PAN Q&A: GDPR – all you need to know and what to do…
With new controls on how you must send and store customer details landing in May – we decided to find out what all the fuss is about and more importantly what photo agencies need to do about GDPR
Ross MacRae, the boss at email marketing company BikiniLists, has researched, explored and had conversations with a ‘very helpful’ Case Officer at The Information Commission – the people charged with enforcing GDPR in the UK. So he knows the situation thoroughly and has offered to advise PAN readers on how to prepare for the changes.
….So PAN asked him a few questions on the situation:
• What is GDPR? in a sentence.
The General Data Protection Regulation is new EU legislation coming into effect on 25th May 2018 intended to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union.
• How and why do I need to attend to this new legislation?
You need to ensure that any information on private individuals is held securely within your organisation and that if you market B2C (Business to Consumer) you have obtained and recorded consent from those individuals to do so… GDPR does not apply to B2B marketing (Business to Business). If you don’t do these things you will be marketing illegally.
• Should I be worried about my email and postal marketing database?
You need to take action if you send email or text messages to private individuals (B2C – not corporate individuals) you should gather consent from them and record that consent. Postal marketing in the UK is covered by the existing Mailing Preference Service and presumably you are adhering to that already.
• What impact will it have on postal or email marketing?
Again B2B email marketing is not impacted by GDPR – FACT.
As long as you follow the already existing EU guidelines on email marketing there will be no impact other than that UK Sole Traders are now viewed as B2C not B2B – this is the only real change as far as email marketing is concerned – so you must either :
- Take any sole traders and private individuals out of your email lists…. Or
- Get and record consent from them
Simple.
• When is this GDPR action kicking in?
May 25th 2018 – so you need to act now if you have not already – and I can help with that.
What does this mean for my photo library?
It’s great news… Why? Because it means that you will tidy up your marketing lists and make them more effective.
It’s a great opportunity to let your customers and prospects know you take data protection seriously.
The sky will not fall in… all you have to do is make sure you take simple actions that you should really be doing anyway.
If you are sending emails to your contributors who may be sole trader photographers, just ask them for permission and record the fact that they have given it. If you are marketing to private individuals – make sure you have consent from them by May 25th
• How much time will the change to my marketing lists take?
Depends on how much B2C data you have in your prospecting lists… If you don’t have any – then you don’t need to do anything you are not doing already. If you do – get consent or take them out… you have time. If in doubt take them out.
• How can I tell who is B2B and who is B2C?
This is the tricky bit… it’s not decided by email address format – It’s decided by business entity….
Scenarios :
[email protected] – you MUST get and record consent to send to this email address. PERIOD.
[email protected] – If Ross Agency is a sole trader or a non LLP Partnership…You MUST get and record consent to send to this email address. PERIOD
[email protected] – If Ross Agency is a ‘corporate body’ (UK PLCs, LLPs, Limited Companies) You DO NOT NEED prior consent to send to this email address as long as you follow responsible practices.
Even though the first and second name are present in the email address – This is the person’s ‘personal corporate’ email address at the corporate body – not their personal individual address. This is the element of GDPR that most people get wrong… and I can help you with that.
100% of the contacts on the BikiniLists image buyers database are corporate subscribers…BikiniLists + BikiniEmail = GDPR Ready : )
Let’s keep this simple, If you…
Give contact details | Do relevant work | Promote B2B | Respect opt outs – You will be GDPR ready.
Any PAN reader wanting to know more Ross is on the end of a phone at his office 0141 636 3901 OR you may find the answer on his FAQ’s HERE.
Ross will also be at Fotofringe London April 17 if you want to catch him then.