Four Things Digital Marketers Need to Know About GDPR

Know what it is! The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was created by the European Parliament to confront consumers’ concerns about their data and how it’s being used. This includes strict new rules about each persons’ data, including consumers’ consent and each ones’ rights to have that data deleted.

Why do digital marketers in the US need to know about regulations passed by the European Parliament? By May 2018 everyone with customer data will need to be compliant, not just marketers in the EU, but to all foreign companies processing and collecting the data of EU residents.

 Consider what this means to a brands website. If you are a children’s brand you have already had to comply with COPPA. Is your privacy policy up to date? Do you have an opt-out solution for email marketing? You may be collecting consumer data in a CRM or your e-commerce solution.

Maybe most importantly, how will this impact the effectiveness of digital ad buys especially on social platforms? Will this regulation cause consumers to opt-out of being targeted by brands? If you have ever purchased a digital ad buy on Facebook you know how much data they have on their users.

It may sound ridiculous but as the world becomes more and more connected, and data breaches a real concern, we marketers need to understand how this affects our business.

Check out my post on COPPA regulations.