What is “consent” in email marketing?

Consent in email marketing is the permission a person grants to receive commercial communications from a sender. It's the foundational legal requirement underlying laws like GDPR, CASL, and CAN-SPAM-though these laws define and enforce consent differently. Beyond legal compliance, consent represents an agreement between brand and subscriber: you promise to send valuable content, they agree to receive it.

Consent exists on a spectrum from explicit (actively checking a box, typing an email address to subscribe) to implicit (inferred from an existing relationship, like a recent purchase). The strength of your consent determines both legal protection and deliverability health. Explicit, verified consent produces engaged lists that generate positive reputation signals; weak or purchased consent produces complaint-heavy lists that damage sender reputation.

The shift toward privacy-focused regulation has made consent more rigorous globally. What was acceptable a decade ago-pre-checked boxes, buried terms, purchased lists-now violates laws and erodes deliverability. Consent isn't bureaucratic overhead; it's the difference between email marketing that builds relationships and email marketing that annoys people into spam complaints. Strong consent is both legally required and strategically smart.