Being Creative with GDPR & Data Retention
On the 21st of May, we collaborated with Barclays to help business owners understand GDPR and how it can be seen to be an opportunity, instead of a threat. With a positive turn out of people, we were pleased to be able to provide creative ideas from our industry experience – whilst keeping jargon to a minimum.
Attendees were very engaged with what we had to offer, creating numerous debates and questions within the group. We ensured the event not only provided essential information but achievable solutions for SME’s and owner managed businesses.
If you were not lucky enough to join us, here are a few of the key points we covered in the talk:
We didn’t touch on the legal side of GDPR, but here’s a good quote from a layer we spoke too: “Think of the Information Commissioner’s Office as the new Health & Safety Executive. They’ll have teeth and they’ll want to be seen to be using them. Get your approach documented, your policies updated and don’t intentionally flout the regs.”
Here’s three reasons why you shouldn’t worry about having no contacts after GDPR:
- They didn’t really want to hear from you anyway – This is about personal data. Have you ever bought from somebody you didn’t want to buy from?
- You’ve got rid of everyone – Well there you go then, nothing to worry about! That said, if you haven’t got rid of all those people that haven’t given you their permission to hold their data, is it worth risking a 20m Euros (or 4% of turnover if greater) fine?
- You’re still allow to speak with people – You’re still allowed to talk to whoever you want, you just can’t hold their data and send them stuff without their permission.
Our clients have asked us, “What’s next? What’ll help us get around this?” Here are some examples of the options available:
- Make it easy for people to opt in – Take a look at your website; if somebody is interested in what you’ve got, how easy is it to sign up and potentially buy from you? Try it on your mobile like most people will do. If it isn’t quick and easy, they won’t bother.
- Strengthen your social network – Keep connecting! The more contacts and followers you have, the more you can communicate with people who have chosen to see what you have to say.
- Step up pay per click (PPC) campaigns – You can still target (better than you’ve ever been able to target) potential customers or contacts at a budget you can afford. Try it, test it, measure it. If you’ve got the right offer, you could be surprised at how well you can do. We’ve seen a huge increase in client demand for PPC campaigns with spend up 175% over the past 12 months. That’ll grow further in 2018.
Although the GDPR deadline has passed you can still be creative with your data retention and acquisition efforts. If you need a hand, just drop us a line: ross@fuel-growth.com
