The Importance of Email Consent for Deliverability and Compliance
Email has become an integral part of our lives as globalization accelerates and shapes the fabric of society. In 2023 alone, users sent about 347.3 billion emails globally, which may balloon in the coming years. Out of this massive figure, email click and open rates are only about 8.74% and 17.61%, implying that most either bounce or recipients never open them. Numerous factors could contribute to this pattern, including lousy subject lines, oversaturation, and lack of personalization. Nonetheless, unsolicited email, spam, and non-consensual email are often underestimated and are mostly seemingly non-issues by most email senders. This article will explain why email consent is essential for deliverability and compliance.
Understanding Email Consent
Email consent is the explicit permission recipients give to receive email communication from a sender. It's a good practice in electronic mail as it ensures recipients are genuinely interested in your content. Email senders who request consent from their recipients often experience improved engagement and fewer complaints.
Two types of email consent exist: opt-in and double opt-in consent. The former involves recipients agreeing to receive emails by filling out a form or checking a box. This approach is common on company or organization's web home pages where site visitors access the forms or checkboxes. On the other hand, double opt-in involves recipients confirming their consent twice—first, by signing up and clicking a confirmation link in another follow-up email.
How Email Consent Impacts Deliverability
Email deliverability is defined as the ability of an email message to reach a recipient's inbox instead of getting blocked or flagged as spam. The average email user receives about 80.6 emails daily, and 49% mostly go to their spam folders. While the remaining 51% of delivered emails isn't a bad figure to go by, it defies the very essence of email communication—ensuring 100% deliverability.
Poor email deliverability can hurt business email marketing campaigns if senders don't ask for consent. However, that's not to say unconsented personal emails won't do as bad as the latter. 79% of millennials and 57% of Generation Z (the most expansive clientele for businesses) prefer brands to contact them through consented email. That means unconsented ones may receive lower open- and click-through rates.
Email consent directly impacts deliverability in the following ways
Here are the impacted area:
Minimizes Spam Complaints
Your recipients will likely mark your emails as spam if they don't consent, negatively impacting deliverability. Your email service provider may, as a result, filter your messages into spam folders, further negatively impacting deliverability. However, obtaining consent can well improve your email deliverability.
Lowers Bounce Rates
Randomly sending emails for a broader recipient reach can only result in higher chances of your Google or Yahoo emails bouncing back. This observation is especially true for non-consenting email recipients who are uninterested in your content. However, sending emails to consenting recipients can lead to high engagement, signaling email service providers that your emails are valuable. Consequently, this improves your deliverability.
Protects Sender Reputation
Your email service providers use the sender's reputation to determine whether or not emails reach more recipients. Consent-based email practices help build and maintain a solid sender reputation, improving deliverability.
The Importance of Email Consent for Legal Compliance
Email communication is under various laws and guidelines, and abiding by them can help ensure proper compliance. These regulations vary regionally, but all are for responsibly using email communication in a more globalized world. Some notable email usage regulation bodies that ensure proper email consent abidance include:
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) — European Union
- CAN-SPAM Act — United States
- CASL (Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation) — Canada
- ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) — Australia
- PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act) — Singapore
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) — California, U.S.
- ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) — United Kingdom
Proper email consent for compliance ensures you:
Avoid Legal Penalties
Email consent can help you avoid hefty violation fines. For example, the GDPR fines 4% of annual revenue (For businesses) or up to €20 million for violating email consent terms.
Meet Global Standards
Most global email regulation bodies designate user consent to regulate email communication and ensure user safety. Ensuring recipient consent may be handy in helping you stay more compliant.
Maintain High Transparency
Letting your recipients know what to expect ensures transparency, and building trust can be a breeze. Doing so also guarantees that your business operates ethically and lawfully or your emails don't breach your recipients' privacy.
Maintaining a healthy subscriber list requires understanding how to find spam trap email addresses. Practical techniques can include cleaning your email list regularly, making buying email lists the last resort, and monitoring the bounce rates. Moreover, engaging with active subscribers can keep your email list healthy.
Best Practices for Obtaining and Maintaining Email Consent
The good news is that you can obtain and maintain email consent for deliverability and regulatory compliance. Here are a few tips to achieve that.
Use More Straightforward Opt-In Forms
A four- to five-field opt-in form can be enough to obtain your recipients' consent to receive your emails instead of long forms asking for every available recipient information. Your consent forms should clearly explain the type and frequency of the emails they will receive to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Implement double opt-in
Confirming your subscriber's consent with a follow-up is a surefire way of verifying their interest in receiving your emails. Most double opt-in email subscribers have a lower unsubscribe rate, meaning your email campaigns will be successful and impactful.
Document Consent
Some email recipients can drag you into a legal dispute despite offering consent. So, play it safe by keeping records of when and how recipients consented to email reception to protect your reputation and avoid hefty penalties.
Don't Forget to Offer Recipients an Easy Unsubscribe Option
Some businesses don't offer an option to unsubscribe from an email opt-in. Some make it more complicated and tiring with no effortlessly accessible unsubscribe links to discourage people from unsubscribing. Sending emails to people who no longer need them can constitute a breach of privacy. Instead, always make it simple for recipients to opt out of emails.
Conclusion
Email consent is often an underestimated aspect of email communication in business and personal uses. However, it's essential to ensure higher deliverability and legal compliance in most email communication bodies like the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR. Always prioritize email consent and personal emailing in your business to keep your reputation safe.
