When GDPR came into force, many businesses rushed to send re-permission emails to their entire database. The result, in most cases, was significant data loss — and many of those re-permission email errors were entirely avoidable.
The Most Common Mistakes
The biggest error was sending a re-permission email to every single contact, regardless of whether their consent was already valid. When subscribers who did not respond had to be removed, businesses lost contacts they never needed to touch in the first place.
A second mistake was underestimating how many re-permission emails consumers were receiving simultaneously. Inboxes were flooded. Most consumers used the moment not as an opportunity to update preferences, but as a chance to clear out every newsletter they had ever signed up to.
Companies that had rarely contacted their subscribers were particularly exposed. A re-permission email from a brand the consumer could barely remember was easy to ignore — and easy to unsubscribe from. The email was a reminder that the brand had not delivered on its original promise of useful, relevant communication.
For a fuller picture of the risks, see our posts on how to run a successful re-permission campaign and why buying GDPR data is not the answer. The ICO also provides authoritative guidance on what lawful consent requires.
Why So Many Subscribers Did Not Respond
Most people do not understand GDPR in detail. What they do understand is that they are being given an easy way to unsubscribe from everything at once. For many, that was exactly what they did.
The re-permission process essentially handed subscribers a simple opt-out mechanism. Companies that had not maintained an ongoing, relevant dialogue with their contacts had little goodwill to call upon when the moment arrived.
What to Do After Data Loss
If your re-permission campaign reduced your database significantly, the answer is not to buy replacement data in bulk. That approach carries its own compliance risks and typically delivers poor results.
The right response is to rebuild with people who have specifically chosen to hear from your brand. Fully consented, brand-specific leads outperform any purchased list. They are more engaged, more likely to convert, and far safer from a compliance perspective.
Read more about why GDPR is ultimately good for business — the data loss, while painful, leaves you with a more responsive list than you started with.
Rebuild Your Database the Right Way
Lifestyle Media Group helps businesses replace lost contacts with fully opted-in, GDPR-compliant consumer data. Explore our consumer data services or contact us to find out how we can help you start fresh with the right audience.