Mar 03
At Convertico Media, the leading online marketing agency in Cyprus, we know a big update when we see one. And make no mistake, the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enforceable from May 25th, 2018, is a big update.
GDPR governs the way that data is used and drastically tightens up the existing restrictions. It also imposes heavy penalties of up to 20 million Euros on companies that fail to comply.
So, let’s delve into the ways that GDPR will impact your online marketing and advertising and what you will need to do to remain compliant.
Personal information can still be collected from site visitors and clients so relax. Landing pages, contact forms and social media data collection is still ok. However, you must be clear about what you plan to do with it. Eg- if your landing page requires an internet user to submit his name and email, you must be clear about what you will do with it and the user must accept. So, no more confusing technical terms, no more tricking clients to sign up with pre-ticked consent boxes and definitely a very clear privacy policy. Be very careful with your cookie policy too, Under GDPR, websites are required to have a cookie consent popup and provide options for users to opt out. It’s no longer acceptable to imply consent on any policies or forms. Eg “By using this site I accept the cookie policy”. Now, users must be given the option to opt out and your privacy policy must include the direct email of a member in your organisation responsible for this.
One of the big issues our clients worry about is the compliance of their Google Analytics with GDPR. Let’s break it down. By default, Google Analytics collects the user’s IP address. If they haven’t consented, then this will be illegal after GDPR comes into play. Therefore, IP-anonymization needs to be activated. The Convertico Media team are managing this for clients by utilising Google Tag Manager and activating the anonymize IP-function. There are more features which need to be tweaked such as the query parameters in the URL of a thank-you page. It is now important that these query parameters receive consent to send to analytics or URLs are removed if not.
Don’t be thinking that you can take those old sales lists and continue to retarget on Facebook either. Facebook has implemented new verification processes to place the legal responsibility back on companies for client consent. That means that if you are using the custom audience feature and uploading your CSV files, you must verify that these are double opted in and legitimate leads. If you’ve been using rogue lists then relax, this is a period of amnesty. You simply need to stop doing it and for safety, delete any lists from your PC and Facebook ad panel. It is also highly likely that ad costs will rise for display and social because of the shrinking cookie pools.
We know that our clients are worried about GDPR, but with Convertico Media working hard to ensure complete compliance for all its websites, you’re in safe hands. For more information or assistance, please chat with a member of our team.