Email collection and marketing consent - help please!

[SanctuaryPlants]

I need some help please - I haven't managed to solve my query with Square support which is really disappointing. Most of the advisors I've spoken to don't seem to understand and just pass me to a different department. 

I simply want to collect customer email addresses for the purposes of sending newsletters and using the Square marketing software. This means I need marketing consent. However the email collection field, or "email subscription" does not obtain consent, it simply logs the email address.  Why would anyone want to do this? What is the point of collecting an email address if you don't have the necessary consent to use it? Perhaps I am missing a trick....

As far as I can see, the only place that a customer email is collected with the consent to send marketing, is on the pop up, and at the checkout.

This isn't really good enough - many people simply close a pop up straight away, or have them blocked.  I want to add marketing consent to the email collection field in my footer. Why is that so hard to do? What is everyone else doing? Like I say, I really cannot understand why the collection functionality exists if it doesn't have the appropriate consent options.

I have got nowhere with Square support. One advisor told me to create a contact form (why?) and another promised me an email with a workaround which has not arrived. Can't get my head around why something so simple is so difficult, but it seems like that is Square's MO. 

I'd appreciate any thoughts from anyone else who wants to gather customers' emails and also use them!!

[Manny_SelSq]

@SanctuaryPlants 

I think if your footer says something like:

“Subscribe to Sanctuary Plants’ emails for plant care tips, new arrivals and special offers. Unsubscribe at any time.”

…and someone puts in their email and clicks Subscribe, that can count as their marketing opt-in. They’re actively asking for those emails.

Since you’re in the UK, the ICO guidance would be useful here. It doesn’t say that you need a separate consent checkbox. What matters is that people understand what they’re signing up for.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/consent/how-should-... 

Square’s own UK guidance also says its “Subscribed customers” group contains customers who consented to marketing emails.

Those customers can receive Square Marketing campaigns.

https://squareup.com/help/gb/en/article/6245-manage-customer-groups-and-filters

So I’d check whether someone who uses your footer form appears as Subscribed in Square. Is that part failing, or is it mainly the missing checkbox that’s worrying you?

[SanctuaryPlants]

Thanks, unfortunately the footer subscription field has been collecting email addresses without marketing consent. When I view the entries in the customer directory, the Marketing section reads: Not Subscribed. This is a real problem for me.

Also my pop-up which was set up to collect the email and also the required consent, reverts to Inactive status whenever I refresh the page. 

I am about to give up 😭

[schaefferjosh]

Hi @SanctuaryPlants! This is a bit tricky, but first off, the rules for marketing emails are different depending on the country. Here in the US, it is not necessarily required to collect prior consent as long as there is an opt-out function and you are clearly stating that it is an ad, etc. Whereas in the UK, it is required unless you meet an exemption. @doc_choc, do you have any insight on this, perhaps?

[doc_choc]

Hi @schaefferjosh you are absolutely correct in what you said. 

In the EU including the UK we have to a positive opt-in at the point of sign up by the customer. On the Register this it is a little easier as it is assumed that the customer is agreeing to signup as they are in-person, via email this is through a verification email sent once the customer signs up.

Can I suggest navigating  in your dashboard and to the marketing section. There is a section called "collect email addresses". Use/copy the link there (add a discount voucher for signing up if you want). This will get your customer signed up on the customer directory with a status of subscribed, you can then market to them directly via the email system under the Square Marketing section

Let me know if you are still having issues or if this doesn't fix your problem.

[SanctuaryPlants]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm honestly at my wits end - I really need a warm list of customers that I can legally send marketing information to but Square is making it really difficult. As I mentioned in another reply above my footer subscription field has been collecting email addresses without marketing consent. When I view the entries in the customer directory, the Marketing section reads: Not Subscribed.

Also my pop-up which was set up to collect the email and also the required consent, reverts to Inactive status whenever I refresh the page. No idea why. 

Currently on the phone to Square about both of these but not really getting anywhere. 

If you have any other ideas or thoughts on this I'd be delighted to hear them!

[doc_choc]

I think going forward I would collect the signups via the link, this will ensure they enter your mailing list correctly with the correct status.

I would agree with you that its isn't the most elegant means of collecting signups. If you list isn't too long, you may want to send the link through to the signups as a one time communication. The fact they have signed up already will allow you to email them and just verify via the link that they want to continue receiving emails from you. We did a similar exercise with a couple of hundred emails, its a good exercise to do, as its surprising how many emails on the list are obsolete. 

[SanctuaryPlants]

Thanks - I think I'm going to do something like that as my next move. 

As another UK user I'm really grateful to speak to you as you clearly get it!

[doc_choc]

@SanctuaryPlants Glad I can help. I know what you are going through, I have had the same issues with email collection myself. It should be straight forward, some of the functionality is developed not always with the EU law requirements at the forefront during the product development process, but they get there eventually you just need to give it a little time. I know the guys in Square are hard at work in the background and they have some great features on the way, which I always find helps negate the occasional downside of the system, well any system to be honest. What I would say is the community is a great place for support, unless its an account issue, I would look to the community, there is a lot of knowledge floating around here. I know @schaefferjosh has been on the forum for sometime, another great source of experience, knowledge and inspiration.   

[SanctuaryPlants]

Thanks for your reply. I hadn't considered that other countries have different requirements. Marketing consent is really important in the UK so I need to get this resolved despite numerous attempts, so I appreciate you bringing in @doc_choc 

[SanctuaryPlants]

@doc_choc I've just had confirmation from Square on email, that the footer subscription does not collect consent, it needs to be through the pop up (or at checkout online or on the POS terminal, I believe, but not the footer). 

Here's what they said:

"I was able to get your pop up to appear on your website again. Your customers should be able to enter their details and automatically be subscribed to receive marketing emails. Please ensure that your customers use the pop up if they want to receive marketing emails, if they enter their details through the form at the bottom of your website, they will not be automatically subscribed."

Quite disappointing. A pop up isn't really sufficient IMO, many people close or block them.  

Even more disappointing that I have had people filling in their email addresses in the footer (44 customers to be exact), and I can't do anything with those emails as there is no marketing consent attached to those records.