Best practices for B2B email direct marketing

Please note this article is for informational purposes only, and isn’t legal advice. You should always speak to your own legal counsel to determine your compliance obligations.

Key Takeaways:

1. Consider which country(ies) your recipients are in to assess your risks - a handful of EEA countries have email DNC lists. Avoid emailing recipients listed on those lists unless you have a clear legal basis.
2. The clearer the provenance and relevance of the email outreach are to the recipient, the lower the risk
3. Always include a simple, easily accessible opt-out mechanism in your emails
4. Review and scrub email distribution lists frequently (at least monthly) prior to outreach
5. Track consents (where required), opt-outs and communication preferences
6. Train teams, audit regularly, and adjust compliance procedures as laws or best practices evolve.

By following these best practices, Clay customers can conduct effective outbound email outreach whilst also lowering the risk of challenges across EEA jurisdictions and the UK.

1. Do all countries across the EEA/UK have the same rules when it comes to direct B2B email marketing?

As a general rule, all EEA countries’ and the UK’s data protection rules mean that Clay customers will need to establish a lawful basis for using any individual’s personal information. However, certain EEA countries have stricter rules when it comes to direct B2B email outreach compared to others.

The following considerations will help in assessing your approach in the EEA region:

• Check where your recipients are located (if known).

Considering which country(ies) the intended recipients of your outreach are located in will help you in assessing your risks and identifying if there are any specific local law requirements.

• Think about national email DNC lists.

Bulgaria and Austria have national Do Not Contact (DNC) lists for email outreach. These are lists which include email addresses of recipients who have opted out of unsolicited marketing emails. These lists exist to protect individuals’ preferences and reaching out to email addresses on DNC lists without proper authorisation may result in complaints or legal action.

• Consider the types of email addresses within your outreach campaign.

Certain types of email address pose lower risks across the region. Generic business/corporate email addresses (such as info@company.com) pose the lowest risk.

Individuals’ corporate email addresses (such as name.surname@company.com) are comparatively higher risk in some countries, although see below ways in which you can mitigate this when composing your outreach campaign.

Ensure you are not including any personal email addresses in your outreach (e.g. username@gmail.com).

2. Why provenance and relevance matter.

Provenance and relevance both help to ensure that outbound email outreach is targeted and effective whilst also documenting clear, transparent and compliant communication.

• Provenance = “who is the sender?”. Clay customer’s email outreach should clearly identify who the email comes from, therefore avoiding anonymous campaigns or misleading communications.
• Relevance = “is the email outreach pertinent to the recipient?”. The more tailored the outreach is to the recipient, e.g. the sector they operate it, their company, their experience or context, their current job role, the lower the risk in practice of complaints or reports.

At the same time, an email showing clear relevance, context and business interest also supports recordkeeping of Clay’ customer’s lawful basis and legitimate interest behind the outreach.

3. Opt-out mechanisms and internal DNC lists

Every organisation should set up an opt-out process and maintain an internal (email) DNC list.

• Every email must include a valid address or link enabling recipients to object or unsubscribe easily to future communication or outreach via the opt-out processes in place.
  • The opt-out process should be easily accessible and free.
  • Depending on Clay’s customer’s opt-out mechanism, the recipient may be able to choose which communications to unsubscribe to and which to retain.
• Ensure a central record is maintained internally of all opt-outs, and (if applicable) which communications the opt-outs relate to.
  • It is preferable to automate this process, as it significantly reduces the risk of opt-outs not being documented and respected going forwards.
  • Also ensure that, once a recipient opts-out to any (or all) email communication, their email address is removed from any email distribution lists as soon as possible.
  • If a recipient opts-out of any (or all) email communication outside of the standard opt-out process (e.g. by responding to an email), ensure this is also immediately recorded.

Any new opt-outs should effectively supplement the internal email DNC list and processes should be put in place to ensure distribution lists are regularly checked against this DNC list.

4. Distribution lists

It is key to ensure that distribution lists are kept up to date. Before creating or re-using an existing email distribution list:

• For new distribution lists, check all email addresses against the applicable internal (and external) email DNC lists.
• For existing ones, confirm that the most recent review / scrub was carried out less than 28 days prior to the outreach launch; otherwise, review the list prior to use.
• Check whether there are any more recent updates / changes that you should take into account.

5. Document and Audit

Monitoring and audits help you identify gaps and maintain compliance over time.

• Maintain records of lawful basis assessments
• Document opt-out, DNC compliance workflows and email‑list hygiene processes
• Train relevant teams on these procedures
• Periodically audit email distribution lists and processes to verify that policies are followed.