The GDPR will come into force on May 25, 2018 and will have a significant impact on digital marketing and in particular emailing and marketers. Find out how you can best prepare for the inevitable deadline.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on May 25, 2018. It will affect all organizations that collect data from any EU citizen, regardless of their location.
So, are you ready?
- What is GDPR?
- Why is the GDPR actually an opportunity in terms of emailing?
- What is the impact of the GDPR for marketers and emailing?
- Why is GDPR relevant to you?
- Obtaining consent under the GDPR: a crucial need in terms of emailing
What is GDPR?
GDPR or GDPR in English, is the new regulation of the European Union which has been developed to protect EU citizens from privacy breaches and data breaches, in our increasingly global world. more data driven.
In short, the GDPR gives consumers full control over their personal data.
The new law will have a major impact on digital marketing, particularly in terms of how we process personal data for marketing purposes. (emailing in particular)
The GDPR will impact all sectors and presents many challenges for businesses today, and one of the biggest for marketers will be managing contact consent.
Why is the GDPR actually an opportunity in terms of emailing?
While the initial reaction might be to resist this new regulation or even to vigorously criticize it, the GDPR will benefit both consumers and businesses.
Consumers will have full control over their personal datathe “right to be forgotten”, the right to data portability and the right to know when your data has been hacked/leaked (within 72 hours).
On the other hand, businesses will benefit from a simplified regulatory environment for the entire EU market.
This could translate into cost savings eliminating the need to consult the individual laws of each EU member country.
In general, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will promote transparency, strengthen user rights and build trust.
What is the impact of the GDPR for marketers and emailing?
In the field of digital marketing and emailing, we generally rely on personal data collected using different devices to build buyer personas, create tailor-made “customer journeys” and offer a personalized customer experience.
However, data collection and management will be more difficult once the GDPR comes into effect, for 3 main reasons:
- User Data Control: Users will have full control over their data. the right of access, consultation, rectification or deletion.
- Compliance: the anti-spam policy (opt-ins, opt-outs, etc.) must be implemented. Pages containing personal data must be password protected and the data encrypted.
One possible solution is to introduce a global, cross-channel profile management page that works for email, cookies, and anything related to your organization’s data. - Consent Management: users will be able to give and withdraw their consent and the files must be able to be checked at any time.
The biggest challenge for organizations is the obligation to obtain consent unequivocal and verifiable of customers for the processing of their personal data.
Without this consent under the GDPR, companies will not have the right to store user data and therefore will not be able to conduct marketing campaigns based on the data they collect. So a big issue.
Note that if you send emails only to contacts who have given you their consent, you will improve your deliverability statistics and no more/less fall into spam. Not inconsiderable advantages.
Why is GDPR relevant to you?
As marketers search for more guidance and clarity on how to interpret GDPR regulations, this confusion can’t be used as an excuse to ignore GDPR for two main reasons:
- Companies that do not comply with the new law will be fined up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual turnover, whichever is higher.
- The new regulations will also be a golden opportunity for forward-looking companies to gain a competitive edge in marketing, especially when it comes to instant data.
Therefore, companies ignoring the GDPR risk losing out to more proactive competitors.
So companies should prepare their organizations to comply with GDPR regulations well before May 2018, and start refining their customer journey to take advantage of the new influx of data.
Evaluate the degree of compliance of your company with the GDPR: I want to do the GDPR quiz.
Obtaining consent under the GDPR: a crucial need in terms of emailing
Consent must be given freely, specifically and unambiguously. This means you can no longer have pre-ticked boxes or lengthy privacy policies that no one can read or have difficulty understanding.
With the GDPR, you now have to clearly state your purpose for the collection of all personal data and you will only have the right to use them for the reasons you have mentioned.
Obtaining Consent from Existing Contacts: The GDPR Obligation
In order to continue marketing campaigns with your current database, start asking for consent now of your contacts in order to obtain as many approvals as possible before May 2018.
Thus, your emailing campaigns will not be interrupted after the deadline.
Because with the GDPR, you will also have to have the consent of the former contacts in your database, otherwise, you will no longer be able to contact them.
Conclusion on the GDPR and emailing
Don’t forget that even if a strict regulation like this can be scary, GDPR offers a great chance to develop a new competitive advantage in your industry.
By improving the quality of the data you collect from your new contacts, you’ll attract more valuable leads and be able to guide them through more personalized customer journeys.
However, this will not happen by itself. Within four months of GDPR, businesses must collect and manage personal data of EU citizens a top priority today.
A smart way to start and avoid heavy fines is to tackle one of the biggest GDPR challenges for marketers, consent management.
A proactive approach of privacy, is the most effective means of mitigating the risk of non-compliance and create a centralized customer data and consent management system across all marketing channels and devices.