GDPR and why solicitors should not cull their email marketing lists

GDPR and why solicitors should not cull their email marketing lists

There has been so much fear spreading about GDPR recently (mainly from people selling GDPR training) that I wanted to give you something straight from the horse’s mouth.

In this case, the horse is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The summary is that if you have a good email list and you have been terrified into believing that you have to ask everyone on that list to confirm that they still want to hear from you, you will like this. You don't need to.

This is what the ICO say (on their website) about existing email marketing lists:

“What are the rules on electronic mail marketing?
The rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. In short, you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:

  • they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or
  • they are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent.

You must not disguise or conceal your identity, and you must provide a valid contact address so they can opt out or unsubscribe.”

Therefore, if someone has enquired about your services and you have kept in touch with them on an email database, AS LONG AS you give them the chance to opt out each time (unsubscribe), you can keep on emailing them.

If you use a decent email marketing provider that puts an unsubscribe link in each email you will be safe.

I have always used and avocate the use of Aweber. It puts in the unsubscribe link for you. You cannot remove it.

Even without GDPR this is just good practice. You do not want people receiving your emails if they do not want to hear from you. It simply doesn’t help them and it doesn’t help your business.

If you haven’t yet got a decent email marketing system, you really should be signing up for Aweber.

Click here to take a free Aweber trial:>>

Chris Carter

Nick has for a long time now been the go to Legal Marketing Expert offering game changing advice in a no-nonsense way.

As well as knowing what works, he will also make sure you don’t waste valuable time on initiatives that aren’t destined to chime.

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As the owner of a small to medium-sized law firm, I have found that Samson Consulting’s Marketing4Solicitors monthly newsletter has proved absolutely invaluable throughout the last three years or so. Of all the marketing advice I’ve had over the years, this has proved by far the best value – bringing us tens of thousand of pounds of extra work every year.

One of the best tricks Nick Jervis [who owns Samson Consulting] uses, is not only to identify the kind of marketing actions a small or medium-sized business can take themselves, but he also explains why it works and most importantly then takes you through, step-by-step exactly what you need to do. As someone who is passionate about growing my business, I really look forward to receiving Nick’s excellent newsletter every month.

It’s worth pointing out that initially I was sceptical about his promises – so many marketing businesses promise the earth. But within a couple of months I was absolutely convinced he was right and I have been hooked ever since.

I recommend Nick Jervis and Samson Consulting without any hesitation whatsoever.

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