EU businesses and marketers have all had to adapt quickly to the recent changes in data protection regulations, after applying targeting techniques for years, that now go against the ‘new rules’ of GDPR. It is safe to say that we have come into a period of hazy uncertainty.
Opinions
As with most major changes to business practice, opinions have been divided and those opinions are, of course, shaped by perspective. Business professionals have been heard cursing the existence of GDPR regulations and some companies have even been said to have set aside a budget to compensate for any fines they might receive because of a lack of compliance, while consumers and customers are seeing the change as a positive with two out of three people asked saying that they were ‘more comfortable’ sharing personal data thanks to these new laws.
Struggles
Let’s not kid ourselves to say that the change in regulation hasn’t given rise to plenty of tedious activity for all involved. Consumers have seen their inboxes flooded with emails asking them to ‘re-sign up’ for newsletters that they’d never particularly asked to receive in the first place, businesses have had to change age-old successful strategies to sail-with-the-wind as it were, and every man and his dog has suddenly become a GDPR expert and cannot wait to tell you what you can and cannot do.
Positives
After all the uproar and uncertainty, there are certainly two incredibly positive things that should be taken away from GDPR… consumers are feeling more secure in their interactions with businesses which will lead to stronger relationships in the future, and there is now even more opportunity for companies and marketers to get creative and innovate by producing new tools and/or techniques that could prove to be more successful and better received by their customers. These are both great things to come from GDPR and after all, the regulations have been changed for a reason.
Let’s not just focus on the negatives here, let’s turn our attention to the positives and adapt to a new way of doing things.
What do you think of the new GDPR regulations? How are they affecting your business?
