Permission Based Marketing Policy

Dotdigital is committed to operate a policy of permission-based marketing, to facilitate the best possible deliverability rates and a trusted sender reputation for you, our customers. As recipients will have given permission, they will have a positive interaction with the messages they are receiving with higher success rates of reaching the recipient’s inbox.

Dotdigital’s platforms can only be used to send messages to recipients that have provided explicit and evidencable permission. As a Dotdigital client, you agree to follow Dotdigital’s Permission Marketing Policy regarding how you acquire and use recipient addresses.

Acceptable acquisition practices

• Contacts acquired via opt-in
• Organically acquired lists
• Using a confirmed opt-in service (COI)
• Co-branded messages or co-registered opt in (provided that clear, informed permission is given)
• Transaction-based e.g. for transactional messages
• Lists who have explicitly given permission to the type of content being sent

Unacceptable acquisition practices

• Purchased lists
• List rentals
• Harvested or scraped lists
• Email or mobile appended
• Opt-out lists 
• Any list from a 3rd party defined as:  data where you are not the original collector of recipient data.

Dotdigital specifically forbid these activities as message receivers will block or automatically flag messages as spam or junk.

Albeit not prohibited, extra care should also be taken in sending to old lists of recipients, even if permissioned, as many recipients will have forgotten, increasing the likelihood of complaints harming your sender reputation.

Unacceptable content

As part of this policy, Dotdigital prohibits customers from sending content amounting to spam. This includes using Dotdigital’s platforms to send:

• unsolicited or unauthorized advertising
• promotional material
• ‘junk mail’
• ‘chain letters’
• pyramid schemes
• messages relating to explicit or offensive content, illegal goods or services
• messages with hidden or obscured unsubscribe links

These unacceptable acquisition practices and content go further than applicable laws (such as GDPR, CAN-SPAM, PIPEDA) and set a higher standard in order to preserve reputation and minimize complaints, opt-outs and unsubscribes from recipients.

Ensuring success

Where necessary, Dotdigital monitors messages sent through our platforms and reserve the right to ensure compliance with this permission-based marketing policy. This includes suspending access to the services, and in the case of repeat violations, terminating the provision of the services. We will always endeavor to notify you where your conduct fails to meet the above requirements, and to give advice on how to adjust behavior in line with this policy. Our consulting, deliverability, customer success and onboarding teams are also available to discuss best practice marketing strategy and advise on how to increase deliverability rates. Your success and reputation is our success and reputation and together we can help you achieve your marketing goals.

For further information on email best practices, you can download our guide at https://dotdigital.com/resources/email-marketing-101-deliverability/