If you need to market your product or service, you’re always looking to stay ahead of the game.
Take email marketing. It’s a powerful way to reach your customers directly, and to target potential customers who happen to sign up on your website and provide you with their email address.
It gives you a way to reach a targeted audience, with personalised messages, and without worrying about them clicking away from your website or being distracted in some way. You’re right there, in their inbox.
Then along came the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), leading many to think email marketing is dead.
Not true.
Let’s look at future of email marketing, post GDPR.
GDPR and What It Means to Businesses
GDPR was implemented in 2018, and basically relates to individuals having control over their personal data. It covers data protection and privacy for citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area, and it also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and the EEA.
The intention was to simplify the regulatory environment for international businesses while also allowing individuals control over their own data.
Therefore, when gathering and using someone’s personal data, like their name and email address, a business must disclose the purpose, state how long the data is retained and state if it is being shared with a third party. Individuals can also ask companies about their own personal information.
That doesn’t mean personal data can’t be gathered and used, it just has to be done in accordance with the new regulations.
Let’s not forget that the number of email users will only continue to grow. And email accounts are required to access most online services and apps.
The difference now is that companies can’t track user engagement without consent. Businesses must get permission from customers to gather information, and then make sure that information is secure from data breaches and uses beyond the permission.
Does that mean email marketing dead?
No.
Here are 3 compelling reasons to believe in the future of email marketing.
- Email remains “king”
By all accounts, email is not going away. In fact, the organisation Statista predicts that the number of email users worldwide will grow from 3.9 billion in 2019 to 4.4 billion in 2023.
That means email will continue to be a preferred means of communication for end users.
When you think about it, email is a huge part of the everyday life of most people, from our work lives to our home and recreation lives as well as our lives as consumers. Don’t you love to receive the latest deal from your favourite store right in your inbox?
So it shouldn’t surprise you to know that email will continue to play a dominant role in the lives of your customers and potential customers. Most people have at least one email address, and many possess more than one.
- Consumers believe in email
Perhaps due to the fact they use email so often, consumers tend to believe in email marketing more readily than other forms of marketing.
Compared to targeted ads or phone calls, for instance, receiving an email is a preferred way to receive a message. In part, that’s because it’s relevant to the customer and less intrusive than a phone call. Consider the fact that people sign up to receive those emails. That means they are interested in the message and already motivated to hear from you on a regular basis.
And because of the relevance and trust factors, those potential customers are more likely to follow up by looking for your website, storing information (top of mind or electronically), or click on the message itself.
That means using email can build a connection with customers, increase recognition for your brand, and possibly even lead to a sale.
- Complying with GDPR isn’t that difficult
Knowing that people will continue to use email, and email users are increasing, companies simply have to put in some additional work to comply with GDPR and benefit from using email for marketing.
For instance, marketers won’t be able to get away with purchasing any old contact list from any old data house. They’ll need to do rigorous checks to ensure the data has been collected legally and ethically in accordance with the ICO’s guidelines. This could be troublesome and time consuming, so instead, businesses should focus on creating contact lists from scratch.
Start with a check of your email list to ensure you have received consent from each person on the list. Your database must show the date and time that a user opted in to receive emails, including what channel they used (via your landing page, for instance).
If you haven’t received consent from everyone, you will have to circle back to get consent from those who haven’t yet provided it. You will also have to provide the choice to unsubscribe instantly.
In your sign-up channel, there must be a clear provision of consent. You can’t have a pre-selected checkbox that auto-fills agreement to your terms. You also can’t hide consent in fine print, such as in your terms and conditions. You’ll have to adjust your user interface to comply with GDPR.
But this shouldn’t be a big deal.
You should also add a double opt-in, like an email to the customer that requires a confirmation. The email doesn’t describe it as a double opt-in; it’s simply a note to the customer to confirm their email and subscription.
This may seem like an unnecessary extra step, but it’s actually a benefit to you in the end. Those who double qualify are even more likely to be engaged with your content. That’s especially true compared to sending material to those from a purchased email list.
Once those steps are taken, obtaining consent will seem like business as usual for your company.
And here’s a bonus.
Build what’s called a “preference centre” for your customers. This allows them to opt in or out of specific communications, choosing from the list of information you can provide. While your customer email list may not be as big as a purchased list, you will have an engaged audience.
Then make sure you provide relevant and useful information to customers via email. Everybody wins when customers get material they want to receive, and therefore interact with your business.
Final Thoughts
The changes that came about as a result of GDPR means that Europe is protected by the world’s strongest data protection rules.
This shouldn’t be a concern to businesses and their marketers, because ensuring the safety of customer information is important.
Good marketers will see these changes not as challenges, but as opportunities. Those who would abuse the system will not have an unfair advantage, since fines are steep. Those who follow the rules will have engaged customers and a strong trust of their brand.
After all, if you’ve got a valuable product or service, customers will be more than ready to opt-in to receive that value from your business.
Author Bio: Danielle Canstello is part of the content marketing team at Pyramid Analytics. They provide enterprise level analytics and business intelligence software. In her spare time, she writes around the web to spread her knowledge of the marketing, business intelligence and analytics industries.
Further resources: For up-to-date stats on email marketing in 2020, visit: https://sleeknote.com/blog/email-marketing-statistics
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