There has been a lot of talk lately about GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), especially in the light of recent scandals regarding customer data. Naturally, companies are worried about being non-compliant, because they risk paying multi-million-dollar fines and losing their hard-earned reputation in the process.
And the whole thing has been blown up by the media so much, that most industry experts and managers have failed to realize that this can be a great opportunity for their business.
The whole compliance issue can be easily solved by hiring a consultant.
This new set of compliance principles can actually help your business become more secure and competitive, which will in turn drive more customers your way. Let’s take a closer look at how GDPR can affect your business in a positive way.
1. Your Marketing Can Be More Personalized: These days, customers are all about receiving an experience which is highly customized. And while everyone in the industry has been aware of that for quite a while, not many have gone the extra mile to provide that experience. Now they will, since it has become essential.
If you are serious about your business being compliant, you will need to start by doing an audit of your data, in order to make sure it is correct, relevant, regularly updated, and properly structured. With proper data in place, you will be able to come up with offers which are very personalized, which will then encourage the customers to share their data and engage.
The benefits are there, and it doesn’t matter if your niche is assignment help service or digital marketing.
2. You Will Boost Cybersecurity of Your Business: Cybersecurity was something you couldn’t afford to ignore, even before the new GDPR legislation. Subpar security wouldn’t just cost you your reputation, but you would also lose precious data, as well as money during the time your business was down. With GDPR in place, you will need to devise a clear security strategy and implement measures for the protection of user data.
And you can’t just focus on the safety of data which travels outside of your network and to your network without considering the entire IT infrastructure. New regulations will guide you to analyze the way you design your data workflows and their protection, as well as how you go about monitoring them.
3. Your Audience Will Become More Loyal: GDPR is probably the best thing that can happen to your business if you are trying to develop a loyal customer base, and to establish your company as trustworthy. Every time you ask your customers for permission to use their data, you will be obliged to provide a detailed explanation on how you plan to use it.
Since people are pretty skeptical about how their information will be used, this sort of transparency will encourage them to become less suspicious, which will in turn inspire trust in your brand. Once you start thinking about GDPR as a tool which is there to help you bolster your transparency, you will be able to get ahead of your competition.
4. You Will Be Able to Utilize the Power of Social Marketing: You will no longer need to spend your time and resources on massive email campaigns and putting together countless newsletters which end up as spam anyway. Instead, social marketing will start to become popular, and you will be strongly encouraged to offer an opt-in, and guide your campaigns more toward personalized social communication, as opposed to direct marketing.
Those companies which decide to stick with direct marketing will see in a drop in their profit over time, and you don’t want to be a part of that group. Also, be prepared to invest in personnel training, because compliant marketing automation tools and software are just around the corner.
5. Your Sales Department Will Be Able to Get More Qualified Leads: Up to this point, obtaining qualified leads used to be a numbers game. You’d cast a wide net and hopefully you’d reach your target audience. But, since GDPR will require you to provide an opt-in clause for your customers, those that do choose to start communicating with your company will engage more, and will be more likely to make a purchase.
Therefore, you will also save money, because you won’t be wasting a lot of it on people which aren’t interested in your products or services in the first place. Surely, you need to know how to manage business finances effectively in order to get more impact from the these savings.
Conclusion: As you can see, while GDPR comes with some restrictions, the pros outweigh the cons. Ultimately, it will help you develop a more trusting relationship with your customers, as well as to allocate your resources in a more efficient manner. Plus, your audience will feel more at ease knowing that their data safe with you. Good luck!
Author’s Bio: Patricia Wilson is an ex social media marketer with experience beyond her years. Many revere her body of work as a freelance writer and contributor, and you can stay abreast of her newest pieces by following her on Twitter.