Summary
Managing contacts acquired at trade shows or networking events without explicit opt-in presents a common challenge for email marketers, particularly when using platforms like Mailchimp that enforce strict consent policies. While these contacts may have provided their email addresses, the absence of clear consent for marketing communications can lead to compliance issues, reputational damage, and account risks. The key lies in understanding platform policies, mitigating risks for existing lists, and implementing compliant collection methods for future contacts.
Key findings
- Platform compliance: Mailchimp, like many email service providers (ESPs), has an acceptable use policy that requires explicit consent for sending marketing emails. Marking contacts as "subscribed" without formal opt-in violates these terms, even if content is relevant.
- Risk assessment: For small lists with low complaint rates and good engagement, ESPs might not immediately flag non-compliant practices. However, this doesn't negate the underlying risk of account termination or deliverability issues if practices are discovered or if issues arise.
- Future collection: Implementing clear, explicit opt-in methods at events, such as kiosks, iPads, QR codes, or NFC taps, is crucial for building a compliant list moving forward. These methods provide verifiable consent.
- Existing contacts: For existing contacts without explicit opt-in, sending a re-permission campaign is a best practice. This helps validate consent and aligns your list with compliance requirements, although it may lead to a smaller, more engaged audience. Alternatively, a cautious approach involves tagging these contacts and improving future consent processes.
Key considerations
- Legal ramifications: While the CAN-SPAM Act doesn't strictly require explicit consent, many ESPs and international regulations (like GDPR) do. Non-compliance can lead to legal issues or service interruptions, as explored in articles about risks of converting visitors to leads without consent.
- Sender reputation: Sending to contacts without proper consent can increase complaint rates, leading to poor sender reputation and emails landing in the spam folder. This can impact overall email deliverability issues.
- ESP relationship: Proactively addressing non-compliant practices, rather than notifying your ESP of past violations, is a safer approach. Focus on correcting methods going forward without drawing unnecessary attention to historical data.
- List quality: While a re-permission campaign might shrink your list, it improves its quality, leading to better engagement and deliverability in the long run. Consider how to collect consent with GDPR forms for future collection.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often find themselves navigating a fine line between acquiring new contacts and adhering to strict consent policies, especially with platforms like Mailchimp. The general sentiment suggests that while explicit opt-in is the ideal and compliant path, many ESPs may overlook minor infractions for small lists with high engagement and low complaint rates. However, this leniency does not negate the importance of improving consent practices for future data collection.
Key opinions
- Implied consent acceptance: If contacts willingly provided their email addresses at an event, many marketers consider this to be a form of opt-in, particularly for small lists.
- Low risk for small lists: For small contact lists with good engagement and minimal complaints, ESPs like Mailchimp are unlikely to flag the account for non-compliance, as it won't be on their radar.
- Focus on the future: The primary focus should be on implementing proper opt-in methods for new contacts acquired at future events, rather than overly worrying about a small existing non-compliant list.
- Engagement as a shield: Consistent positive feedback and engagement can act as a buffer against ESP scrutiny, as it indicates value to the recipient.
Key considerations
- Correct opt-in is crucial: Despite potential leniency, the ethical and correct practice is always to obtain explicit consent, not rely on imported lists from trade shows without verifiable opt-in. This is important to avoid a decrease in deliverability.
- Mailchimp limitations: Marketers frequently note that traditional ESPs like Mailchimp are not designed for sending to non-opted-in contacts or cold email, highlighting the importance of obtaining clear consent for your campaigns.
- Re-permission campaign: While risky for list size, sending a re-permission campaign is the safest long-term strategy for ensuring compliance and maintaining a high-quality list. It's often debated whether double opt-in should be disabled, but explicit consent is always preferred.
- Alternative vendors: For businesses that frequently rely on acquiring contacts without explicit opt-in (e.g., from trade shows), considering an ESP that is a better match for such practices or is more cost-effective for these scenarios might be beneficial.
Marketer view
An email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that if contacts willingly provided their email addresses at events, it is largely considered opt-in by Mailchimp. They advise not to worry about a formal opt-in pass for small lists with no complaints, but to focus on better practices going forward and tag existing contacts by their permission level.
Marketer view
An email marketer from Email Geeks notes that if a sender maintains good engagement and low complaint rates, the average ESP typically won't scrutinize their opt-in practices because no red flags would be raised to draw attention. This implies that positive sender metrics can sometimes mask less-than-ideal consent collection.
What the experts say
Email deliverability experts consistently emphasize the critical role of explicit consent in maintaining a healthy sender reputation and ensuring long-term inbox placement. While small-scale non-compliance might fly under the radar temporarily, the fundamental principles of permission-based marketing and adherence to ESP terms of service remain paramount to avoid issues like being added to an email blacklist or blocklist.
Key opinions
- Consent is king: Explicit, verifiable consent is the foundation of good email deliverability. Anything less introduces risk, regardless of short-term positive outcomes.
- ESPs detect non-compliance: Even without direct complaints, ESPs have sophisticated systems to detect signs of poor list quality, such as high bounces or low engagement from newly added contacts, which can trigger flags.
- Reputational impact: Sending to unconsented lists can lead to increased spam complaints and unsubscribes, damaging your sender reputation and impacting all future email campaigns.
- Quality over quantity: A smaller list of highly engaged, explicitly opted-in subscribers is always more valuable than a large list with questionable consent that risks deliverability.
Key considerations
- List hygiene: Even with small lists, regularly cleaning and segmenting contacts based on engagement and consent levels is essential. This can help handle spam traps and old addresses.
- Re-engagement strategy: For existing contacts, a strategic re-engagement campaign that focuses on obtaining explicit consent can convert risky contacts into valuable subscribers. This is a form of best practice for unengaged subscribers.
- Avoid provoking ESPs: While it's important to fix issues, directly informing an ESP of past policy violations can sometimes trigger immediate account review and potential termination. It's often better to quietly implement compliant practices moving forward.
- Alternative acquisition: Ensure that future contact acquisition methods at events (e.g., physical sign-up forms, digital kiosks) clearly convey that signing up means consenting to receive email marketing, to ensure compliance with platforms like Mailchimp.
Expert view
An email expert from SpamResource explains that maintaining good deliverability hinges on building a reputation for sending relevant emails to engaged subscribers. This means proactively managing consent, even for small lists, to avoid spam complaints that degrade sender reputation.
Expert view
An email expert from Word to the Wise advises that while it's tempting to maximize list size, prioritizing explicit consent for email collection is crucial. They caution that even if Mailchimp doesn't immediately flag lists without clear opt-in, it can still lead to long-term deliverability issues and being added to an email blacklist or blocklist.
What the documentation says
Official documentation from email service providers and compliance bodies clearly outlines the necessity of explicit consent for marketing communications. Mailchimp, in particular, has strong policies requiring verifiable proof of opt-in to maintain account integrity and deliverability. While legal frameworks like CAN-SPAM may have different requirements, ESPs often adopt stricter standards to protect their sending reputation and user base.
Key findings
- Explicit consent: Mailchimp's acceptable use policy mandates that senders must be able to demonstrate evidence of consent for any commercial or marketing email. This includes pointing to an opt-in form or other verifiable proof.
- Non-subscribed contacts: Mailchimp defines a non-subscribed contact as someone who has interacted with a brand but has not explicitly opted in to receive marketing campaigns, clarifying that such contacts are not suitable for direct marketing sends.
- Importance of permission: Building an audience based on permission is foundational to successful email marketing, as it not only respects recipient privacy but also aligns with ESP guidelines.
- GDPR compliance: For GDPR, Mailchimp recommends making email marketing fields required and enabling double opt-in to ensure clear consent, preventing contacts from submitting forms without giving permission.
Key considerations
- Compliance framework: While the CAN-SPAM Act doesn't necessitate explicit consent, ESPs like Mailchimp enforce stricter policies to maintain their service quality and compliance with broader regulations like GDPR. This is key for overall email compliance.
- Verification methods: Mailchimp encourages methods like setting up forms to collect consent, using segments, and sending consent emails to new and existing contacts to formalize opt-in status.
- Double opt-in: Official documentation often suggests double opt-in as a robust method for confirming subscriber intent. This ensures subscribers confirm their email address twice, reducing the risk of spam complaints and improving list quality.
- Policy adherence: Strict adherence to the ESP's acceptable use policy is non-negotiable for long-term account health. Any divergence, even with relevant content, puts the account at risk of termination.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp's acceptable use policy clearly states that senders must be able to provide an opt-in form or other evidence of consent for any commercial or marketing email. This highlights their strict enforcement of permission-based sending.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp emphasizes that the first step to building a successful audience is to obtain permission from contacts. This is presented not just as common courtesy but as a fundamental requirement for maintaining a healthy and engaged subscriber base.
Related resources
15 resources
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