SMS marketing in Denmark: the rules, the traps, the checklist
Denmark's spam ban is one of Europe's strictest — and the email exception people rely on does NOT cover SMS. What §10 actually says, and how to send compliantly.
Honesty first: this is practical guidance, not legal advice. Marketing law changes and edge cases are real — when in doubt, ask a lawyer, and always check current operator requirements before a big campaign.
Denmark regulates marketing messages through the Marketing Practices Act (markedsføringsloven), §10 — the "spam ban". It is enforced by the Consumer Ombudsman, fines are calculated per message sent, and it applies to B2B and B2C alike. That last part surprises people weekly.
The main rule
You may not send electronic marketing messages — email and SMS — without the recipient's prior consent. Consent must be voluntary, specific, informed and documentable: the GDPR standard. A pre-ticked box is not consent; a purchased list is not consent; "they gave us their number for delivery updates" is not marketing consent.
The trap: the email exception does not cover SMS
§10 contains a well-known exception: if a customer gave you their email address when buying something, you may email them about your own, similar products, provided you told them at collection and every message offers an easy opt-out. Two things about this exception get senders in trouble:
- It is written for email. Danish practice ties it to the email address collected at sale — it does not give you the right to SMS your customers. For SMS marketing in Denmark, the safe rule is simple: consent, always.
- Even for email, all four conditions must hold (own products, similar products, informed at collection, opt-out in every message). Miss one and you're outside it.
Sender IDs and the practical layer
Denmark allows alphanumeric sender names (up to 11 characters) without a general pre-registration scheme — your brand name simply appears as the sender. The flip side: recipients cannot reply to an alphanumeric sender, so your STOP handling must run through a linked flow or a keyword on a number where required. WeZend validates sender rules per destination before send, so a non-compliant combination is caught before it costs money.
What "documentable" means in practice
When the Consumer Ombudsman asks, you need to show when, how and for what each recipient consented. In WeZend this is automatic: lead forms record timestamp, source and IP for every signup, double opt-in adds click-confirmation, and the consent history lives on the contact — one export answers the question.
The Danish checklist
- Explicit, logged consent for every SMS marketing recipient — no exceptions, B2B included.
- Double opt-in on signup forms (not legally required, but the evidence standard that ends discussions).
- Every message identifies the sender and respects STOP instantly.
- Frequency caps and quiet hours configured — not a legal requirement, but complaint rates are the enforcement trigger in practice.
- Transactional messages (order updates, OTPs) are outside §10's marketing scope — but don't smuggle offers into them; mixed content makes the whole message marketing.