There are just a few months left until GDPR arrives and what appears to be painfully clear is the large amount of companies that aren’t ready or are simply choosing to ignore the situation. Depending upon the research you read, up to 90% of companies are still not ready! Considering the fines they may face, this is a startling figure.
From a Marketers point of view this seems completely bonkers to me! This is the perfect opportunity to really drill down on the data you hold and make sure it is ‘clean’ and more importantly relevant.
Clean Data
Nearly every marketing department has a database that is older than time itself. Remember when you started working at the company and they said, ‘here’s the database we market to’? Remember when you said, ‘first thing I’ll do is clean that up’? Remember when that never happened? Exactly, now is the time to do just that!!!
Purchased lists, copied lists, inherited lists are all going to become a thing of the past! Direct consent is going to be key. Use the next few months to check you have consent for your existing data and in the instances where you don’t, you have two choices, get consent or delete the data.
For new contacts, ensure you get consent! Encourage people to sign up online to receive information. Update your web-forms, make sure they are opt-in rather than out.
The great thing with getting contacts to opt-in is you can give them the chance to state what information they want to receive from you, thereby getting higher quality and better converting data. You’ll be able to segment your contacts by interest rather than scatter-gun approach we’ve all been guilty of using in the past.
Get the CRM system you’ve always wanted!
Moving forward it’ll make more sense to hold all your data in one place, so should someone invoke their ‘right to be forgotten’ you’ll be able to remove it just the once rather than trawling though the 75 spreadsheets, two CRM systems and back up servers you currently have to check!
Make sure your new CRM system keeps tracks of opt-in, opts outs and consumers likes/dislikes. Also make sure the whole company uses the CRM system, not just the Marketing Department
The Future
GDPR isn’t going to be as bad as everyone is expecting! It will help Marketers moving forward. The contact data will be higher quality than it is now. There will be a move from the ‘send to everyone’ model as marketers gain a better understanding of their contacts and will tailor messages accordingly.
For Marketers, the crux of GDPR is simple. Don’t contact those who haven’t ask to be contacted and only send relevant information to those that have asked to be contacted. Keep that in mind and the rest will be plain sailing.
And now for the salesy bit!
BEAN Marketing can help you prepare for GDPR! We will offer a brief overview to GDPR as a whole but we will focus on how to ensure your marketing remains both effective and compliant in the ‘new world’.
By preparing now and getting the framework in place you will be in a stronger position in May. This will allow you to continue your marketing function with minimal upheaval. Simply email annabel@beanmarketing.co.uk for more information.