Will your marketing still be legal when GDPR comes into force?

GDPR is going to shake-up the marketing landscape, and this is partly down to a serious lack of consumer trust when it comes to personal data. Under the new rules, any third-party data processors, such as marketing agencies, are now directly and legally obligated to comply with GDPR – knowledge that many businesses remain unaware of.

“This lack of knowledge could seriously impact the bottom-line of a business as, unbeknown to them, they could be hit with significant fines. However, there are many opportunities for creative agencies such as ourselves to use GDPR as a fantastic opportunity to plan exciting inbound campaigns.” comments Louise Stevenson, Tiger Marketing Director.

A recent report, ‘Trust in Personal Data’, from Catapult Digital, found that 79% of consumers believe the primary use of personal data is for an organisation’s own economic gain. However, here at Tiger Marketing we are advising businesses to take measures to gain some of this trust back by following some simple steps.

If companies do not already have customer consent for data processing under GDPR and PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) laws, they will need to re-permission their database in order to continue sending marketing messages such as newsletters, Facebook advertising and direct mail. Some businesses may be able to process personal data under ‘Legitimate Interest’ and need to only update their website’s privacy policy and amend email templates to remove automatic opt-ins.

However, this does all depend on the type of business, its services, what products are offered and how the database was obtained and built in the first place. Planning a relevant content strategy and segmenting your database is also going to ensure customers want to stay with you and most importantly interact with your business.

We have been awarded a GDPR certification by the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM). The certification and award process, which was completed in March 2018, included an audit of documentation, assessment of anonymised data, security standards, software architecture and business operations, followed by a GDPR compliance examination. This award means our staff have undertaken extensive GDPR training which meets the GDPR Fundamentals management standard.

GDPR comes into force on the 25th May 2018 and requires all companies to take issues of data privacy and consent seriously. It will impact all forms of direct and digital marketing which uses Personal Data relating to EU citizens. Our GDPR certification means we are now well-positioned to help audit the current procedures of our clients, which includes Michael Jones Estate Agents and the Brighton Chamber of Commerce.

“This will ensure our clients are compliant within all areas of marketing,” adds Louise. “We’re focusing on implementing proactive changes for customers rather than simply keeping systems up and running effectively and waiting for things to happen. We are constantly striving to deliver even more value to our clients.”

If you would like us to help ensure you are GDPR compliant with your marketing and database, please call us on 01903 327 002, we’d love to hear from you.