How GDPR impacted digital marketing

The acronym GDPR stands for General data Protection Regulation which is in actuality a set of laws professed to protect the data of the people from security breaches and privacy infringements in the data driven domain, mainly for the citizens living in the European Union (EU). The real spread of GDPR is on the lives of the people by emphasizing more vigilance and securitization on their data while in transit and during storing. This is well and fine in the personal front. The challenge arises in the professional front and marketing. In digital marketing data is the fundamental unit and based on it each and every ideas & schemes are brewed. The data analysis of different sectors gives the digital marketers signal to approach with their plans and make it profitable. But if the data is bounded by regulation, how will the marketers fair in their work?

To answer this question first we have to get a clear knowledge about this legislation. The legislation of GDPR has its hold on every data fuelled company that works with the EU citizens’ data. This legislation empowers the people with data sharing rights and gives them total control over the transparency of their personal information flow in any network. There are a set of parameters that the marketers must comply with in order to get access to the databases:-

  1. Legal, Fair & Transparent – The legality of the data handling process is of utmost importance. The information required must be gathered under stated legal purpose and the process must be open. With this the consumers are empowered with data transparency and are given choice whether to share or not their personal data.
  2. Purpose – No data without a fair purpose should be allowed to process.
  3. Data Condensation – Only the data required will be allowed to be processed; any excess data salvages should be purged. It is not allowed to store excessive & purposeless data of the people.
  4. Data Accuracy – The data extracted for processing must be accurate.
  5. Data Storage Clause – Data must be immediately deleted right after its processing or procedure completion period.
  6. Integrity of the Firm – The organization is obligated to uphold the confidentiality of the data of the people before and after the completion of the processing. It is the reflection of the integrity of the firm towards its customers that it protects the data from any kind of fraudulent breaches & corruptions.

With all these laws in action the digital marketing domain is seriously affected. Some of the affected fronts of the domain are discussed below:-

  1. Now the implied consent under the agreement is no longer in play. The company must well inform the consumer about opt in/out feature about the communication of the procedure at the initial stage with emailing correspondence.
  2. All the opt-in forms must comply with GDPR. So no tricking will work.
  3. The marketers must use legitimate mode of campaigning that will process the date more smoothly with lighter effect on personal privacy of the data being processed. With this inference the emails are doled out with opt-out feature.
  4. Many digital marketing agencies outsource to other firms. But now the parent firm must be wary that the outsourced firm is also GDPR compliance or there will be legal action against the parent firm.
  5. The digital marketing agencies must have an upgraded Customer Relationship Management or CRM software installed because with GDPR in effect the customers have rights to live in anonymity. If a customer at any point asks to erase all his/her personal data then the firm is obligated to abide by it.
  6. The marketers must ask for the consents of the customer to add them to an event list, they can no longer just be added on based on their arrangement with the company.
  7. Even if for data governance, the GDPR still stands tall. Without consent of the customer the data cannot be shared with the implied status.

So GDPR has a great impact on digital marketing. It is making the market more integral with the customer-company relation building on true trust & faith foundations.