GDPR Preparation for Marketing: Data Acquisition and Opt-in Strategy

When GDPR goes live on 25^th May 2018 marketers will inevitably be left with data they can no longer market to, unless they can prove explicit consent to receive marketing communications (find out more in our GDPR in context of Marketing Automation blog).

To fill the void there are steps marketers can take over the coming months to ensure they have a healthy database of marketable contacts in the post-GDPR world.

Data acquisition - 'Make hay whilst the sun shines'

In a utopian world, marketing organisations would adopt a total inbound strategy – I suppose as of 25^th May 2018 the pendulum will certainly swing that way – but until then, marketers need to maximise their outbound marketing approach ahead of GDPR. So, whilst it’s still simple to acquire B2B contact data, marketers should be opportunists and proactively invest in updating and refreshing their database. In fact, we predict a significant spike in B2B data purchases over the next 6 months as we lead up to GDPR.

B2B contact data can be highly targeted to fit around existing personas. Whilst marketers won’t have the ‘user-defined’ data and insight on content preferences just yet, marketers can use predictive analytics to determine most suitable interests based on similar job titles and companies in their existing database. Marketers can then start driving opt-in by using content that is most likely to resonate and a strategic use of a tailormade preference centre is the tool that can help achieve this, integrated into a Marketing Automation platform. Good quality purchase data is still out there, but ensure your supplier has collected data adhering to local privacy laws, especially if you’re buying European data.

Act quickly and be ahead of the game

Our second prediction - but not really a surprising one - is that there will be a huge increase in the number of opt-in requests leading up to GDPR. Therefore, it’s imperative that B2B marketers act quickly and start creating opt-in campaigns before they become mainstream and lose their effectiveness. As more organisation’s latch on to this approach there will be more data purchases and with that will come more opt-in requests. Make sure your message is the one that get out there before your competition beats you to it.

Organisation’s using a Marketing Automation platform have the tool in place for GDPR preparation and are already one step ahead of the game. Now all these marketers require is an effective opt-in and data purchase strategy in the lead up to GDPR – easier said than done. In step CleverTouch.

CleverTouch Consulting understands the impact that GDPR will have on B2B marketing and have developed specific GDPR consulting services to support marketers in the build up to 25^th May 2018. It will be upon us sooner than we think.

Get in touch and start your GDPR preparation today.