Data Protection rule updates – I can already hear some of you drifting off.
But wait – this article is not about beating you over the head with a compliancy stick, it’s about helping you understand the opportunities that are coming from this legislation.
What’s changing?
The EU wants to simplify data management and compliance for all companies – large and small. This means that you deal with one set of rules, and one enforcing body, wherever you are in the EU. This will make life a lot easier for those of us managing marketing campaigns and the associated data across multiple countries.
For smaller companies, how they handle and report their data management is becoming less cumbersome and easier to manage.
What’s the challenge?
Here in the UK we’ve been used to treating B2B customer data less stringently than B2C data. Not to say we’ve been careless, but we’ve been able to target contacts through a variety of methods, such as legally purchasing data, “guessing” email addresses and sending cold emails for example.
With this streamlining the EU have adopted the most stringent rules to align to – meaning that the UK will now have to come into line with the “opt in” requirement. Any contact you want to target will have to “Opt in” to your marketing efforts before you can get in touch with them. This includes all digital communications, for example email and website tracking software.
Is the EU just trying to make our lives more difficult?
It’s both easy and tempting to see this as bad for business, that the EU are once again stepping in as “Big Brother”, and making it harder for marketers to do their job.
However, I don’t believe this to be the case. Sure, it provides a challenge, but we marketers love a challenge, right?
The EU have made these changes for a number of reasons, one being that it was getting too cumbersome and expensive for businesses to comply across multiple markets. It was a lot for the EU to manage, and it was confusing for everyone. What if you were targeting one country’s audience, but were residing in a different country? What if you’re using an agency in a third country? What if you were renting data? What if you’re using US based web tracking software in the EU? The list is endless.
If you’re a smaller company, it can be even more challenging: do I need a data controller? Should that be a separate role? How do I demonstrate compliance? How do I handle customer transparency requests?
The customer’s point of view
So, don’t forget this legislation impacts both B2B and B2C, and the EU wants to take into account the viewpoint of the customer both in their professional AND their personal capacity. Making the assumption that we will have the same concerns about how our personal data is handled, regardless of the type of transaction.
Why? This is largely being driven by the proliferation of mobile devices. The line between personal and professional is constantly blurred as we use our personal devices for work and vice versa. As we conduct personal and professional activity simultaneously over any wifi network, the line virtually disappears.
As customers, we want to know that this data (which can include behaviourial tracking and usage statistics as well as personal information) is being used properly, is secure and won’t be used or shared in order to spam us. We also want to know that if we want to disengage from a company, we can.
As marketers, we want to be able to target the people we want to, and to learn about their behaviour and needs in order to provide them with the most appropriate goods and services.
So, what do we do now?
The opportunity
Every cloud has a silver lining, and this one is no exception. For smaller companies, there is now no requirement to keep “reporting in” on your compliance, and no need to have a specific data officer. If customers submit excessive requests for transparency of information they can be reasonably charged to access that information.
You’ve probably heard of the “right to be forgotten”, which has been largely misreported. If you randomly decide you want certain information to be “forgotten” by an organisation, you have to have an extremely good reason to do so, and won’t generally include information that is shared as news for example.
For marketers, there is a significant opportunity to do several things:
1. Spring clean
You now have a solid reason to sort out your data records, and to get investment to do so. Defining and following a process can help control this and not have it be too onerous to manage going forward. You can simplify your data sources, and negotiate SLAs with data providers so that you can prove compliance.
2. Take control
As a marketer you can use compliance to “speed up” internal help, with items such as web forms and web tracking software, and insist on one point of control, or ask others to sign disclaimers (usually a good motivation for compliance).
3. Build trust with customers
This best practice can make you a leader in Data Protection and give your organization an opportunity to promote its “good data practice” and create an atmosphere of trust and credibility. If you can get here first, it could be a useful defence against the competition.
4. Improving your marketing - investing in the right stuff
Campaigns can focus on engaging the customer, and allowing customers to “self select” their interest – inbound marketing with senior executive buy in. Developing great content, for customers to download and opt in to your marketing, creates a more solid link than blasting contacts with email. This will drive higher ROI from marketing.
This legislation will force marketers to be more creative and better disciplined when it comes to creating content. For example, linking content planning with SEO helps customer find you and opt in. It will also help drive budget holder buy in, as the only option in an opt in world.
5. Data is the new oil
Information is incredibly valuable in today’s digital environment, and if you can be seen as a leader in how you manage it, you can not only build trust with customers, but also ensure you get the most from it. Use it, analyse it, and take the opportunity to create greater and more effective marketing.
There’s no denying that it’s got the potential to be a big project, but then those projects often deliver the greatest return. If you start small, find some processes and best practice to follow and start soon, you can get ahead and start seeing not only compliance, but better results from your marketing.
So, take up the challenge, start now, before you have to, and start creating marketing content where people will beg to be on your list!
By Charlotte Graham-Cumming, director of Ice Blue Sky.
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