for."
22 Jan 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains from a deliverability standpoint, assuming emails are going primarily to consumer domains, the risk is people will report it as spam. She asks how the email addresses were obtained and if people opted in at some point or if a service was used to discover email addresses of website visitors.
4 Apr 2025 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Sending emails to individuals who viewed a product but didn't opt-in is problematic due to legal regulations (GDPR, CAN-SPAM), deliverability risks, and the likelihood of triggering spam traps and blacklisting. Documentation emphasizes the importance of explicit consent, implementing double opt-in processes, and maintaining clean, validated email lists.
Key findings
- GDPR Compliance: Under GDPR, sending marketing emails without explicit consent is illegal; consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.
- CAN-SPAM Compliance: The CAN-SPAM Act sets rules and penalties for commercial emails, including the need for an opt-out mechanism and accurate sender information.
- Deliverability Risks: Sending emails to unvalidated lists negatively impacts deliverability and increases the risk of spam complaints and blacklisting.
- Spam Trap Triggers: Sending emails to addresses obtained without consent or through scraping methods is a major factor in triggering spam traps and being blacklisted.
- Unsolicited Email: Sending unsolicited emails without consent can lead to deliverability issues such as spam complaints, blacklisting and low engagement.
Key considerations
- Obtain Explicit Consent: Ensure you have explicit consent from individuals before sending them marketing emails, in compliance with GDPR.
- Implement Double Opt-in: Implement a double opt-in process to validate email addresses and ensure subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving your emails.
- Maintain Clean Lists: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or unengaged subscribers, improving sender reputation.
- Comply with CAN-SPAM: Ensure your emails comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, including providing an opt-out mechanism and accurate sender information.
- Avoid Scraping Emails: Do not send emails to addresses you obtained without consent or through scraping methods.
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus shares that Sending emails to addresses obtained without consent or through scraping methods is a major factor in triggering spam traps and being blacklisted. Spamhaus is a spam blacklist provider, so they advise against sending to non-opted in users.
21 Feb 2024 - Spamhaus
Technical article
Documentation from GDPR explains that under GDPR, sending marketing emails without explicit consent is illegal. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.
11 Sep 2023 - GDPR
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