In an era of ever-bigger data breaches, questions of how to treat consumer data responsibly have concerned many organizations, sales teams, and marketers. After all, if you’re building an email list or using CRM software, you’re essentially in the business of data collection.
At the same time, the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe along with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which goes into effect in 2020, has many marketers worried that it will be a challenge to stay in compliance with these regulations — and to decide when and where they need to comply. One primary stipulation of such laws is that they maintain transparency about what data they’re collecting.
But last week, during Content Marketing Institute’s weekly Twitter chat (#CMWorld), a privacy-related question was asked that I had never really considered: “How might complying with privacy laws improve the effectiveness of our content?” And Arizona attorney Ruth B. Carter, the chat’s featured guest, had a fascinating answer:
“When you make your audience add themselves to your email list, you get an audience of people who already like you. You’ll have a higher open rate. It’s much easier to sell to them,” Carter wrote. “Conversely, when you send me an unsolicited pitch, … I never buy from or refer anyone to you.”
Building Trust
What all of this comes down to is building consumer trust. And content marketers have already tuned in to just how important that is.
Consumers today, especially Generation Z, value authenticity very highly. They’re also more visually literate than ever before, and that means they can recognize inauthentic communication easily. They know a stock photo or a mass-produced email from a mile away…
