What are the issues with ESPs adding addresses to accounts and marketing campaigns without consent?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Litmus responds poor email list quality, caused by adding unconsented contacts, leads to low ROI and deliverability problems. Clean and engaged lists are crucial for successful email marketing campaigns.
Email marketer from HubSpot shares that GDPR compliance requires demonstrable consent. Adding contacts without consent opens you up to large GDPR penalties and fines.
Email marketer from EmailOctopus explains the importance of permission-based marketing. Adding contacts without consent can harm sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues and potential blacklisting. It also violates privacy regulations like GDPR.
Marketer from Email Geeks notes that many ESPs automatically add users to every marketing campaign when a client invites or creates an account for them, which is considered worst practice.
Email marketer from ReturnPath discusses how spam traps are used by ISPs to identify senders who are not following best practices. Adding emails without consent increases the risk of hitting spam traps, severely damaging sender reputation.
Email marketer from SparkPost says that adding emails without consent damages sender reputation. ISPs monitor engagement and spam complaints, and low engagement from unconsented lists can lead to emails being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares buying email lists (or adding without consent) leads to low engagement, high bounce rates, and spam complaints. This damages sender reputation and hurts deliverability. ESPs have strict policies against this.
Email marketer from Constant Contact shares if you don't have permission, you could be violating CAN-SPAM. Always get a confirmation from someone to show that they want to get email from you.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that obtaining explicit consent, practicing segmentation, and list cleaning are the best practices that impact email deliverability. Adding emails without consent violates these principles.
Email marketer from Sendinblue explains low engagement impacts sender score, where low engagement damages sender score due to adding unconsented contacts.
Email marketer from Reddit responds that if you did not sign up for a product and are receiving promotional or marketing emails, it is considered spam. This is a clear violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise responds purchased, rented, scraped, appended, and co-reg lists are not okay, and are likely to cause deliverability issues.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares one of the main issues with ESPs adding addresses without consent is list bombing. Where if someone enters lots of peoples details to get them on a list, the first you know is lots of bounces and spam complaints.
Expert from Email Geeks shares an experience where an ESP added her address to an account and a drip campaign without her consent, noting the CEO's rude response when she inquired about it. She pointed out the potential security vulnerability of adding addresses without confirmation.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that sending email to people who did not ask for it is a bad idea. When you send mail people did not ask for they tend to mark it as spam, which affects your deliverability.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from DMA emphasises the importance of ethical data collection and email marketing practices. It recommends obtaining explicit consent from individuals before adding them to marketing lists to maintain trust and comply with regulations.
Documentation from GDPR.eu explains that the GDPR requires explicit consent for processing personal data, including email addresses. Adding someone to a marketing list without their affirmative consent is a violation of GDPR.
Documentation from Mailchimp emphasises that permission is required to send marketing emails. Importing contacts without consent can lead to account suspension and legal issues. Clear, provable consent is essential.
Documentation from FTC explains that the CAN-SPAM Act requires a clear and conspicuous way for recipients to opt-out of receiving future emails. Sending emails without prior consent and without an opt-out mechanism violates the CAN-SPAM Act.