Last year, GDPR policy was released and the new set of regulations have resulted in changing the face of digital marketing. The new European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation commonly known as the GDPR help protect consumer’s privacy and give them greater control on how data is collected and used.
Previously, marketers wouldn’t bother before collecting customer data or track their progress on their particular websites; however, with the new GDPR policy in effect, businesses are now liable to ask for the consent of the customer to use their information within the EU region.
These constraints have limited the marketer’s option of performing unregulated data collection practices. As a result, new digital marketing strategies are designed in such a way that marketers will have to find ways to target digital ads, having less dependency on studying customer behavioral data.
Understanding the GDPR Policy
The GDPR legislation entwines itself around data privacy and protection which is based on the 1995 data protection directive. This policy was officially enforced during the 25th May of 2018 all across the EU region. It is a regulation that reflects how businesses use and collects customer data today.
GDPR basically focuses on standardizing EU data directives which will provide the best practices of data handling and compliance. In short, it is designed to strengthen an individual’s rights before using his or her information to track behavior and purchasing patterns for an organization’s target market.
With the GDPR in effect, people stay aware of (and can control) their personal information which they used to blindly share with other companies. This information was then later used by the organizations to sell themselves. GDPR is affecting almost every industry and it has impacted marketing dramatically.
What are the Responsibilities of Digital Marketers in the Light of GDPR?
As a digital marketing practitioner, you need to make sure that any information that you choose to collect on your audience is based on their personal consent.
You need to make sure that you are communicating this message very clearly that you wish to collect information on your customers somewhere on your website. In this way, your audience is well-connected and aware that you want to collect information. Hence, when they share information, it is because they choose to share it.
Another challenge that every digital marketing specialist will eventually face alongside gaining consent is to inform the users that they hold the right to refuse or withdraw their consent as well. It indicates that a marketing specialist will have to get a whole lot more creative if they are aiming to convert visitors into a lead. It will pose another challenge that marketers will have to overcome.
Apart from that, marketers will also have to make sure that they only collect data that is necessary to fulfill their marketing purpose. In case, if you are collecting any additional information from your customer then it is important you realize that you do have a responsibility on them.
For example, if you are planning to sell SEO packages in Dubai, and it is absolutely necessary that you collect information on their email and contact information, then according to GDPR policy, you can take that data keeping their consent in mind.
But, using that same consent to collect information on their medical background or employment standpoint, it will lead you to breach the GDPR policy.
At the same time, you need to make sure that you don’t share their information with any third-party businesses. In case, you end up sharing their personal information somewhere, it will be rectifying their rights. In the light of the GDPR policy, it will be considered a serious leak of information.
For example, if you are planning to share someone’s personal information with a third party business, you can always use encryption. Encryption is a great way to limit the number of people who can access shared information. In this way, only parties necessary can collect and retrieve information. In case, there is a breach of information in any way, you are responsible to report it in the next 72 hours.
Two Main Digital Marketing Activities that will be impacted by GDPR
More than one-third of the current marketing specialists claim that they do not understand what GDPR is. Whereas, 55% of these marketers state that their businesses don’t understand what GDPR is. Upon research, we have identified that there are two areas of digital marketing where GDPR is having issue:
1) Data Gathering & Profiling
One of the greatest hassles that every other marketing enthusiast is facing with the new GDPR policy is collecting information on customer interactions. The data allowed marketers to create unique customer profiles by analyzing all that had been trending during the time span in marketing.
By collecting such information, businesses were able to keep track of the customer choices. It provided them an effective view of improving the product offer based on the specific requirements of the client.
2) Customer Targeting
Another area where marketers started facing a problem after the GDPR implementation was reaching out to individual customers with their desired product offers. We are living in an age of personalization where customers enjoy when they are treated as someone special. With customer targeting in effect, marketers were able to understand the needs and want of the customers quite accurately and offered them just the product/service which the customers deeply desired.
How Digital Marketers can Evade GDPR Policy?
One great way to begin is to ask your marketing platforms for any help that they can offer you with the GDPR policy. Since, this law is only applicable in the EU region, so if your target market resides in EU, you will have to go the extra length. Many marketing tools help you create better consent forms or ways to erase customer data immediately once they are used. Hence, if you are using those tools to collect information on your customers, they are already abiding by the new GDPR policy.
In short, you don’t have to go all the way re-inventing the wheel all over again.
