The impact of GDPR on marketing

The introduction of GDPR, which is set to come into effect on May 25, is predicted to be one of the biggest changes to hit the financial and professional services in recent years.

The new changes will force a variety of different businesses to review their marketing strategies and data storage procedures, in response to the new regulations.

But what is GDPR?

GDPR is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and will signal the biggest shift in security and privacy regulation in over 20 years.

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented rate, technology and data have also continued to evolve, meaning there has been a need to review existing regulations.

Giving individuals and businesses of all shapes and sizes, more control when it comes to data control, GDPR will not only present several new challenges that companies will have to overcome, but it will also pave the way for a whole host of new opportunities.

The new regulation will apply to employees or customers handling EU citizen data or personal data.

The impact of GDPR for marketers

The changes will have an impact on financial services marketing, as it will force businesses and any individuals working within this sector to make amendments to their data collection and storage policies.

And, if you do not take the steps to become GDPR compliant, you could face fines of up to £20 million, so it’s important that you familiarise yourself with the new regulation.

One of the biggest changes for the financial services marketing sector is the fact that there will now be an opt in option for resources such as email lists.

So, if you are planning on reaching out to your target market with marketing materials, the message you deliver must be expressed in a way that is: “freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous” and paired with a “clear affirmative action”.

So, in simple terms, rather than a pre-checked box or automatic enrolment program that your customers can choose to opt out of, it needs to be something they’re choosing to opt-in to.

And remember, if you are currently using an automated marketing system, make sure you take the time to thoroughly review your current systems to make sure that all mechanisms used are GDPR compliant.

Ultimately, GDPR will allow you to connect and engagement with your target market on a much deeper level, allowing you to form stronger bonds with your consumers, whilst optimising transparency in all areas of your marketing tasks online, including Facebook advertising.