P’s of Marketing

If you are a marketing professional, you’re familiar with the five P’s of marketing: product, price, placement, promotion, and people. But now there’s a new P of marketing in town, and this is the most important one of all: privacy.

The P’s of marketing date back to a bygone age where communications were limited to postal mail, phone calls, and sales outlets, and tracking was limited to computer capacity. But this has long since changed. Unfortunately, marketers are still playing catch-up in spite of all the new technology at their disposal. In fact, many are so far behind that regulators are stepping in to protect consumer privacy because they don’t feel brands can be trusted to do it on their own. Needless to say, this is a huge problem.

Privacy: The Foundation of Everything

Experience seems to prove that everything in marketing depends on trust. But both legislators and privacy advocates hold up privacy as the true non-negotiable. Increasingly savvy consumers seem to agree, and several recently passed laws back them up.

This feels almost upside-down for a digital world. Shouldn’t we be free to establish trust and go from there without dealing with the obligation of privacy regulation?

Dodging the Digital Backlash

If brands are to prevent a digital backlash from their most lucrative buyers, they need to build trust. And they need to do it now.

This became especially clear in 2018, with the implementation of the GDPR in the EU and the recent introduction of the CCPA in California. Brands are increasingly being forced to confront the realities of privacy regulation and compliance. But even improved legislation hasn’t solved the problem. As soon as a company catches up with one set of regulations, a new one completely changes the playing field. It’s like the worst game of whack-a-mole ever.

Beyond Basic Privacy Compliance

Fortunately, there is a better way for marketers to get ahead of the curve. With a flexible framework, marketing experts can quickly accommodate changes or additions to customer data privacy regulations. But more importantly, they can earn and keep their customers’ trust through proper handling of private data. Companies can easily implement this framework with 4Comply, a solution designed to help companies embed privacy best practices into the fabric of their brand.

But there’s more to trust than just basic privacy compliance. The next step is to allow your customers to control precisely how your brand interacts with them, from the frequency of contact to the subject matter and medium of communication. Of course, this is easier said than done. No customer wants to answer deeply intrusive questions or spend hours filling out consent forms. This is why data privacy management goes hand-in-hand with subscription management when it comes to building trust. Respecting your customers’ wishes goes a long way. 4Comply can help with this too, with a legal activities vault designed to keep track of which customers have given consent to be contacted.

Observing the P’s of Marketing

In these days of increasing data privacy regulation, marketers can find themselves facing significant challenges. But savvy businesses can turn this potential hurdle into a golden opportunity. By emphasizing trust above all else as you interact with customers, your company can earn itself a leadership position in the industry and build a strong foundation for customer loyalty. The sooner you act, the easier it will be.

To learn more about how you can turn data privacy compliance into enduring customer trust and loyalty, download our free eBook, “Achieving Trust Through Compliance: A Marketer’s Guide to Customer Data Privacy.”

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