According to research in 2020 by the Pew Research Center, half of Americans have decided not to use a product or service because of privacy concerns. This is an important message for businesses: protecting customer data is absolutely crucial.
And still, data privacy has long been seen as time-consuming and technical. What companies need to realize is how it can be seen as an opportunity, rather than a barrier. 👀 Read this post for 5 tips on how to make this a win-win situation for you and your customers.
Jump to ⬇️
- Data privacy is a hot topic
- Well-informed customers = happy customers
- Provide a seamless consent experience
- Allow customers to opt-out at any moment
- Stay up-to-date
5 tips to leverage customer data protection
1. Data privacy is a hot topic
It’s really that easy: you cannot fail customers on the topic of privacy.
Why? Because it has become a priority for customers, as much as customer loyalty has become essential for organizations in order to deliver customized experiences.
Plus, aside from the strongly-established privacy regulations like the GDPR or the ePrivacy, many new laws are in the pipeline around the world.
👉 Looking at the current amount of online data gathered and shared around the world, protecting customer data has simply become the norm.
🔀 What to do:
- The two key principles here are transparency, and compliance. Make sure your data collection processes are in line with applicable data privacy laws.
- If you don’t really need the information, don’t collect it.
- For mid-size companies and over, appoint someone to be in charge of privacy, the Data Protection Officer (DPO).
2. Well-informed customers = happy customers
Skeptical or misinformed customers are less likely to trust you with their data and, as a result, to give their consent or share it with you, now or in the future.
Even worse, customer loyalty and retention is impacted greatly in the case of an unpleasant experience where a client realizes their data has been used for a certain purpose without them agreeing to it.
🔀 What to do:
- Avoid dark areas, misleading or unclear information, and ultimately potential concerns that your customers could have. 👉 Customers will be willing to give the data if they are aware and clear on the fact that they are giving it.
- Make the required documentation (see below) easily accessible on your site and available in the right language! Plus, make it readable (without forgetting some info!). Most customers will not want to read through the full policy.
💡 What are the privacy documents required by law in order to inform customers?
The privacy policy defines which types of data are collected, for what purposes and who can access it.
If you use cookies, the cookie policy and cookie banner define which cookies you use and for what purposes. It also lists the categories and purposes of third party cookies that are installed.
Terms and Conditions set rules for how users may interact with your service, product, or site (return, withdrawal, cancellation), protecting you from potential liabilities and service abuses.
3. Provide a seamless consent experience
Not showing a banner for cookie consent, sending email marketing promotions without clear consent, using pre-ticked boxes…
These are all red flags for users and can have a strong impact on retention or reputation.
🔀 What to do:
- Request customer consent in an unambiguous way, and gather insights into what they agree to/do not agree to.
- Have 2 buttons, “Accept” and “Reject”, on your cookie banner.
- Specify your intentions when it comes to email marketing, newsletter signups, contact forms, etc.
4. Allow customers to opt-out at any moment
When someone decides to opt out, it generally means that they’ve indicated a preference to not be included in something.
A common scenario is where users opt-out of an email list by unsubscribing, or where Californian consumers opt out of having their personal information shared or sold under CPRA (CCPA amendment) provisions.
🔀 What to do:
→ Mention in your privacy documents how customers can exercise their rights.
→ Provide links for opting out: for example for email marketing (ie. newsletter), or following CPRA (CCPA amendment) requirements.
5. Stay up-to-date!
We saw how important customer data protection is for keeping your customers’ trust. For this, informing users is key. This means you should make sure not to miss some required information!
🔀 What to do:
- Stay up-to-date with data privacy laws.
- Update your documents when needed to make sure they’re not outdated.
“This sounds great. But how do I manage to do all these things on my own?”
This is definitely challenging, especially on the technical and legal sides.
It’s also tricky to find comprehensive solutions out there that can help with most requirements.
👉 Luckily, we have a solution for you!
Here’s how iubenda can help you with protecting customer data
iubenda is an entirely customizable all-in-one compliance solution. Its defaults settings already include what we mentioned in this article. You can:
- create your own custom privacy policy choosing from +1700 existing clauses;
- easily inform users via a cookie banner and a dedicated cookie policy page;
- update your documents at any time when the law changes or to add any new information!
Plus, you can get started for free!