Ukraine has long been waiting for a law that will regulate the protection of personal data on the Internet. In particular, it will prohibit the sending of SPAM and will impose sanctions for violating this prohibition.

And finally we waited! Back in December 2020, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law “On Electronic Communication”, which was adopted and signed by the President on January 12, 2021.

In Europe and America, there have been regulations of this kind for a long time. In particular, the European GDPR regulation provides for a fine of up to $ 20 million for sending letters to users without their consent. What will happen to domestic companies?


1. What is SPAM?

We now have an official definition. So, according to clause 118 of the Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Communications”:

Spam – these are electronic, text and / or MMS messages that are sent to the user by e-mail or phone repeatedly (more than 5 letters to one subscriber) without his prior consent, except for messages from the provider of electronic communications services regarding the provision of these very services or messages from public authorities , or local self-government bodies on issues belonging to their powers.

The same law, namely Art. 120, prohibits the sending of more than 5 email / sms / push / viber messages of a commercial nature without the prior consent of the user.
This means that you have exactly 5 emails from the moment you receive the contact, in which you can convince the user to subscribe to the newsletter. If this is not received, the contact from the bulk mailing database can be safely deleted.

The rest of the changes described in the law mainly concern Internet providers and cellular companies. However, if you want to familiarize yourself with them, you can do it here.


2. How will the new law affect mailings?

Now you need to approach mailings carefully, not only in order not to get into spam in the mail service, but also not to receive a fine.

However, not everything is so bad, because the new law contains a number of indulgences that will help to collect and work out a contact base without harming the wallet:

  1. it is allowed to send up to 5 messages per contact without his consent to the newsletter;
  2. any number of emails about terms of service can be sent to electronic communications providers;
  3. personal correspondence in e-mail and messengers is allowed, which is not of a mass nature and does not pursue the goal of selling goods or services. Those. your managers can continue to provide advice and clarifications to clients in personal correspondence.

3. What awaits violators?

According to the new law, liability is incurred not for sending spam as such, but for violating advertising rules and consumer rights, i.e. mailing recipients.

The following penalties are envisaged for violation:

  1. Blocking the IP address or phone number from which the mailing is carried out. This is perhaps the most loyal method.
  2. A fine of five times the cost of the mailing, which violated the advertising rules prescribed by law.

A fine from 5 to 500 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens for violation of the rights of end consumers (mailing list recipients). That is, you can pay up to UAH 8,500.


4. How to prepare for innovations?

Consider the following 5 points.

  • Configure Double Opt-In.

Double Opt-In – this is a subscription to a newsletter in two stages: first, the user leaves a contact, receives a confirmation letter by mail, and only after he follows the link from this letter and confirms his contact, he gets into the mailing list.

For some reason, many people still ignore this option and in fact send out spam. Although it is quite simple to set it up – any mailing service has ready-made templates for such letters and example scripts for launching them.

Fig. 1 – Example of a confirmation letter

  • Multichannel.

Using not only email, but also sms, push, viber or Telegram in mailings, you will not lose contact with the user, even if he unsubscribes from your mailings in one of the channels. Plus, multichannel increases conversions, as the chance that a user will see your offer increases in proportion to the number of channels you use.

In order for the same user to subscribe to several channels, you need to periodically remind him of this possibility in mailings.

  • The ability to unsubscribe.

The unsubscribe link must BE and be sufficiently visible to the user. This is a rule that has been known to everyone for a long time, but for some reason there are still mailing lists in which this option is absent.

In addition, since the unsubscribe link is most often placed at the very bottom of the letter, be sure to make sure that the mail service does not cut it off. This happens because the email exceeds the weight allowed by the mail service.

For example, for Gmail it is 80-100kb.

Spam Ukraine unsubscribe

Fig. 2 – An example of an unsubscribe link

  • Regular cleaning of the base.

This is good both for finances and in order not to spam those who do not want to read your letters. Ideally, it should be carried out every 3-6 months. Check who has not read any of your letters during this period and feel free to delete from the database, after saving it to a separate file. So, just in case ?

  • Subscription checkbox for clients.

Most of the contacts in the database are customers who left mail when placing an order, and not through the subscription form. Therefore, they do not receive a subscription email and welcome chain.

Therefore, it is worth setting up a separate script of 4-5 letters for such contacts, which will lead them to confirm the contact. Anyone who does not confirm it should be removed from the mass mailing.

Such a chain is now received by users who have left a request for consultation on our website, but are not our subscribers.


Conclusion

Of course, you need to get your email marketing up and running now. But don t panic and whip up everything. The law comes into force only from January 1, 2022, which means there is time to prepare thoroughly. And our tips above will help you with this.

Think first of all about your subscribers, not about yourself and your profit. Treat their data with respect and do not throw messages without the ability to unsubscribe from the mailing list. Try to put yourself in the recipient s shoes and think, would you like this persistence? Otherwise, everything is simple:

  1. request permission to send letters;
  2. give the opportunity to unsubscribe from mailings;
  3. use different communication channels;
  4. do not frequent with mailings and regularly clean the database.

Well, if you want to entrust all this to professionals – contact us ?

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