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Maneesha Manges

By: Maneesha Manges on May 10th, 2018

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Marketing Opportunities in a GDPR World

mailto:demo@example.com?Subject=HighRoad Solutions - interesting article

GDPR – as regulation designed to strengthen data protection efforts and enhance the individual rights and freedoms around personal data, digital marketers need to take note. And from all the articles, webinars, whitepapers and updated privacy policies being shared right now, it seems like that’s happening. But are we paying attention because we want to avoid the alarming fines that come along with the risk of not being GDPR compliant, or because we genuinely want to interact with engaged people that really want to hear from us and this is the perfect opportunity to cull down that email list?

Optimistically we say it’s the latter but probably in reality, the former is what keeps us up at night. While there are a ton of POVs (Point of Views in digital agency speak) on how GDPR is applicable to an organization – ranging from being risk-averse to being “flexible” - the real opportunity for marketers comes in what you can do from a tactical perspective to re-engage or re-permission a set of prospects that aren’t so well known to you. The outright benefits from culling down that massive list of 15,000 somewhat unengaged records to 7,500 interested recipients could be improved open rates, increased conversions, and lower production costs. So then, perhaps GDPR isn’t something to freak out over, but maybe to celebrate instead?

So what could you do in light of GDPR approaching that might not only support your compliance activities BUT also move people through a funnel?

Consider running a Re-Engagement Campaign. Your primary message to “re-engage” with your organization shouldn’t be about the mechanics of requiring your consent, but rather the real value of what they’re entitled to as a member. Play up on “FOMO” (fear of missing out) and make sure you focus on why they should be rushing to confirm that they continue to want emails and other related communications from you.

Sounds simple. But it can feel overwhelming. Since according to GDPR, everything we collect is essentially considered personal data, why not take the time to do a quick analysis of the data you’ve collected so far and see if you can answer the following:

  • How many contacts live in the EU?
  • How many of those contacts have opened an email in the past 12 months?
  • How many of those contacts have opened an email in the past 6 months?
  • Of those that opened in the past 6 months, how many clicked on something?
  • What was your top performing [email / blog post / social post / web page] in the past 6 months?


So what will the answers to these questions tell you?

  • Identifying how many records are EU based may just make you feel better (it may be a smaller percentage than you think) – it just gives you some perspective. Of course, if you’re going to go through the effort to re-engage your contact base, you might as well re-engage with everyone, but understanding the geographic breakdown of your membership base can be eye opening.
  • It’s time to develop a thick skin – if the contacts you’ve been emailing for the past 12 months haven’t even bothered to open an email in that time frame, are they really interested in what you have to say? It’s time to focus on those that do interact with you in more meaningful ways and leave the indifferent contacts behind. It’s so much harder to work a cold lead through a funnel – why jump through all those hoops for a contact that is simply going to ignore you?
  • Be brave – go one step further and identify your more engaged subset of users and talk to them in a more personal way. They’ve opened your emails and converted on something – treat them as the VIPs they are and connect with them in a more meaningful way.
  • Be critical in how you’ve been communicating with your audience to date. Assess what’s performed well and what could be improved and then act on it. This is an opportunity to collect information, assess and analyze the results.

If you’re adhering to the best practices of digital marketing, GDPR shouldn’t be alarming. Sure, it’s more work as everyone starts to align, but in the long run, you end up focusing on the candidates that are more likely to convert and contribute to your bottom line.

If you’re interested in talking through how to build and execute on a re-engagement campaign, check out our GDPR Resource page and make an appointment with your Client Success Manager.


About Maneesha Manges

Maneesha Manges is a seasoned digital marketing professional with 20 years of experience working in multiple markets and global companies. Her prior experience includes consulting roles in digital marketing strategy, data analysis, field marketing and social media. Maneesha holds a Master of Business Administration degree in High-Tech Marketing from American University’s Kogod School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Concordia University in Montreal.