The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) officially came into force in Germany on 25 May 2018. A law that has caused quite a stir in newsletter marketing, as there are a number of rules to observe. But with CleverReach, data protection-compliant email marketing is fortunately very easy!

Since the GDPR came into force in Europe, direct marketers are officially obliged to handle their users' data with particular care. The regulation also has an impact on newsletter marketing. The CleverReach plugin for your WordPress site makes it particularly easy for you to conduct data protection-compliant newsletter marketing! The first step: compliant registration.

How does the newsletter registration become GDPR-compliant?

1. 1. conclude your data processing agreement (DPA) with us. This sounds tricky, but it's really easy: as soon as you have created your account, you will find the data processing agreement we have completed in your account under "My account" - "Settings" - "Data protection". Simply add the data that you save from your recipients as well as your own signature.
   2. Only ask for the email address: When registering for a newsletter, all other information is voluntary, because: "Only store as much data as necessary" is the motto of the GDPR, and in newsletter marketing this is the email address. Although you may also ask for the name or birthday of your users in the registration form, this is voluntary information without which it should still be possible to register for the newsletter.
   3. Explain what you store from your users and why A small note in the registration form with GDPR checkbox is enough to refer to all the detailed information in your privacy policy.
   4. About the privacy policy: In it, you indicate that you use newsletter marketing, with which programme and for what purpose. There is no general answer to what exactly should be in your privacy policy, as this can be different for every customer. From our point of view, however, the following information should be included in your declaration:
      • A precise, transparent and easy-to-understand explanation of what happens to the recipient's data (where it is stored, that CleverReach has been commissioned as a service provider and that a contract data processing agreement is in place)
      • Clarification of the exact purpose and type of data collection
      • Cancellation option for the user
      • Name tracking measures, if used (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and the like)
      • Right to data access and deletion/blocking of your own data
   5. Receiving a newsletter is always voluntary. Linking a registration to participation in a competition or similar is not permitted under the GDPR. However, a nice alternative is to organise a competition among all new subscribers to your newsletter!
   6. Double opt-in ensures verifiability You are required to document that recipients have consented to the newsletter being sent. With double opt-in, you ask for your users' consent to receive your newsletter both in the registration form and also by email. The double opt-in (DOI for short) is automatically preset on all forms that you create via CleverReach. This means you are always on the safe side. CleverReach also documents the data of new registrations for you in the in-house forms.
   7. What about unsubscribers? It should be possible to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time and without any disadvantages for the recipient. You can achieve this, for example, with a simple unsubscribe link in the footer of your newsletter. The unsubscribe links are automatically integrated in our templates, so you don't need to do anything else here.

Our GDPR checklist can be helpful to you, clarify many more details about the General Data Protection Regulation.

Does a business card already constitute consent to receive newsletters? And does the GDPR also apply to non-EU countries? We answer these and other questions in our article on opt-in myths that you should better not believe!

You now have the best basis for using your own form on WordPress in compliance with data protection regulations. You now have various options for integrating the registration form on your website:

• Insert registration form with block in Gutenberg Editor
• Insert registration form in (blog) post with Classic Editor via shortcode
• Insert registration form in the footer or sidebar with widget

Would you like to make changes to your form? You can use the "Edit in CleverReach" link in your CleverReach account to edit your registration form and save changes. These will be adopted in the plugin.

Email marketing from Germany: This means extra security for you and your company. Data protection is our top priority, spam does not get into your e-mail inbox with us.

• Server locations in the EU: Your data is stored securely in the EU. For a high level of data protection of your customers' and your company's information.
• CleverReach is a CSA member (Certified Senders Alliance), which ensures global whitelisting in the most important mail clients for your newsletters. This means better delivery rates for your mailings and more success for your email marketing.
• User data that is transmitted via a CleverReach registration form is SSL-encrypted. SSL encryption protects data from being intercepted by unauthorised parties during transmission, so that you as the sender can give your recipients even more security in terms of data protection!