Robinson List: How it works and how it affects marketing
Robinson’s list consists of a segmented census of all citizens who, in order to protect their privacy, have expressed their desire not to receive communications for advertising or commercial purposes. Let’s see what the Robinson list is, how it works and how it can affect your email marketing campaigns.
What is Robinson’s list
Robinson’s list is a free advertising protection service , which users can avail of if they do not wish to receive promotional communications without express consent.
Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5 , obliges companies to consult the Robinson list before proceeding to contact a consumer for promotional/advertising purposes. Robinson’s list is therefore intended to protect consumer data .
If a consumer is contacted by a company that tries to sell them a product or service by any means, and such communication has not been previously authorized, the user may request not to receive further communications from the company .
Registration and operation
The procedure is simple: the citizen who wishes to stop receiving commercial communications will have to register on the Spanish Robinson list website. Registration is free for individuals, and only has a cost for commercial companies of a certain size.
In the private area, the website allows the user to filter advertising communication attempts , so that they can configure, on demand, what types of communications they prefer to avoid (being able to choose between SMS, email or telephone), and even from which companies You do not wish to receive any communication.
The cancellation process, however, is not immediate, but rather takes between 30 and 60 days to become effective . This is because changes cannot be applied to ongoing advertising campaigns, so the cancellation will take effect in the next campaign period.
How Robinson’s list affects email marketing
When you are going to start an email marketing campaign, we recommend that you first make sure that your recipients have not requested the exclusion of commercial communications. To do this, you must cross-reference the Robinson list with your customer database .
It is better to carry out these checks periodically , and add to each client file the last date on which you reviewed the Robinson list. Keep in mind that the user who registers on this list does not have to do so forever, since they can enter and re-authorize the communications by changing a filter.
In case you miss a record and end up sending an email to the “wrong” person, don’t forget to include an unsubscribe option, or a link to an email preferences center on your own website.
Respecting the content of Robinson’s list is essential for your brand image. It is in the interest of all companies to prevent users from ending up requesting a formal exclusion from our communications, so you will have to ensure that you have their express authorization when undertaking your email marketing campaigns.