GDPR and Marketing: some challenges and opportunities

GDPR was a game changer in an industry heavily relaying on data. Before GDPR, new technologies used to collect personal information sometimes in a rather non-transparent way, without user’s permission or knowledge regrading the purpose nor the third parties with whom those pieces of info might have been shared. Clearly GDPR returned power over personal data to clients.

The first challenge for a marketer was to get user’s permission to collect his data. Reason why needed to be clearly explained and the relation between customer and brand had to be built on a foundation based on trust and transparency.

If marketers feel the new compliance regulations as a burden, I am here to present a different perspective: what if GDPR was an opportunity to build the relationship with customers and deliver better content?

A pledge for quality and engagement content

The need to explain why and how a company would use customer’s data in order to get his consent led to the opportunity to build a better and more credible story around the brand. The client had to see real value if he decided to entrust an organization with his data. This was a chance for every marketer to be creative and deliver awesome stories about the brand and the products.

GDPR also came with the urge of renewing email marketing lists. Probably some marketers out there knew their list included a good number of customers who purchased something from the company a decade ago or who accidently signed up for a newsletter, but still reluctantly sent various messages to all this list.

And this is how marketers learned to appreciate a smaller but more effective marketing list. No more non engaged recipients to pull down the open rate or click rate. Basically, it was a good moment to start an even higher performing email strategy:  make a better segmentation, offer the customer a personalized journey and more relevant content.

In conclusion, GDPR asked brands to adhere to best practice. And offered the marketers a chance to produce a more meaningful work.