5 Reasons Why Marketers Should Care about Data Privacy
by Tori Thurmond / November 14th, 2023
As a marketer writing this blog, trust me when I say that data privacy is one of the last things I want to think about when I’m trying to create the next best campaign. However, by working at KirkpatrickPrice, I’ve learned the importance of data privacy to our role as marketers and seen that it can only make our marketing efforts more successful.
No matter what industry you work in, you’ve probably heard whispers about new data privacy laws and regulations coming into effect all over the world, from the European Union’s GDPR to state laws like CCPA and CDPA. Although many of these laws contain similarities, it’s important that organizations know the intricacies of each regulation that applies to their business.
While it may seem like the only people who really need to be familiar with data privacy laws are the head of an organization’s IT or security department, it’s important that everyone in the organization knows their responsibilities when it comes to handling personal data.
One unsuspecting department that should be familiar with the data privacy laws that apply to their organization is marketing. This may come as a surprise to some, but think about all of the personal data marketing collects and is responsible for on a daily basis. For almost every marketing effort we engage in, we hope that potential customers will leave us with an email or some form of personal information we can use to continue nurturing that lead. We are responsible for contacts, job titles, addresses, and more. All of that data deserves to be handled responsibly, so marketing teams must be prepared to handle all personal data ethically and legally.
5 Advantages to Educating Marketing of Data Privacy
There are many advantages to your marketing department being trained and familiar with data privacy, but here are our top five reasons:
1. Building trust with clients
When your clients give you their data, they expect you to use it the way you say you’re going to and the way they agree to. No one wants to end up like Twitter (now X) in 2022 and had to pay $150 million in fines due to an improper use of data. While paying huge fines is an obvious consequence from misusing data, think of all the doubt that incident placed in users of the platform. Why risk destroying all the effort you’ve put into building brand loyalty by misusing the personal data you’ve collected? By understanding how you’re allowed to use client data and adhering to requirements that apply to your organization, you’ll build trust and a better relationship with your clients.
2. Targeted marketing opportunities
Once you establish trust with your clients that you will use their data only in the ways that you say you will, they are more likely to keep their data up to date, providing you with opportunities to create customized and targeted marketing experiences for your clients.
All marketers know the struggle of not having accurate information for their clients. Without the correct contact information or statistics, it can be hard to execute successful marketing opportunities. When you are committed to adhering to the data privacy laws and regulations that are relevant to your organization, your marketing strategies and campaigns will have fewer obstacles to overcome, driving business and improving data quality.
3. Standing out amongst competitors
When your entire organization is committed to data privacy, you can market that commitment and stand out amongst competitors in your field. By building a privacy program, going through a privacy audit, or conducting data privacy training, you’re going a step farther than many organizations in your field. Everyone is being forced to adhere to the new laws and regulations that are popping up all over the world, but organizations that embrace these changes instead of retroactively catching up to the changes in the data privacy landscape will have a competitive advantage in their field.
4. Ethical considerations
Marketers have many responsibilities. It’s common for marketers to have to wear many different hats to fulfil their job responsibilities. One of the many expectations that need to meet is handling customer data ethically. The ethical use of personal data is essential in building trust, maintaining a good reputation, and the overall success of an organization.
5. Legal compliance
And last but not least, marketers should know about and care about data privacy to legally comply with data privacy laws and regulations. All of the above topics are excellent reasons why marketers should care about data privacy, but no organization wants to get into legal trouble for not adhering to the laws and regulations that apply to them. The legality of following these laws and regulations is where companies run into millions of dollars in fines and risk losing the business as a whole. Because marketers are constantly dealing with personal data, it’s essential that they have an understanding of data privacy.
We understand that data privacy can be a daunting topic to learn about, so we created Privacy Compliance 101 to help you get started on your privacy journey. Privacy Compliance 101 will help you understand some of the basics of data privacy, how a privacy audit could benefit your org, and a little bit about some of the most popular privacy laws and regulations. Download the guide here.
Privacy audits can feel overwhelming.
Privacy laws and regulations are constantly changing, and the process feels overwhelming. This guide will help you feel more confident as you prepare for your next privacy audit.
Partner with KirkpatrickPrice’s Privacy Experts to Build an Unstoppable Privacy Program
Did you know that KirkpatrickPrice has a dedicated privacy team? We understand that privacy is a complicated topic, which is why our privacy experts are dedicated to helping you understand the ins and outs of each law and regulation that effects your business as well as helping you determine which privacy laws you need to comply with based on your unique business model.
Our privacy team can help you build a privacy program, conduct a privacy audit, or simply answer your questions regarding privacy so you can make sure you’re handling personal data responsibly. We are here to support you from audit readiness to final report, whatever that looks like for your organization. Connect with one of our experts today to get started.
