June 6, 2023
If the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union) applies to you, you can’t just add a simple newsletter subscription form like this one to your website:
Even though it looks nice and clean and is the easiest way to integrate a newsletter subscription form into Showit, it simply isn’t GDPR compliant.
However (as always), there are ways around it. Even ones that aren’t that complicated or expensive. In the following I’m going to show you how I use Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) for my newsletter subscription form (and for all my email marketing, too).
Disclaimer
I am no legal expert and this is no legal advice. I assume no liability for the information presented here. Please, do your own research on the topic.
Why does it have to be GDPR compliant in the first place?
For the simple reason that it can get really expensive if you get caught not complying with the EU’s GDPR standards!
Requirements for a GDPR compliant newsletter subscription form
According to article 7 of the GDPR you need to be able to save and prove the consent of your newsletter recipient. Also, you must conclude a contract for data processing and the recipient must be fully informed about the data processing through the privacy policy.
Sounds complicated? Yep, but you will see that it’s not half as complicated as you might think!
Use an online tool
For me, the simplest solution to handling this topic was to find a free online tool that would support me with my newsletter subscription form. The one I’m using is called Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). However, if you do some research you’ll come across many other good options.
How to set up a newsletter form that includes all the necessary details
So, the big question is: What data are you required (and allowed) to collect?
1. The purpose of the data collection:
According to Article 5 of the GDPR, the purpose for collecting, storing and processing the personal data must be clearly formulated and the newsletter frequency must be specified.
2. Which data you are allowed to collect:
You may only collect necessary data that is adequate for the purpose. This means that the email address is actually the only information that is mandatory. Everything else must be marked as voluntary!
3. Further mandatory information:
First of all, you need the information about the possibility to unsubscribe from the newsletter, the information and consent to the data protection declaration (also link this directly), and the information and consent to personalised newsletter tracking.
How to make the newsletter form look pretty on your Showit website
I think we all agree that the GDPR compliant newsletter subscription form doesn’t look as pretty as the one in the first picture at the top of this blog post.
My personal solution for this issue was to add something like this to the spot on my website where I wanted the newsletter form:
This blends in nicely with the website and the button takes you to an extra page on my website where you can find the longer subscription form.
If you use Brevo to make your newsletter subscription form, simply go to CONTACTS > FORMS and they will walk you through the process of building your form. Their form builder has pre-made building blocks that you can add very easily to your form. Then simply copy the code and paste it into Showit.
