You’ve started new social efforts, made your website better, and set up chances to be a thought leader. Even though these are important for today’s businesses, there is a fourth important factor that shouldn’t be forgotten: Privacy of data.
The European Union set the world standard for protecting privacy when it passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) six years ago. Soon after, similar rules were made for all kinds of businesses and countries, which led to the widespread use of data privacy laws.
However, the way we use technology is always changing, which brings up the question of what effect the GDPR has had on businesses, customers, and new technologies in the EU since 2018?
A privacy-friendly analytics tool called Piwik PRO polled 1,800 CEOs and marketing executives from 27 European countries and found that differences in how GDPR is followed by each country are very important to how businesses run. The study also gives useful information about how different companies around the world handle data privacy.
Eighty-three percent of those surveyed think companies can use effective marketing strategies while still following privacy rules. However, only sixty-six percent of those surveyed think GDPR is easy to understand. This hole gives martech companies a chance to make sure that businesses get the help they need to understand regulations.
Another important finding was that companies that followed GDPR rules got good feedback, which led to more trust from customers and compliance with the law. Understanding the results of this survey is important for businesses that want to do well in a world that is becoming more and more data-driven.
What GDPR means for privacy and business
The study makes it clear that businesses now have a better understanding of how to comply with data privacy laws and are ready to collect and use data safely to improve their operations.
The first step to improving marketing strategies is to gather information about customers. What businesses do with this data is very important to how well they do and how the public sees them. 79% of those who answered think that data engagement is an important part of making sales and marketing work. A lot of people (51%) say that security and compliance are big problems with activating data. Inaccurate data comes in second, with 43% saying that it is a big problem.
As digitization brings more people and companies online, privacy is a natural trade-off for better services and faster performance. When businesses include privacy rules in their marketing, they show that they are more open and honest, which improves customer experiences and the standards of the industry.
Looking at the data from the top countries
Putting the poll results into practice shows that you can balance privacy rules with good marketing practices. This shows your GDPR compliance strengths and weaknesses. Fewer people said that GDPR had a clear good effect on their business, but most didn’t see it as a problem either.
As a result of GDPR and following the rules, it’s possible that this is why. For those who answered, customer trust was the main reason for compliance (70%). Keeping company standards (52%) and legal duties (40%) came next. Only 16% of those who answered said that the threat of fines made them more likely to follow the rules.
In terms of answer rates, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands were at the top. The main results from these countries show that company-specific methods to compliance are what set EU-based vendors apart from big tech competitors. These are the main results for these five countries:
- In Denmark, 68% of businesses said that building trust with customers was a big reason for following GDPR rules, and that following the rules had a 32.7% good effect on how they ran their businesses.
- When it comes to Dutch businesses, 69% would rather use EU technology alternatives than big tech goods. The Netherlands is one of the first countries to use marketing tools that are in line with GDPR.
- Protecting customer data was important to French businesses; 57% used consent as their main legal reason for processing data.
- In Germany, companies followed GDPR rules because they wanted to build trust with customers; 76% of companies said it was easy to follow the rules.
- Swedish businesses said GDPR was a key part of making their operations more open, and 70.3% chose European marketing technology options to make sure they were compliant.
How to balance privacy, trust, and success in the future of marketing
It’s clear that personalization and putting a lot of weight on how customers felt about compliance were key to the success of marketing campaigns in these five countries and the study as a whole. This is clear from the fact that EU-based companies provide more business value than their big tech rivals and do better than them.
The value of first-party data is also shown by companies that can use tools and methods that meet privacy standards and give people a choice of what to do. First-party data gives us a lot of useful knowledge about how customers act and what they like. First-party data can be used to make targeted marketing strategies, improve customer relationships, and make personalized marketing work better when it is used in a responsible way.
The GDPR has been a guide for setting global best practices in data privacy since the beginning. Even though compliance levels in the U.S. vary, businesses can use GDPR-informed strategies to meet legal requirements, improve relationships and experiences with customers, stay competitive, and reach their business goals.
Companies can better handle the problems that come up with new technologies and changing privacy rules if they pay attention to these areas and study the survey data. This way of doing things lets them keep their marketing methods working while also building stronger, more trustworthy relationships with their customers.