Consent and marketing data: what to check before you message a customer list

It is Diwali week, you have 4,000 numbers in a sheet, and someone on your team says to send everyone the offer. Before you do, answer four questions for every number: where did it come from, what was the person told, what did they agree to, and how do they stop it. If you cannot answer them from a record, treat the number as someone you may write to about their own order, not as a promotional audience. Rules on this differ by sector and change, so check with your own adviser what applies to you.

This post is general guidance on keeping records and manners. It is not legal advice.

Why this matters even for a small shop

A list built over five years usually has several sources mixed together: billing-counter entries, a Google form, WhatsApp contacts, exhibition cards, a purchased list someone once bought. Nobody remembers which is which.

When a customer complains, "I never agreed to this", you need to show what they agreed to. Without a record, you have a complaint and no answer. An annoyed customer also blocks your number, and enough blocks and reports can put your messaging account at risk.

The source check

Go through the list column by column. An invented Jaipur jewellery shop, for example, might hold a register from Diwali purchases, a form on the website, and numbers collected at a wedding exhibition.

The last row is the dangerous one. A list you did not collect carries no agreement made to you. Ask your adviser before you touch it.

What a record of agreement contains

Keep, for each person who joins a promotional list:

• the name and number;
• the date;
• how they agreed: a tick box, a reply, a written form, a conversation noted by staff;
• the exact words they saw or heard;
• the channel they agreed to: WhatsApp, SMS, email, calls.

An agreement for email is not an agreement for WhatsApp. Record it by channel.

Writing the first message to an older list

A common mistake is sending a big offer to the whole list because it is Diwali. The invented jewellery shop above did so. Some recipients replied asking who they were, and a few blocked the number. The messages came from a number few of them had saved.

The correction was not to stop. It was to send one short message to those whose source was clear. It said who the shop was and why it had the number, and asked one question: "Would you like to hear about new designs and offers? Reply YES, or STOP and we will not write again." Only the YES replies went on the promotional list, each with the date recorded. Say the shop wrote to 1,100 of its 4,000 numbers and 240 replied YES. The rest mostly never answered, a few said STOP, and that was recorded the same day. The promotional list went from 4,000 on paper to 240 people who wanted it.

For the rows where the source was unclear, the shop did nothing at first. It kept them for messages about their own purchases, such as a repair ready for collection, and left the promotional list alone. Some of those customers joined later by choosing to, at the counter, and that is the cleanest route.

A smaller list brings fewer replies in the short run. What you gain is a record you can show.

A register that survives staff changes

One sheet, one owner. Each row is a person, and each channel has its own columns.

The empty cells matter as much as the full ones. They tell staff what they may not do.

Making the opt-out real

Put the way out in the first message of any promotion, in plain words. Honour it the same day if you can.

Keep a separate "do not message" list and check every send against it. Assign one owner, because a sheet edited by three people loses entries. When a staff member copies numbers to a personal phone for a quick send, the list stops working, so give staff the sending tool rather than the numbers.

Children, health and money

Take extra care where the people on your list are children, patients or borrowers, or where the message touches their health or finances. Different rules can apply, and the cost of a mistake is higher. This includes clinics, schools, coaching centres, lenders and insurers. Do not rely on a general post, including this one. Ask your own regulator or adviser, and keep the messages to the matter the person asked about.

A pre-send checklist

Print this and tick it before each send.

1. Do I know where every number on this list came from?
2. Did each person agree to this kind of message on this channel?
3. Is there a dated record I could show?
4. Does the first line say who we are and why they are hearing from us?
5. Is the opt-out visible and does it work today?
6. Is the do-not-message list checked against this send?
7. Does the message stay on what they agreed to?

If any answer is no, pause that part of the list and send to the part you can answer for.

Getting your records in order

Start with one afternoon: export the list, add a source column, and mark the rows where you cannot say. That column alone changes how you send. For the practical side of keeping a shop list clean, see how a shop turns its billing counter into a customer list. Marketing data, consent and compliance covers organising records and wording, with the legal questions left to your adviser; the marketing hub covers the wider planning. To talk through your own list, tell us what you need.