How to create successful and legally compliant mail campaigns

muntahakhan

What's it about?

Even in the age of Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, a newsletter is still the most successful advertising medium on the Internet for many companies - and not without reason: sending advertising emails is inexpensive and effective . However, in Germany, not everything that is technically possible is permitted in email marketing. The General Data Protection Regulation has numerous legal pitfalls for data protection in newsletters, which often end with a warning from the sender. How can newsletters be created and sent in compliance with the GDPR? What do you have to consider when it comes to newsletter data protection? And how does email marketing actually work? You will find out all this and more in this article.

Email marketing: What is it?
Electronic messages such as email and newsletters are still among the most popular communication channels . Both are part of the direct marketing measures in online marketing.

Basically, email marketing is about sending commercial emails to specific people or groups of people in order to address them personally with the message. The goal is usually to increase sales and brand awareness of your own company and to build or deepen the bond with (potential) customers.

Basically, three types of messages or emails can be differentiated in email marketing :

Transactional emails: “Personal” emails based on a user Buy Email Database List action, such as order confirmations, account balance information or unsubscribe emails. The user receives the information he or she has requested.
Marketing emails: These are written manually to be sent to a specific person at a specific time, e.g. newsletters, sales letters or event invitations.
Automated emails: A hybrid of transactional and marketing emails that are sent automatically after a specific action, e.g. birthday mailings, thank you emails and vouchers.
In German e-commerce, transactional emails and marketing emails cannot always be clearly separated from one another. The boundaries are usually fluid , as a purchase confirmation, for example, often also refers to other goods that have been purchased by other customers or recommended by third parties.



The newsletter, in turn, is a marketing email. It is aimed at both existing customers and potential (new) customers who are interested in the company and its products. What the content is about depends on the company. In the B2C sector, newsletters should, for example, make new customers aware of special promotions and offers , advertise new products, start customer surveys or announce company-related news.

Whether it's a newsletter or another form of email marketing, the goal is to provide targeted, personalized communication that doesn't make users feel like they're one of thousands on a mailing list. If you keep this important point in mind, email marketing can be one of the most effective channels for generating traffic and leads.

But be careful! Not everything that is technically possible in theory in Germany is also permissible. Laws and regulations regulate the area of ​​email marketing and restrict the sending of advertising emails. In particular, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) , the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) and the Digital Services Act (DDG (formerly TMG )) set out a number of requirements for legally compliant email marketing and data protection in newsletters.