GDPR compliance is not something you should take lightly, and now is the time to make the necessary adjustments get compliant. With this guide, you’ll know exactly what to do and why to do it.
If you follow the directions in this guide you’ll actually be able to have a better business because of GDPR compliance. At the end, there will be a series of ways to market your business without having to worry about GDPR compliance, so stick around and skip any sections that are a review for you.
What is GDPR compliance?
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance is a “legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union (EU)” according to Investopedia.
The easy way to think about it is the right to privacy and the right to be erased. I hate junk mail and I still spend a great deal of time removing myself from email campaigns that no longer interest me.
The GDPR is a great first step to having a clean email inbox.
Here is What You Need to Do
Below is a little checklist for you. There is plenty of information available online so I thought I would give you the option of reading a full article from Forbes or just using the information below.
- Fully explain to your customers what you will do with their data.
- Keep all the data given to you by your customers safe.
- Give your customers the option of their data being erased.
- If a breach does occur, do the right thing and notify the authorities as soon as possible. Never hide breaches from the affected.
- Only do business with other companies that follow GDPR compliance. Your brand integrity is paramount when considering the safety and use of your customer’s data. If you’re integrating with other companies, know what they intend to do with the data you give them. Your reputation depends on it.
- Great repeatable and secure procedures to collect, store, and
- Document everything that you do with the data you collect.
What Kind of Companies Need to be Compliant?
GDPR compliance is necessary for every company doing business in the European Union (EU). That means if your customers are coming from any of the European Union countries you have to follow the rules above.
If you’re worried that your business will suffer because of the GDPR compliance rules, then you need to start doing your research and make sure if you’re collecting data, that you’re doing it right and with the customer’s interests in mind.
Is GDPR Compliance the Beginning of Something Bigger?
Many companies will suffer greatly from not being able to abuse the data they collect from their online traffic. GDPR compliance is designed to protect us from the companies that love to sell emails, phone numbers, etc.
In the words of a very influential marketer, Gary Vaynerchuk, “marketers ruin everything!” What he means by that is marketers love to turn technology into ways to reach many people at once to sell their products. How much junk mail do you get in your mailbox, email, texts, and voicemails?
What starts as a great tool to get more customers turns into an annoyance at best. Now, the majority of time people spend in their email boxes is sorting the important stuff over the junk.
GDPR compliance is a way for the government to put a stop to continuous attempts to sell products that no one wants in the first place.
Keeping Your Clients Data Safe is a Selling Point
Making it known that your company supports GDPR compliance lets your clients know that their data is safe. Think about it. Is it good for your brand to collect information from your customers then sell it to the highest bidder or use it to spam your customers over and over again?
Most people these days will buy something when they are good and ready to buy whatever it is. They usually don’t need an ad to find you. What you should focus on is creating content that will separate you from your competition.
Millennials are surely in love with GDPR compliance because it tries to prevent marketers from spamming them. It’s no secret that millennials love transparency and if your product or marketing doesn’t pass the “sniff test” it won’t last a second in a millennial marketplace.
Focus on delivering original and quality content. Become an influencer by enhancing the market instead of regurgitating what “works.” Usually, the people that say that are afraid to take a stance and just worried about the bottom-line.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t worry about the bottom-line. We all have to pay the bills, but keep in mind the end user. If they have to sift through their inboxes or get spam texts all night long please think again.
Nobody wants to buy something from a company that uses a tactic like that. Think about the best companies. Do they ever spam people? No way, because they know it will ruin their brand authenticity.
It doesn’t matter if your target market is 12 or 200 years old. Spam is spam and it doesn’t have a place anymore. GDPR compliance is just one of many steps to clean up the online marketplace. Times are a-changin’.
AI Marketing
If you’re using AI marketing to market your business please use common sense to make sure you’re targeting correctly. It’s a powerful tool for any marketer but is easily misused if you’re not paying attention.
Email marketing automation is one of the greatest tools a business can use to create loyal customers over time. It’s one of the best ways to spread a message, give out free stuff, inspire customer input, and innovate products. I’ve seen companies completely renew their mission statement and go from offering a cool gadget to changing the world with email. They used automation tools like MailChimp or Constant Contact to create a series of emails. Then dispersed those emails to the customers they felt would appreciate that sort of content.
These emails weren’t just any old thing. They were hand-crafted to inspire the audience to participate in either an event or buy a product. They even used the emails to get much-needed feedback from customers that bought products and even some that had decided to part ways.
It’s the ability to take a long hard and honest look at the day-to-day practices of the business that allowed this company to make real changes for the better. Too many companies just make a quick sales letter, video, and email auto-responder series that doesn’t make an emotional connection and fails to provide any real value to the reader itself.
GDPR compliance is meant to bring that value to the forefront. Some may think it will cripple their business, and it will, but it will allow the serious businesses that provide real value to be where they belong. Right at the top of their industries.
Check out this article for more information on how to use AI marketing the right way.
GDPR Compliance Moving Forward
Is GDPR compliance just going to stay in the European Union? Odds are probably not. That means you should make the necessary changes to your business right now in order to avoid profit losses when the hammer comes down.
Maybe that means instead of investing in an email automation program, you start creating YouTube videos or Streaming on Twitch. The possibilities to market your business these days are endless. All you have to do is look around.
There has always been a push to keep businesses from spamming at a rate that affects people’s ability or desire to use the technology they have. By forcing businesses to comply with these rules, the best products will continue to reign, which is a great thing for consumers.
The problem lies in the fine line between government oversight and the business’s ability to operate. Yes, sometimes each of these parties oversteps their bounds and makes things very uncomfortable for users. Do you remember pop-up ads in the early 2000s? These days they are less of a problem, but for a while, pop-ups were the worst thing for the internet at the time. They were so bad that many people stopped using the internet for a short time.
Suggestions for Marketing Your Business Within GDPR Compliance
Twitch
Direct Mail
Live Events
All of the above are great ways to get your business out to the masses. If you’re wondering where to start, click on the links above. Each one of them is filled with an article that will help you get started. All of these ideas start with hard work, but the result is a much more long-term result that running a spam campaign.
Thanks for reading, if you made it this far, and stay tuned for more marketing strategies to get your business off-the-ground and kissing the sky two times a week at the site.coachingmarketer.com/blog.
