Benefits of GDPR- regain control of your data

Beating “email fatigue”

Over the last decade, we have gradually become more fed up with the overwhelming amount of marketing emails that face us every day. We get promotions for products and services we have little to no interest in, and newsletters from companies we never even remember signing up to.

In a lot of ways, the enforcement of GDPR is providing the market with a much-needed shake-up. By shifting the way we think about lists and registrations we are beginning a revolution in terms of email marketing.

Become more relevant

As companies review their marketing lists and making them GDPR compliant this will, in many cases, make the lists significantly smaller. In fact, in some cases some businesses have reported up to 80% reduction in list size which can seem like a huge blow especially if the business is heavily reliant on email marketing.

While it can feel frustrating to see email lists shrink drastically you should see this as a step in the right direction!

Some benefits include:

• You will only be targeting people who are interested
• You won’t annoy people who aren’t interested
• Your open rates and engagements will all increase
• Your reputation will get much better as you won’t look like a “spammer”

A smaller but higher quality list will allow you to see a better return on the time and effort you invest in managing your data, instead of trawling through a large number of uninterested contacts.

Regain control of your data

Currently, a large number of businesses find themselves doing some form of a GDPR “compliance drive” to stay in good shape for the now enforced regulations. This is actually a great excuse to “clean” your data.

GDPR enforcement now requires you to have a documented process in place for how you register and communicate with all your contacts. This is an area where software can make a huge difference. With the help of some basic marketing automation, you can create a log of all your subjects journeys through various platforms, giving you loads of information about behavioral patterns but also makes it easy to get this information on demand should a user want it.

Establish clear ownership

It is not uncommon for an organization to not have a clear idea of who is responsible for the data they use. This can be even more confusing when you’re working with 3^rd parties who communicate with customers on your behalf or vice versa.

The GDPR changes require accountability in the form of named data controllers and data processors. This is an excellent opportunity to establish clear responsibility and avoid any uncertainty or doubt about ownership. This will limit the risk and liability.

Turning GDPR threats into benefits

Rather than seeing GDPR as a disruption or hazard to your company, you should try and look on the brighter side. Use the enforcements to make positive adjustments and improve your marketing. You may even find it saves you money! Above all else it will raise your reputation as a responsible, transparent organization.