Marketing Communications: Consent v Legitimate Interest

Mass Email Marketing

When it comes to mass email marketing, obtaining explicit consent from recipients is typically required before sending promotional content. This is due to several key factors:

  1. Regulatory Compliance:  Laws such as the GDPR and the CAN-SPAM Act mandate consent for mass email marketing.
  2. Risk of Being Marked as Spam: Without clear consent, your messages may be flagged as spam, reducing effectiveness,
  3. Privacy Concerns: Large-scale email campaigns without consent can be seen as intrusive, leading to negative perceptions.

Best Practices:

  • Opt-in mechanisms should be clear and unambiguous.
  • Consent must be freely given, specific, and informed.
  • Maintain records of consent to ensure compliance with legal obligations.

B2B Sales Calls and Direct Emailing

In contrast, B2B sales calls and direct emailing often rely on “legitimate interest” as the legal basis for contacting individuals. This approach is widely  accepted because:

  1. Expectation of Professional Communication: Business contacts are more likely to expect outreach related to their professional roles.
  2. Relevance: Communications are presumed to be more relevant to the recipient’s work.
  3. Lower Privacy Impact: Compared to mass marketing, B2B outreach tends to have a lesser impact on personal privacy.

Key Guidelines:

  • Ensure your message is relevant to the recipient’s professional role and responsibilities.
  • Always provide clear opt-out options, and respect it. 
  • Conduct a balance test to ensure that your legitimate interest outweighs the potential privacy concerns. 

To rely on legitimate interest for B2B communications, make sure you follow the below best practices:

  1. Purpose Test: Clearly define the legitimate interest (e.g., business development).
  2. Necessity Test: Demonstrate that contacting the individual is necessary to achieve the purpose and business goal.
  3. Balancing Test: Ensure the recipient’s privacy rights and interests do not override the legitimate interest.

 Best Practices for B2B Communications

  1. Maintain accurate, up-to-date contact databases (We recommend Lusha as a tool to ensure this).
  2. Clearly inform recipients about how their data will be used, and always offer opt-out options. 
  3. Respect do-not-contact lists and comply with industry-specific regulations (learn more here).
  4. Regularly review and update your data protection policies (use our free Direct Marketing Map for guidance).