In the past few years, there have been incidents involving large companies in situations of illegal operations, hacking, and theft of personal data. Perhaps, one of the most well-known with much consequence is the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

There was no data theft on Facebook, while the Cambridge Analytica consulting firm harvested personal data of 87 million users that were processed through the Facebook platform without consent, to work towards influencing the outcome of the elections in the USA in 2016 and England’s exit from the European Union. This and other similar cases just shed light on an unforeseen thing in the digital age, the improper treatment and protection of personal data given by millions of people over the internet to thousands of companies. 

This is the reason why GDPR arose in Europe, and in this context, we’ll explain what the effect of GDPR is on today’s digital marketing.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is the acronym for General Data Protection Regulation, which replaces the old Directive of 1995, which was already obsolete in the modern communications environment, where the Internet, mobile devices, and social networks have changed the rules of the game. This Regulation came into force on May 25, 2018, and is characterised by putting the personal data of users at the highest level of importance regarding legal protection.

The law applies to all those companies that work with the personal data of European residents, even when such companies don’t have their headquarters in Europe.

What is the effect of GDPR?

GDPR affects all companies that store or handle the personal data of citizens in the EU, regardless of their location. if your company collects and processes personal information from EU citizens, you have to comply with this law. Remember that personal data is any information that identifies a person; this can include name or email address, IP address, or cookie information.

The data controller must also implement measures to guarantee the security of this data, and in some cases, a privacy impact assessment can also be mandatory due to the use of new technologies.

Another of the most important aspects is the explicit consent that might be needed for the processing of individuals’ personal information and the right to be forgotten or delete all their personal data in the databases of companies, among other GDPR rights.

Effect of GDPR on Digital Marketing

If you work in digital marketing, collecting personal data will demand that you change your tune to avoid violating it. Within a digital marketing framework, users must be given the option of whether to be contacted, tracked, or not by the GDPR. 

Whether you are allowed to track the online activities of the users or not is subject to their acceptance of privacy and cookie policies. Other considerations below should be made known to you. 

1. Information in the Cloud

Most processing of personal data is today performed on such services, which are susceptible to attacks, theft, or leakages from anywhere in the world. The companies must take initiative to safeguard the data of customers and even their employees. 

2. Email Marketing

With GDPR, there is no further purchasing email lists or scraping email addresses from any site. It is strictly prohibited; people need to opt in to your email marketing system for you to use their personal data. Stay compliant with GDPR and master ethical email marketing strategies with our London Premier Hub of Training and Consulting.

3. Automated Marketing

Automation is indeed a potent thing, but it is essential to create a way of making sure your automated system does not send emails to users who have opted out.  In other words, you will be responsible for making sure all of your customer database email addresses have consented to be marketed to.

Tips for balancing GDPR with marketing

As you have seen, GDPR improves the privacy rights of users, which means increased obligations for companies. To ensure that everything is correct, follow these tips:

1. Organise your database

Your database needs to be organised. Be ready to have every personal detail in your control. It is a good time to empty everything, which you do not need. You may also apply automatic declaring management tools for the process of collecting, tracing, and dealing with privacy and personal information.

2. Require clear and express consent 

Inform persons about the usage of their personal data. The user must give consent for his or her data to be used; it is also essential clearly and simply to explain how such data would be used.

Keep track of who consented when, how, and for what reason. This also means that if, in the future, you want to use that data for a different purpose, the client has to give consent again. In such a case, the consent management platforms would be able to help consolidate data and align marketing communications with data privacy regulations.

3. Transforming the Face of Digital Marketing

In other words, GDPR is turning upside down the entire face of vertical digital marketing. From a stringent email to a preference for content-driven SEO, businesses are faced with a whole new world in which the intersection of consent, data protection, and personalised experience reigns supreme.

Accommodating the demands of GDPR within an effective digital marketing touch-pointer requires an extremely organised database, honest and transparent consent approaches, as well as a forward-thinking attitude on augmenting marketing communication with changing laws for data privacy.