What is the soft opt-in in email marketing?
This page explains the term. It is not legal advice.
What does the soft opt-in cover?
Email marketing normally needs consent. The soft opt-in is the exception to that rule, set out in Article 13(2) of the ePrivacy Directive1. It is aimed at a business's existing customers and similar products. It comes with conditions.
We do not summarise those conditions here. They are set in national law and by national regulators, and details differ between countries. In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance on its conditions under PECR, the UK's electronic marketing rules2. In France, the regulator CNIL publishes its own guidance on commercial email and SMS prospecting3. Read the guidance for each market you send to.
Why does the term matter for a shop?
Because the label "soft opt-in" is easy to say and hard to apply. Some addresses on your list come from purchases. Others come from a newsletter box, a competition or a free account. These can fall under different rules.
Treating them all as one list is how a team ends up relying on an exception it cannot back up. The question is not "do we have a soft opt-in?" The question is which addresses rely on consent, which rely on the exception, and who checked.
This matters for flows too. An abandoned cart flow and other email automation flows send to addresses collected in different ways. The legal basis sits behind each one.
For ZFD: Consent questions go to your lawyer. We set up the flows around what they decide. For the wider picture, see customer retention strategy ecommerce and SMS marketing for ecommerce.
Easily confused with
Soft opt-in vs Consent (opt-in)
The default rule. The person agrees before you send. The soft opt-in is the exception, not a second kind of consent.
Soft opt-in vs Implied consent
A different idea. We do not use the term for the soft opt-in.
Soft opt-in vs First-party data
Data you collect yourself. Having an address does not tell you which rule lets you email it.
FAQ
Is the soft opt-in the same as implied consent?
No. The ePrivacy Directive sets it out as an exception to the consent rule1, not as a form of consent.
Does the soft opt-in apply in every country?
No. National rules differ. Check the regulator in each market you email, and ask your lawyer.
Can I email everyone who created an account?
Not automatically. Whether an address qualifies depends on how it was collected. Your lawyer decides.
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Next step. Email problems rarely fix themselves. See our retention and CRM service.