2 GDPR Misconceptions Among Credit Union Marketers

GDPR is now a little more than one month old. The new EU guidelines affect the way personal data is collected, processed and used for European citizens. And though the ruling is now in practice, there continues to be a steep learning curve for bank and credit union marketers about its use and impact.

As digital marketing investments ramp up, creating a range of new consumer touchpoints for data collection and activation, banks and credit unions need to understand what GDPR will and won’t do to their campaigns. But as with any new regulation, misconceptions hamper progress. Here is a look at two of the most common.

1. GDPR won’t fundamentally alter our digital strategy.

GDPR retools the way banks and credit unions should think about digital marketing. Before the regulation, everything was about data volume and communication at enormous scale. Banks could send thousands of emails or serve millions of display impressions, hoping to see a modest return on their investment. Now, with the threshold for opt-in and privacy rising, things will change. You cannot simply “spray and pray” as your target pool will be smaller, with less data. Or you may risk complaints or litigation. GDPR means marketers must give control over their data back to consumers. It also means they have to be more thoughtful about the end-user’s digital experience and journey. The rule is forcing credit unions to identify opportunities to engage members and prospects on their terms. That is how marketing should work.

Let’s say someone on a mobile device searches for a local credit union. With GDPR, that moment of attention is actually more valuable than it was before. As some marketing channels become more regulated, more challenging and less reliable, strategies and channels that hinge on the moment when a consumer wants you become more important. Tactics like local SEO, marketing of consumer reviews, content marketing and location/branch listings are particularly useful here. This type of “pull” marketing is more likely to deliver ROI compared to “push” strategies, like email and display, which are limited by GDPR.

2. GDPR is only limited to European consumers, so I will be OK.

GDPR is limited to data from European consumers. However, the geography of the rule is very nuanced. A European citizen engaging with a credit union in the U.S., for example, does fall under the protection of GDPR, and that credit union needs to find ways to identify the origin of a user and treat them accordingly.

Large banks and credit unions should adopt a long-term view when planning for GDPR’s effect on their marketing. What occurs in the EU right now ends up serving as a template for other markets. It is not occurring in isolation. Singapore, for example, has embraced similar guidelines, and other APAC markets are considering them. Even in the U.S., we are seeing possible equivalent measures pop up for debate, though most are on a state level. And the consumer appetite for a comparable law is growing. GDPR is the beginning of the trend, not the end.

Banks and credit unions need to understand and apply this new thinking around privacy to their planning, in part because more protections are likely. In preparing for GDPR, the savviest organizations assumed this would be the case and built a global marketing approach to the policy. That’s why so many U.S. consumers received opt-in requests in the weeks leading up to May 25. There was a clear need to future-proof.

Banks and credit unions will continue to invest in digital marketing, given its dramatic benefits compared to other channels. To optimize their spend, they should be clear-eyed on the long-term impact of GDPR. The new measure will reshape digital campaigns, and banks and credit union marketers will adapt accordingly.

Josha Benner is CRO and Co-Founder for Uberall. He can be reached at josha@uberall.com.