See how to separate booking service messages from marketing selection with an evidence-led consent check.
What the film covers
- 1. A booking detail is not a marketing permission
- 2. Classify the message by its content
- 3. Consent is a positive, specific choice
- 4. The soft opt-in is a five-part test, not a booking shortcut
- 5. Put the checkpoint where details enter the restaurant
- Website booking form
- Telephone booking
- Walk-in or paper list
Questions the film answers
- Does a restaurant booking confirmation give permission for marketing emails?
No. The ICO's restaurant example distinguishes a number supplied for booking contact and confirmation from a separate agreement to receive marketing. The contact detail proves how to reach the guest about the booking; it does not, by itself, prove marketing consent.
- Can a booking reminder include a discount or event promotion?
Treat that mixed message as direct marketing. The ICO says a purely administrative message is not direct marketing only when it promotes nothing; adding advertising or marketing material changes its classification. Keep the reminder administrative or send the promotion through the marketing workflow.
- Can a restaurant rely on the soft opt-in for everyone who has booked?
Not merely because they booked. The products-and-services soft opt-in has five cumulative requirements: direct collection, sale or sales negotiations, the restaurant's own similar products/services, an opt-out at collection and an opt-out in every later marketing message. Assess and document all five.
- Should email and SMS marketing choices be separate?
Yes. The ICO says some people may want one type of electronic marketing but not another and recommends asking separately. Store channel-specific outcomes so an email choice is not copied into the SMS field.
- What should a restaurant retain as evidence of a marketing choice?
The ICO recommends keeping a record such as who consented, when and how. In practice, retain the channel, positive choice or soft-opt-in assessment, date/time, collection route and wording version, plus a durable suppression status. Those operational fields make the evidence reviewable after export.
- How does TableSpark fit into a consent-separated booking workflow?
TableSpark keeps direct reservations, enquiries and sign-ups under the restaurant account in its Inbox and guest-record workflow, with CSV export. That provides an owned and portable booking-record foundation; the restaurant applies its documented marketing-authority and suppression rules when selecting a campaign audience.