I thought I would never have to write something like this. I believed that the situation had changed and that these things simply don’t happen anymore. But what happened to me forced me to express myself on this topic.

(Un)innocent newsletter
It’s not that long ago that I received completely nonsensical ‘newsletters’. As a Sales Manager at Ecomail, but also as someone who works with email marketing on a daily basis, I was left dumbfounded by this. Judge for yourself from the screenshot below what’s wrong with it. You just receive a ‘newsletter’ where there are about 5,000 people in the cc.

I launched an investigation
I said to myself, ‘well, I’m a salesman and people searching is something that earns me a living, and I also understand email marketing.’ So I didn’t hesitate and tracked down the owners of these projects. Of course, it’s the same person, and given the nature of one of his websites, the search was quite easy for me.:)

I politely wrote to the project owner and asked him to explain where he got my email from. It didn’t take even an hour and I didn’t have to use too many ‘threats’ from the ÚOOÚ (Office for Personal Data Protection). As if it could be expected, it was an inexperienced person who simply wanted to get his project in front of more people. Of course, ignorance is no excuse, but I told myself I wouldn’t pursue it if he told me where he got the database. To my surprise, he claimed he bought it for lower tens of thousands on the online marketplace webtrh.

I decided to contact the ‘seller’, who surprised me with his response. He said that the mentioned database was not purchased by anyone on webtrh. Strange, isn’t it? I didn’t investigate further where the truth lies. In any case, it forced me to open this topic and write this article.

Buy anything, but not databases
PEOPLE, PLEASE! Don’t buy databases for tens of thousands. Actually, don’t buy databases even for a few hundred. The fact that someone sells it to you is possible, but unfortunately that’s where it all ends. You have the database, but you CANNOT use it! What’s the point of it then? It’s a waste of money.

Even if you manage to ‘outsmart’ platforms like Ecomail and send the newsletter, you still won’t get any results. Why? First of all, the recipients probably don’t know you at all, and secondly, you will certainly damage the reputation of your domain. You can make missteps in business, but you only have one reputation. And it’s really hard to fix that. Such a misstep can even be devastating for your business.

Newsletter? Consent or purchase
You can only send a newsletter to people who have expressly given you their consent, and to customers who have made a purchase of your products or services. In this case, however, you can only send newsletters related to the purchased products/services.

Let’s take a real example with Alza. At Alza, you can buy anything from electronics to household items to pet food. If you purchase a new TV on Alza, you may subsequently receive a newsletter, even though you have not confirmed its subscription and have not expressly disagreed. But the content of such a newsletter will revolve around TVs and their accessories. The main topic certainly won’t be that they also sell dog food. Simply, they can’t and they also pay close attention to it.

Don’t forget to have your Privacy Policy properly written. It defines, among other things, how your company approaches emails. So I definitely don’t recommend using the first template you download from Google, but I recommend having the policy custom-written by a law firm. I myself swear by AK Legitas.

Let’s summarize it in bullet points:
– You don’t buy databases (you won’t be able to use them anyway)
– You only contact people who have given you consent, or customers who have not expressly disagreed
– You contact your customers based on legitimate interest only with similar products and services
– Have your Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions custom-tailored

Get legal help
If you’re still unsure about all this, I recommend visiting the website of the Legitas Law Firm, which focuses primarily on online law and e-commerce. Download their ebook ‘How to do email marketing legally’, where you’ll find all the important information and legal documents you’ll need for sending out newsletters.