Is your data GDPR ready?
I was at a conference recently, writes Brandon Trimmer, and the marketing speaker was asked about the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) being implemented on 25th May, and his response was: ‘will anyone check? Probably not. But, it’s worth taking the steps to ensure you’re complying just in case.’
And he’s spot on. The GDPR isn’t set out to target golf clubs, it’s more to save us from the 147 emails a day from the companies who inundate us with content we have no interest in receiving.
The majority of golf clubs’ data is from previous customers and members who have at some time wanted to hear from the golf club, and the good news is most of these will still want to. So, although the GDPR needs to be taken seriously, it’s actually an opportunity for clubs to ‘clean’ their lists and improve the quality and return of their email marketing moving forward.
Data is king, and there’s good news
The first thing we hear when GDPR is mentioned is ‘oh god, that means we’re going to lose a huge chunk of our data’. Maybe. But, in the worst case scenario that this is the end result, what you’re left with is a set of data that has actively said to you ‘hey, don’t remove me from your list – I want to hear from you!’
For those of you doing regular email marketing (if you’re not, you should be, so contact me straight away because you’re missing a huge opportunity) this means that this season you know that every person you’re emailing wants to hear what you’ve got to say.
So your list goes from 2,000 to 1,200, what you’re left with is a list of people that are GUARANTEED to be potential customers. So, if you can approach your email marketing correctly and entice them back to your golf club effectively, there’s some serious money to be made this season. Plus, you’ll get more useful stats from your email marketing, meaning your efforts go further and less time is wasted chasing leads who are never going to buy from you in the first place.
The biggest mistake you can make is not actively encouraging these subscribers to stay with you, because data is king. If you approach it right, there’s nothing saying you can’t get the majority of your existing database to stay with you, which is why we’re working hard for of all our clients to make sure they not only comply with the GDPR, but also keep as many subscribers as possible.
So, is complying with the GDPR important. Absolutely. Is it all bad? Absolutely not.
We’ve already started cleaning up the subscriber lists for our clients, so contact me today to ensure your club is compliant and for help keeping those valuable subscribers on board.