Changes to communications laws - what does it mean for B2B marketing?

There has been much talk of the impact this will have on B2B communications, and while many details still need to be finalised, here is a quick guide on what the GDPR will mean to you…

What is it?

At its most basic, the GDPR is a new approach to how businesses will be allowed to communicate with customers and prospects. Data protection has always been a hot topic, but this takes it one stage further - essentially calling for ‘opt in’ rules rather than ‘opt out’. This means if you use a database of contacts for any type of communications campaign, every single person on that database will have to opt in, and moreover, you will need to be able to prove they have done so.

Will you be affected?

If you are a business with a customer nurturing or marketing communications programme in place, then yes, absolutely. If you want to continue emailing to your database of customers and prospects, you will have to pre-contact all of them and get their permission to communicate with them. On the positive side though - think how much stronger a relationship you can nurture with people who actually want to be communicated with.

Making it work

A new regulation always seems to bring with it a world of trouble and concerns and there are still a lot of questions around the new rules, but careful planning will ensure your business is ready for the GDPR in two years’ time. Start now to review your B2B communications, cleanse your database and streamline your contacts, decide who you want to communicate with and how you intend to put in place an opt in process that will encourage contacts to engage.

Ask some pertinent questions: What are my data sources? Have they been verified? Do I have permission to email this person? Can I prove it? And of course, you’ll need to work it all into your budget and figure out how this new approach might interact with any existing CRM system.

Do this all right, and you’ll be a step ahead, communicating to people who have a genuine interest in your business - that’s quite a competitive advantage!

GDPR and Brexit?

The GDPR has been on the cards for a while now - after four years of negotiation, it was adopted by European Parliament, but what does this mean for the UK after Brexit?

Well, The Information Commissioners Office has stated that “…if the UK wants to trade with the Single Market on equal terms we would have to prove 'adequacy' - in other words UK data protection standards would have to be equivalent to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation framework starting in 2018.”

Additionally, advice from the Direct Marketing Association states members should: “continue with their plans to update their processes to be compliant with the GDPR regardless of the decision to leave the EU.”

And so businesses across Europe are now preparing for GDPR. It makes sense for everyone to be operating to the same standards and ignoring it is not worth the risk. By not complying you could be investigated and fined, not to mention the negative impact ignoring it could have on your corporate reputation.

Obtaining consent

While there is still much to be finalised in terms of rules within the GDPR, it will undoubtedly tighten the rules around permissions to use personal information, and having the ability to actually prove consent will be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome.

The GDPR requires all organisations using personal data for communications to be able to prove those they are communicating with have opted in. Privacy lawyer Karsten Kinast LL.M. and founding Partner of ‘Kinast and Partner’ stated that most current mechanisms he is seeing in the market won’t be valid under the GDPR, commenting: “In the future, it will be more important than ever for organisations to explain exactly what personal data they are collecting and how it will be processed and used. Without valid consent, any personal data processing activities will be shut down by the authorities.”

It’s certainly food for thought. Existing lead generation methods - such as collecting business cards at events and electronically getting people to log their information may not be enough. Even calling people on your database to ask for their consent is unlikely to be sufficient, as you will need an auditable trail confirming consent.

The issue of obtaining permissions is likely to be one of the biggest challenges of the new GDPR regulations - it’s all about ‘explicit content’ -  knowing when someone signed up and what they signed up for, will mean you can stand up to changing legislation by showing your data is authorised for use.

Our advice is start thinking about it now so you have plenty of time to ensure that the approach you take is compliant.

Think outside the box

Of course to engage with the people you want to opt into your communications, thinking differently will pay dividends. Focus on creative content generation - what will actually interest those people you want to talk to? And how do they like to be communicated with? What will stand out and make them take notice? Do this properly, and getting opt ins will be a much easier job.

Everything sounding a bit daunting? Call Rachel Arquati on 01285 626000 to find out more about how Clear B2B can help you through the process.

Sign up for industry updates straight to your inbox Subscribe

Back to all news & views here