One would have been living under a rock to have not heard about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Now more than a year down the line, it’s time to discuss the necessary changes that many businesses have made to ensure they are compliant with the new regulations. It seemed at first to be quite a painful process that was introducing new headaches that no one needed, but the GDPR does have more than a few unexpected benefits that businesses should be happy about.
What are the business benefits of following the GDPR?
Reputation
The main driver for GDPR is to make sure that businesses around the world are treating customer data with the respect and privacy it deserves. Whilst it has created some additional work, one benefit that GDPR has introduced is the bump in reputation. Being GDPR compliant is a signal to customers that you take security seriously and that they can trust you.
If your business uses any kind of email marketing, then this increased trust can have huge impacts. Customers who know you are GDPR compliant are much more likely to open and interact with you based on the reputation your business gets for its compliance. For a business who isn’t compliant, customers will almost certainly question whether they can trust anything your business sends or whether you respect their privacy at all.
Reduced overheads
Data storage is a very expensive exercise for almost every business. Depending on the nature and volume of data collected by your business, storage may be an issue that GDPR can help improve. Becoming compliant with GDPR requires an audit of all data stores and the software and systems associated. This audit exercise can help businesses identify outdated data stores that require consolidation to a central location.
By consolidating data storage and ensuring compliance, your business can remove the disparate storage systems, reducing the cost of storage and maintenance in those locations. Whilst the process of consolidation may be complicated and time-consuming, by becoming compliant to GDPR, you can remove outdated solutions and lower overall storage and maintenance costs.
Greater personalisation
Prior to GDPR, businesses could allow automation and machine learning to make key business decisions. These decisions, unbeknownst to the business, could have been costing you more than you realise. GDPR dictates that human intervention must be maintained, meaning automated decision making based on customer data is no longer possible.
Through a consolidated data source and a deeper focus on the customers’ many data points, your business can learn so much more than was previously available. GDPR, through this decree, helps businesses get to know their customers better and improve personalisation and experience. A central store of customer data means uncovering insights is much easier for your business.
Keeping it safe
It can seem at times like it would be harder to find someone who hasn’t had their data breached, than someone who has. Data breaches are a legitimate threat to all business. GDPR is seeking to limit this threat by ensuring only a select few individuals have access to critical data points. This increased security measure means the data your business collects and stores is safer. Greater data security helps build further trust with your customers that can help increase brand advocacy and loyalty.
Data collection and storage is a big issue for almost all business and even more customers. Big-name brands who have experienced breaches in the past have learnt the hard way, the consequence of not placing an emphasis on this area of the business. GDPR at first may seem like an onerous regulation to comply with, but also creates genuine benefits for all businesses. From increased security to a bump in brand trust and loyalty, compliance with GDPR can do wonders for your business in both the short and long term.