Specialist Spotlight; 5 Minutes with Incubeta’s EU Legal & Contracts Officer, Elaine van Steenbergen

In our latest Specialist Spotlight piece, we sat down with Elaine van Steenbergen, legal and contracts officer for Incubeta Europe who manages internal and external compliance regulations and policies. Working to protect Incubeta from the risks caused by non-compliance, Elaine spoke to us about GDPR, cookies (or future lack thereof) and compliant data collection. 

Incubeta

“Don’t let GDPR obstruct your marketing campaigns.” – Elaine

Data is gold in the digital marketing landscape. Each day companies are collecting vast amounts of consumer data and using it for marketing purposes. Data which most users didn’t consent to handing over in the first place. As such, regulators are cracking down on privacy laws – protecting the consumer’s interest and making it more and more difficult for companies to collect and process data. The world of privacy is well and truly upon us and here’s what you need to know.

1: Why is GDPR important for a brand’s marketing campaign?

In this day and age consumers are more aware of their privacy and there’s a big interest in protecting and controlling what happens to their personal information. Which is fair, information should be transparent. You want your customers to trust you, trust equals loyalty and loyalty produces valuable, profitable relationships. Building and maintaining that trust is crucial – it’s a big responsibility, and everyone should work hard to protect it. 

Initially, you might see GDPR as something extreme. However,  it’s necessary to collect relevant information and provide the customer with a personalized, compliant experience. The three key points of GDPR are data permission, data access and data focus. In the end, it all comes down making sure that your consumer data is processed responsibly. When information is collected, it needs to have a purpose, and companies need to explain the meaning of their policies to customers.

2: Why should companies invest money in a cookieless world?

GDPR is the law, and it’s about time we struck a balance between digital marketing and privacy. The consent of consumers is needed to save their data on a database. Next to the benefit of earning customers’ trust, companies will also be able to identify and get rid of excess information. This improved data quality enables a company to handle customer requests more efficiently, plus it makes targeting more relevant.  More relevant audience segmentation and targeting increases the user experience and subsequently your return on investment.

While GDPR does require an opt-in policy to receive consent  in return, companies will have a database filled with compliant, relevant leads and customers. Consider investing in a data management system, a privacy officer, and training for your people on how to deal with the privacy rules and regulations. 

3: Does GDPR obstruct your marketing campaigns?

In short, no. We should look at it from a different perspective; making the most of your marketing. Users and consumers want to get that personalized experience, they want to have that product that they desire, and everyone has their preferences. And to be honest,  I’m happy to see relevant products when I go online. 

Companies can target consumers, but we should also protect their privacy – striking a balance between privacy and marketing. You often hear about data protection authorities investigating companies about data leaks. Even our biggest social platforms have work to do and treat data responsibly.

Top Tips:

  1. Collect data responsibly. 
  2. Reach your audience in a compliant way
  3. Hire and train for privacy
  4. Increase transparency by making policies easily accessible.
  5. Create opportunities for users to opt in or out

Want to learn more? At Incubeta we’re experts in media, creative and data. Supporting brands to achieve the best results by targeting their audience smartly, building cutting-edge creatives, and collating data in a GDPR-compliant way. For more information on how Incubeta can help you, get in touch today.

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