A Safe Pair of Hands - Legislative Compliance AND What the Consumer Wants...
GDPR - The Preference Centre
The ICO has this week published their Consultation paper: GDPR Consent Guidance. It's a good document and I urge everyone involved in data to read it draft-gdpr-consent-guidance-for-consultation-201703The Preference Centre solution has been used by the UK and Canadian governments to manage Stakeholder Consent for over 5 years. It is also used by a number of commercial and charitable organisations. And the Fundraising Regulator announced in January 2017 that The Preference Centre technology will be used for both the digital database and telephone service for the Fundraising Preference Service, ensuring GDPR compliance.
The Preference Centre was designed and developed around what we believed were the crucial aspects of data-marketing for the future. And now that future has arrived, in the legislative form of GDPR!But The Preference Centre is about more than just complying with legislation. It enables brands to give consumers control and choice over how they are marketed to, by whom and about what. Yes, GDPR is bureaucratic and legislative. But the central premise of putting consumers in control of the use of their data is fundamentally a correct, ethical and morally right concept.What's more, consumers want it. The public is jaded by junk mail and spamming. They want it to change and they will appreciate and value the brands that clearly give them choice and control. To quote from the ICO paper "Doing consent well should put individuals in control, build customer trust and engagement, and enhance your reputation"
GDPR - A Positive Vision
Consumers will appreciate and value the brands that clearly give them choice and control. If done right, those brands will then generate a higher level of engagement and loyalty from the customer/supporter/stakeholder base. By opting in, a consumer is showing the highest level of interest in your cause, product or organisation. That is gold-dust! It is the best way to do a value segmentation of all consumers who touch the brand in some way – if they opt in, they are interested and you should focus your effort on them. So whilst GDPR will result in a smaller active customer/supporter/stakeholder base than pre-GDPR, the base will be of higher engagement and probably higher value than the current average. That means lower campaign and admin costs and higher responses. That equals improved ROI.
Why Kudos?
So how do we help clients turn a legislative nightmare into a success story? The first stage is simple - implement The Preference Centre technology! The second stage is more complicated - using the technology to maximise opt-in and engagement. We do this through insight, analytics, and strategic planning. Of which we are masters! Through robust testing of statements and different approaches, understanding the cross-channel consent metrics, audience segmentation and developing an optimal consent journey. Through developing granular consent strategies. Basically by taking a higher-level view of the post-GDPR landscape and planning for it.
At Kudos, we see technology as an enabler. The Preference Centre enables brands to be compliant and to manage all aspects of consent and permissions, including statement testing, self-service permission management, split cell testing, bi-directional integration with existing infrastructure and much more. It's a very clever piece of tech. But it's how that tech is utilised that drives post-GDPR success.For more details on how to ensure you stay compliant and centrally manage all your consents across multiple platforms, give James Squires a call on 0330 043 1593 or email james.squires@kudos-data.com