We’ve now had 6 months of Gdpr.  The dreaded General Data Protection Regulation came into effect in May, and there’s no denying the fact that it has presented businesses with some serious challenges.  It’s been a huge wake-up call for many companies.  They’ve had to completely reassess how they collect their data.

However, it hasn’t been all bad.

Yes, GDPR was designed to protect consumers’ personal information.  But it also protects you as a business from overstepping your boundaries and losing your customers’ trust in you.

For companies who have taken GDPR seriously and have done it right, it’s actually proven to be a great opportunity.

Was GDPR worth the panic?

There’s no denying that the last 6 months of GDPR have introduced some huge changes.

It was almost like the world was going to end on the 25th of May, and everyone was rushing to prevent it from happening.

Six months on, though, and the world hasn’t ended, and businesses have started to view GDPR more clearly.

Many business’ email lists probably suffered, but for good reason.  Although they would have most likely seen an increase in unsubscribes, they should have also seen an increase in engagement from their subscribers.

The positive side of GDPR

Until GDPR came into effect, European data privacy and security regulations were pretty vague.  Businesses handled them in different ways.

After 6 months of GDPR, things have changed – it’s simplified things.  The guidelines have been set, and there are serious repercussions for those who don’t comply.

Consumers are much more educated on what GDPR is and how their personal data should be handled.

According to Marketing Week, 57% of people felt that they had a better understanding of how brands were using their personal data.  Businesses should expect more scrutiny from both new and existing customers, who have become increasingly cautious.  However, being transparent with your customers is key to surviving in this post-GDPR world.

GDPR has improved email marketing

GDPR didn’t kill email.

True, it does require changes to how you build your email list, and many business’ lists will have significantly shrunk after GDPR.  However, it’s not a massive loss.  If you think about it, these email addresses were either inactive or they just belonged to people who simply didn’t want to hear from you.

What I’m trying to say is, GDPR has actually proved to be a massive opportunity for businesses.

It’s now much more effective to target your email campaigns towards the needs of your subscribers who genuinely want to engage with your brand.  Insurance provider HomeServe saw an increase in the engagement with their marketing since GDPR was enforced, despite now having a smaller number of consumers to market to.  They’re now receiving fewer unsubscribes as they’re only communicating with people who genuinely want to be communicated to.

Learn to organically build your email list and nurture your leads in the right way, and you’ll not only comply with GDPR, but you’ll have a stronger list of subscribers, too.

Brexit doesn’t matter

You’ve probably heard a lot of myths surrounding GDPR.  Truth is, GDPR will still apply after Brexit.  The UK’s exit from the EU won’t make a difference to GDPR.

This is because GDPR is already part of British Law, and the government have no plans to reverse it.

The government have said that the UK will implement their own GDPR equivalent post-Brexit.  This is now known as the Data Protection Act 2018.  So, nothing will change for your business as far as GDPR goes.

GDPR is about transparency

Perhaps the most important thing we’ve learnt after 6 months of GDPR is that compliance isn’t just a box to be ticked.  It’s a journey.

If you haven’t already made sure that your business is fully compliant with GDPR, then you can download our step-by-step guide to GDPR compliance here.

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