GDPR – What marketers with large databases need to do

Everyone is talking about GDPR and the new regulations that come out in May 2018. There’s a lot of noise and an equal amount of scaremongering. But, in reality, any rules that enforce privacy and encourage marketers to do things correctly must be a good thing.

There are two new pieces of legislation that are due to be published. They are different but both are relevant for marketers. First are the new data protection (GDPR) rules and the other concerns the new rules relation to privacy and electronic communications (PECR) which governs marketing communications to customers.

If you want good advice, check out this article from The Office of The Information Commissioner about Getting Ready for GDPR. There’s also this article on PECR that give useful tips if you’re unclear.

So, in simple terms, aside from getting yourself up to speed on any changes to the rules, what do you need to consider if you have a large database? This video provides a few tips including:

• • • Screening your database every 28 days against the various opt-out registers (CTPS/TPS) unless you have a prior existing relationship
    • Your customer database is full of people categorised as customers that barely fit into that category after time has elapsed
    • Customers come in all shapes and sizes in terms of their purchase value from you, therefore they have varying degrees of interest in your business
    • Understanding that customers fall out of love with your business very quickly so you need to keep them interested
    • Some customers will actually be lapsed and you won’t k now it
    • Much of the data on your database will be out of date due to staff changes which mean that the attachment to you and your business is much reduced

With the above in mind, what should you do? We suggest 5 steps:

1. 1. Segment your database e.g. prospects and customers, type of customer, size, last contact date, sector and so on
   2. Decide which data needs to be removed due to age
   3. Screen the data that doesn’t fall into the category of a sale or where you do not have valid consent every 28 days. We do this for all of our clients.
   4. Prioritise the data above and decide the hierarchy of contact e.g. highest value customers, biggest potential, lapsed customers, all customers within 12 months where you haven’t had contact etc
   5. Define your contact strategy for the segments
   6. Work out a proposition for the contact strategy that drives calls to action
   7. Gather consent for future marketing so you build an opted-in data set that is likely to perform better and reduce your wastage

GDPR Blog Post: https://gsa-marketing.co.uk/how-to-ensure-gdpr-doesnt-damage-your-customer-base/

Our database cleaning service: https://gsa-marketing.co.uk/marketing-services/database-cleaning/

If you’d like help with validating large databases of contacts, give GSA a call.where you do not have valid consent every 28 days. We do this for all of our clients.

1. 1. Prioritise the data above and decide the hierarchy of contact e.g. highest value customers, biggest potential, lapsed customers, all customers within 12 months where you haven’t had contact etc
   2. Define your contact strategy for the segments
   3. Work out a proposition for the contact strategy that drives calls to action
   4. Gather consent for future marketing so you build an opted-in data set that is likely to perform better and reduce your wastage

GDPR Blog Post: https://gsa-marketing.co.uk/how-to-ensure-gdpr-doesnt-damage-your-customer-base/

Our database cleaning service: https://gsa-marketing.co.uk/marketing-services/database-cleaning/

If you’d like help with validating large databases of contacts, give GSA a call.