Marketing consent

Marketing consent is permission to send marketing by email or text, governed in the UK by PECR alongside UK GDPR. The general rule is that you need consent. The practical exception, the soft opt-in, lets you market similar products to someone who bought or negotiated to buy from you, provided they were given a simple way to opt out when you collected their details and in every message since.

In practice

Email and text marketing in the UK is governed by PECR alongside UK GDPR. The general rule is that you need consent. The practical exception, often called the soft opt-in, lets you market similar products and services to someone who bought from you or negotiated a sale, provided they were given a clear chance to opt out when you took their details and every message offers an easy unsubscribe.

The reason this matters commercially is that it is the asset the aggregators keep and your own platform gives you. A list of customers who ordered from you, with a lawful basis to contact them, is the thing that makes a quiet Tuesday fixable.

Two habits keep it clean: record when and how each permission was given, and make unsubscribing genuinely one click. Both are cheap to build in and expensive to retrofit.

Also called: PECR, email marketing consent, soft opt-in.

Questions people ask about marketing consent

What is the soft opt-in?

The PECR exception for existing customers. The ICO states it applies where they bought, or negotiated to buy, a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent. It does not cover bought-in lists or prospective customers.

Why is a customer list commercially valuable?

Because it is the asset the aggregators keep and your own platform gives you. A list of people who ordered from you, with a lawful basis to contact them, is what makes a quiet Tuesday fixable. Without it every quiet night is bought back at commission rates.

What records should I keep about consent?

When and how each permission was given, and what the person was shown at the time. That, plus genuinely one-click unsubscribe, is what turns a complaint into a two-minute answer. Both are cheap to build in at the start and expensive to retrofit onto a list you already have.

Sources, checked 26 October 2026

Information Commissioner’s Office, Electronic mail marketing: the soft opt-in exception under PECR regulation 22