You can reach customers who haven't subscribed to your email list via direct mail. Learn how GDPR allows it and how to run compliant campaigns.
There was a time when marketers, marketers, and businesses in general could send direct emails to virtually anyone they wanted. But that time is behind us since the introduction of the GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation. The GDPR, adopted in April 2016, completely changed the landscape. Any person or organization that handles customer data is familiar with GDPR compliance, as a fine of €20 million seemed too large to simply ignore.
It's no wonder that every business, from large companies to SMEs, has made sure to comply with the GDPR since its introduction in 2016. Although the GDPR is a data protection law primarily aimed at digital marketing efforts, it also applies to a business's direct mail efforts. This is because most, if not all, direct mail services are web-to-print, and naturally, customer data is processed and stored online.
The amount of customer data and its sensitive nature make it necessary to secure them and keep them away from any misuse by companies or marketing specialists. The GDPR prevents companies or marketers from using their data for marketing purposes unless the target audience has a legitimate interest in them. In essence, the GDPR protects the public's personal information and prevents it from being used for something they don't want.
Although the GDPR may seem like a loss for companies and marketers around the world, and especially for those who focus their marketing efforts on their target audience in the EU (European Union), this article takes you through the finer details of the GDPR. We explain what the GDPR is and exactly what it means for companies to comply with the GDPR and how it affects direct mail (a step forward, it doesn't affect it much:))
The GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation is a law enacted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union that regulates the use of personal data of EU and EEA citizens for marketing purposes. Although the regulation was adopted as early as April 2016, it didn't take effect until May 2018. The GDPR aims to give EU and EEA citizens better control over their personal data and who can access it.
In addition, the GDPR is a law that ultimately unifies data privacy legislation within the European Union. It's also worth noting that before the enactment of the GDPR, data privacy legislation differed within EU member countries. The GDPR is applicable to any entity that holds the personal data of EU and EEA citizens. Another important thing to know about the GDPR, especially if you have a significant amount of personal data of EU and EEA citizens, is that the law is applicable regardless of the sender's location. This means that even if you or your company are outside the EU, the GDPR applies to you, as does the hefty fine it entails.
If you're looking for information about the GDPR, you'll notice that certain terms are frequently repeated in blogs and articles related to the GDPR. It's important to familiarize yourself with some of these terms closely associated with the GDPR so that you can better understand the GDPR and how it works.
We all know that modern marketing is closely tied to or even based on personal information. Companies around the world use personal data for a variety of marketing purposes. Personal data is the key to effectively targeting the target audience, customizing content to suit their tastes, and better promoting offers based on the target's unique needs and requirements. Even after the introduction of the GDPR, these key aspects of marketing remain unchanged. It doesn't change the fact that personalization and targeting remain at the heart of an effective marketing strategy.
But that doesn't mean that the GDPR hasn't brought significant changes to the marketing field. The GDPR brought a much more advanced level of transparency and significantly improved the power of customers over how their personal information is used. How? The GDPR introduced explicit user consent in marketing and, in addition, the relevance of marketing campaigns for customers is also necessary to comply with regulations. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that you have the user's consent and the relevant marketing material that the user is truly interested in in order to comply with the GDPR.
Below, we discuss the plan you should follow if you're not yet familiar with GDPR compliance or if you've just started working on a new marketing campaign.
The most basic thing you need to do to ensure compliance with the GDPR is to determine who owns the data you're processing. The objective is to find out if the personal data you are processing belongs to an EU or EEA citizen. This applies to companies that operate outside the EU but handle data of or related to EU citizens. If such data exists, its processing must be regulated by the GDPR.
The GDPR is about being transparent with your consumers, and the best way to ensure that is by clearly defining your privacy policy to your customers or target audience. When defining your privacy policy, state the data processing criteria and introduce a clear consent mechanism if you don't already have one.
The next thing to do is review all the third-party software you're sharing your customer data with. So, if your email campaigns are carried out through an automated third-party system, it would be best to ensure that they also comply with the GDPR. Make sure that such third parties really need to use the information and ensure its proper handling as well.
Be sure to educate yourself and your staff about the main provisions of the GDPR. For example, everyone who handles sensitive personal data of your customers should be aware that national supervisory authorities must be informed of any data breach within 72 hours. You must educate them about the consequences of not complying with the GDPR guidelines, so that your employees know the consequences of their actions.
The great thing about direct emails from the perspective of the GDPR is that, unlike digital marketing emails, direct emails don't necessarily require explicit permission to send them. However, it is still recommended that you focus your attention on the GDPR mailing lists. Direct mail gives you more freedom to reach your target audience, and this improved marketing freedom can be critical in terms of generating leads.
That said, it doesn't mean that the GDPR doesn't affect direct mail marketing at all. Legitimate interest is the term of the GDPR that you should always keep in mind if you are thinking of carrying out a direct mail campaign aimed at EU citizens. Legitimate interest in direct mail campaigns simply means that the printed email you send to customers must be relevant to them.
In other words, the recipient, when receiving your direct mail, should expect the same or, at the very least, not be surprised to receive it. So how do you ensure that the GDPR postal marketing you're implementing complies with all the necessary provisions related to legitimate interest? We discuss that below so you can get an understandable idea of how to make your direct email compliant with the GDPR.
Be sure to list the benefits of mailing to final recipients on your GDPR mailing lists. This can include the benefits received by both the recipient and even your own business to a certain extent.
Analyzing the response to your postal marketing from the GDPR is essential to understand if your direct email is of legitimate interest to the recipient or not. If there's no response from the recipient even after more than one direct email reaches them, then it's safe to assume that the recipient doesn't find your product or service worth it or simply isn't interested in it at the time.
For your GDPR mailing lists to be truly GDPR-compliant, you need to introduce an easy and convenient exclusion mechanism. By providing an exclusion mechanism, you're effectively ensuring that the recipient, if they find your direct email a nuisance in any way, can choose not to receive it anymore. In addition, you must also ensure that those who choose not to participate are effectively excluded from future campaigns.
Keep in mind that the legitimate interest of customers is the key to an effective GDPR-compliant direct mail campaign. The best way to identify these interests is to analyze the customer's reaction to each previous marketing campaign. Analyzing the previous campaign will help you understand the customer's legitimate interest and will help you present the right ideas that have the maximum conversion potential.
Using advanced direct mail automation solutions like Posthero can help you optimize your direct mail campaign. In addition, trusted service providers, such as Posthero, partner with GDPR-compliant printers, meaning you can't only be sure that your marketing efforts are GDPR compliant.
Although the GDPR may seem to have taken away a lot of advantages from marketers, at the end of the day, it actually helped solve a lot of problems faced by marketers. The GDPR is particularly beneficial for direct mail or postal marketing.
Direct mail marketing greatly benefited from the GDPR simply due to the fact that it doesn't require consent from recipients. This means that you can use direct emails to reach your target audience that prefers not to receive digital marketing materials, such as newsletters in their email inbox. However, as mentioned above, there is still a trick, and your content must be of legitimate interest to the recipient.
Regardless of the legitimate interest party, you still have an opportunity to access an additional touchpoint that can be used effectively to obtain more conversions. In addition, the GDPR facilitates the advanced segmentation of your direct email marketing campaigns. This is good for your business because such advanced segmentation often leads to a better conversion rate because it's already taken for granted that the recipient is genuinely interested in what you're selling.
In addition, advanced segmentation also leads to an increase in email quality and security. And now that you've focused on the target audience, it also saves you money by significantly reducing your printing and shipping costs. The direct mail campaign can be further optimized to work in its optimal condition using advanced direct mail tools such as Posthero. Advanced tools such as Posthero fully automate the direct mail process and ensure maximum delivery through advanced EU address verification.
GDPR compliance is extremely important for companies, businesses and marketers with a significant audience in the EU. Although the GDPR primarily affects digital marketing efforts, it also plays an important role in direct mail marketing. With a hefty fine pending for GDPR violations, marketers and entities that handle customer personal data cannot afford to ignore GDPR compliance. Although the GDPR interrupted marketers' marketing efforts in many ways, direct mail marketing, on the contrary, has benefited from it.
The main reason why direct mail enjoys the benefits of the GDPR is that it doesn't require consent from the recipients. In addition, the GDPR requires that direct mail be of legitimate interest to the recipients, which actually favors direct mail campaigns. It allows for more targeted efforts that generate better results for the campaign. In addition, you can use advanced direct mail tools such as Posthero to automate and optimize the entire process and promote more efficient conversions.
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