Subscription commerce campaign checklist

What to take away

Can this subscription commerce campaign run? Only if the ASA's CAP Code is met, the CMA's consumer law rules on misleading omissions are satisfied, and you have recorded a lawful basis for marketing consent under the UK GDPR and PECR.
Treat this checklist as a gate, not a tidy-up after launch.
Pricing claims, trial terms and cancellation routes attract the most complaints.
For complaints, use the ASA's Make a complaint route and the ICO's Raise a concern route.
The campaign also needs an audience, working tracking, reachable inboxes and a named owner for each system.

Start with the claims you can prove

Write out every factual claim and attach the evidence behind it. A worked example: "Save 40%" with no comparator and no end date fails, because the reader cannot check the baseline or when the saving applies. "Cancel anytime" needs a cancellation route that works in the same medium as the sign-up.

The CAP Code requires ads to be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and marketing communications must not mislead by omission. A material condition buried in the terms can make the omission itself the problem. The subscription commerce UK rules and compliance guide sets out where advertising ends and contract information begins.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 make a misleading omission a consumer law breach in its own right, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 adds consumer protection and subscription contract duties that the CMA enforces. Record the rule you are relying on next to the claim it covers.

Audit consent before you send

Marketing consent has to be specific, informed and recorded. Under the UK GDPR you need a lawful basis for processing customer data, and consent is only one option. The ICO's guidance on lawful basis for processing explains how to choose and document one.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 changes parts of the wider data framework. Check your notices and consent records against the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 rather than last year's template. Where a campaign relies on soft opt-in, every message still needs a clear opt-out.

Two duties sit behind that wording. The ICO's direct marketing guidance is the reference point for consent and opt-out language, and most controllers must pay the ICO's annual data protection fee unless an exemption applies. The soft opt-in is a PECR rule rather than a UK GDPR one, so record it separately from the lawful basis.

Run the pre-launch checklist

Work through these in order.

Pre-launch compliance checklist

List every claim, price, discount, deadline
Attach evidence and comparison date
Show full price after trial
Confirm cancellation route before payment
Record lawful basis per audience segment
Test opt-out and unsubscribe journey
Save screenshots of ad, page, checkout

List every factual claim in the ad and the evidence you hold for it.
Check each price claim has a comparator, a date and a clear baseline.
Confirm trial terms state length, price after trial, billing frequency and notice period.
Check the cancellation route works in the same medium as the sign-up.
Confirm consent wording is specific, informed and recorded, with a lawful basis.
Check every marketing message includes a clear opt-out.
Check the landing page and checkout match the ad's material terms.
Diarise a review date for time-limited claims.

If a competitor's conduct looks like a market problem rather than an ad breach, the CMA accepts reports through its report a competition or market problem route. The route is titled Tell the CMA about a competition or market problem. That is a business route, not a substitute for handling your own compliance.

Who signs off ad claims

Name one person accountable for claim evidence and one for consent records. Small teams often merge the roles, provided the sign-off is written and dated.

What to do when a claim cannot be evidenced

Cut the claim, or soften it to something you can prove. A weaker true claim costs less than a ruling against you.

Run the campaign operations checklist

The claims and the consent records are only half of a campaign. The operational layer needs a named owner too, and it is the part that breaks quietly.

Audience.Build every send list from a documented segment — active subscribers, lapsed trials, non-renewers — and note why that segment qualifies for the message.
Suppression.Apply unsubscribe, complaint and recent-cancellation suppression before every send, and keep the list readable by both the email platform and the billing system.
Tools and systems.List the platforms that touch the campaign: billing and payments (Stripe Billing, GoCardless, Chargebee), CRM and email (Klaviyo, Mailchimp), consent management (OneTrust) and analytics (Google Analytics 4). Give each system one owner.
Tracking.Agree the UTMs, conversion events and attribution window before launch, so the result you report matches the claim you made.
Deliverability.Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC on the sending domain, plus sender reputation and complaint rates, before a large send.
KPIs.Set trial-to-paid conversion, cancellation rate, complaint rate and cost per acquisition before launch, and diarise the review date.

Check pricing and trial wording

Trial offers cause most disputes. State the trial length, the price that follows, the billing frequency and the notice period in the same place as the offer.

Trial terms are an information duty as well as a selling choice. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, traders must give certain information, including a description of the goods, service or digital content and how long any commitment will last. Trial length, price after trial, billing frequency and notice period belong in that set.

Trial offer wording to state

Must state

Trial length: Clear duration
Price after trial: Full price shown
Billing frequency: How often charged
Notice period: Cancellation window
Payment method: Not called free

Risk if omitted

Trial length: Misleading omission
Price after trial: Hidden cost claim
Billing frequency: Surprise charges
Notice period: Trapped customers
Payment method: Free-offer breach

If the offer depends on a supplier or agency contract, the terms you can advertise are limited by what you agreed. The subscription commerce commercial contracts article covers the clauses that constrain pricing and cancellation promises.

Avoid countdown timers that reset, and "free" offers that require a payment method.

Keep an evidence file

Store these items in one folder:

Final creative.
Landing page.
Checkout screens.
Consent wording.
Evidence pack.
Dates for each item and each change.

If a complaint arrives months later, that folder is your defence.

Review the file whenever price, trial length or the cancellation process changes. A campaign compliant in January can be non-compliant by June if the terms moved and the ad did not.

Common questions

Does the CAP Code apply to email and social ads?

Yes. It covers marketing communications in paid and non-paid space, including email, social posts and influencer content. The ASA administers it.

Can I email existing customers about a new subscription?

Often yes, under the soft opt-in, if they bought something similar and were given an opt-out at the time. Record the basis and keep the opt-out in every message.

What happens if a customer complains to the ASA?

It assesses the ad against the Code and can require it to be changed or withdrawn. Rulings are published, so the commercial cost goes beyond one campaign.

Do I need a lawyer to review a campaign?

Not for every campaign. For a novel claim, price structure or consent model, take legal advice. This article is general guidance only.