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20 02, 2018

GDPR is changing e-privacy and electronic marketing – stay on the right side of the law

By |2019-01-30T21:20:47+00:00February 20th, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

Email marketing regulations state that you can only carry out unsolicited electronic marketing if the person you’re targeting has given you their consent. This guiding principle is not expected to change. However, the scope of privacy regulations is likely to extend to include Business 2 Business (B2C) as well as Business 2 Consumer (B2C) because of changes to the definition of personal data.

This is because Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) that govern electronic marketing are in the process of being updated in line with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR.)

Before GDPR the rules about emails for individuals didn’t apply to emails sent to organisations. In May next year GDPR’s wider definition of personal data will include data relating to a person at their business. This means there will be no distinction between B2B personal data and B2C data. When sending marketing emails to businesses you will now need to use the consent principle or ‘soft opt in’ principle in the same way that you do with individuals. Giving businesses an ‘opt out’ option will no longer be sufficient.

Everyone sending marketing communications needs to understand the rules around consent which are stricter in line with GDPR. You will need to provide comprehensive information (specific, informed) about what the person is consenting to, as well as ensuring they wouldn’t be disadvantaged if they didn’t consent (freely given). There must also be no doubt as to what they are consenting to (unambiguous) and no doubt as to whether they have actually given consent (clear affirmative action.)

Exceptions to the consent rule still fall under the ‘soft opt in’ which means sending an opt in email. It is allowed if the following three conditions are met: 1) when the buyer gives you contact details while making a purchase or negotiating a sale, 2) you are marketing a similar product or service and 3) there is a simple unsubscribe option at the bottom of each email so that a potential buyer can refuse marketing at any point.

consent

GDPR regards opt in emails or other soft opt in measures as a legitimate interest which is the legal basis for sending direct marketing electronically. It covers email, SMS, social media and instant messaging apps. But you need to be clear from the start when collecting personal data which electronic channel you will be using and make sure your marketing communications are relevant.

Legitimate interest may arise where consent is not viable or not preferred, although the organisations will still need to show that there is a balance of interests – their own and those of the person receiving the marketing. With electronic communications an unsubscribe link is simple to implement in cases of soft opt in by known customers.

When you send an electronic marketing message, you must identify yourself and provide a valid contact address. You must also have a complaints process in place.

If you are uncertain about how to make sure you have got valid consent, use an opt-in box on the email rather than an opt-out one.

You must then keep a list of people who have opted-out and screen lists to make sure you do not email them in future.

At the moment the Information Commissioner’s Office will consider issuing a fine of up to £500,000, where an organisation persistently ignores individuals’ objections to marketing.

However breaches of the new e-Privacy Regulation may attract fines of up to 4% of annual worldwide turnover, just like GDPR. It is not clear when the new regulation will take effect: a target date was set of May 2018 in line with GDPR but this is likely to slip into early 2019, giving you a little more time to prepare.

opt in email

6 02, 2018

Record CCTV footage carefully and store it safely to comply with GDPR

By |2019-01-30T21:20:47+00:00February 6th, 2018|Blog, Content|2 Comments

Personal data according to the general data protection regulation (GDPR) refers to anything that can identify an individual including CCTV cameras. Footage can be used as surveillance to deter or identify intruders and if so, must be available to the Police as required. It must be stored securely and encrypted wherever possible.

GDPR is a new European regulation governing data protection but the UK is introducing a very similar piece of legislation which will apply after Brexit. Personal data includes CCTV footage, email marketing, social media posts, names including newsletter recipients, European cloud storage, IP addresses for websites as well as data already in scope under existing data protection law. GDPR is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO.)

It allows individuals to request a copy of any CCTV footage where they are clearly identifiable. If the request is valid, the organisation must show the footage to the individual within 30 days. GDPR will take effect in just over three months’ time on 25 May this year, 2018, and businesses need to be ready. It is very important that organisations get the use of data right because they can face fines of up to 20 million Euros or 4% of global turnover if they get it wrong. GDPR is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who set the fines.

Individuals must give active consent that is, ‘freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous’ so implied consent will no longer be sufficient. Organisations must make CCTV cameras very obvious and may need to obtain further explicit consent from individuals to record them.

CCTV footage

Security operator looking at CCTV footage

To remain on the right side of the law, organisations must make sure that they can switch CCTV on and off and access a specific recording upon request. Footage and sound recordings should be captured separately to avoid being excessive and must be stored securely. Take care with sound recordings because it is intrusive to record conversations of staff or the public unless there is a strong and explicit justification which is unusual.

Access to footage and sound should be restricted and safeguards need to be in place to prevent interception and unauthorised access.  Footage should be deleted when it’s no longer necessary.

All CCTV footage needs to be underpinned by a written information retention policy that is understood by all operatives. Staff need to know how to respond to requests from individuals for access to footage and recordings. Individuals also need to know if they are in an area covered by CCTV and that they have a right to access recordings and footage.

CCTV camera

CCTV security cameras must be clearly visible

1 02, 2018

How to remain GDPR compliant – protect your data

By |2019-01-30T21:20:48+00:00February 1st, 2018|Blog, Content|0 Comments

Currently data in the UK is regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998 that followed the 1995 EU data protection directive. However, this is now being superseded by the EU General Data Protection Regulation which brings the law up to speed with new ways that data is being used. There will be tougher fines for breaches of data protection and the regulation gives individuals more say over what companies do with their data. GDPR standardises practice throughout the EU.

Even after Brexit if UK companies want to trade with companies in the EU, they will have to comply with GDPR and the UK is introducing a very similar piece of legislation. Personal data includes email marketing, social media posts, names including newsletter recipients, European cloud storage, IP addresses for websites as well as spreadsheets, photos, CCTV footage and documents.

data protection

Personal data is data that identifies a person, data under the Data Protection Act will fall under the scope of GDPR. People can ask for data at reasonable intervals and controllers have a month to respond. Controllers and processors should explain why the data is being processed, how long it will be kept and who will see it. An individual can ask for the data to be corrected or completed if they think it is incomplete or contains errors.

You need to get active consent from everyone you hold data about and you need to be prepared to delete files as required. Failure to opt-out no longer defaults to consent. Consent must be explicit and intentional. Consent gained before GDPR became law must meet the new high standard to be current. If you are in doubt, get updated active consent from all your subjects to ensure GDPR compliance.

Individuals can request that their data is deleted after it has been used which is called the ‘right to be forgotten.’ The same rule applies if they withdraw consent or dislike the way it is being processed. The controller is responsible for telling Google, for example, to delete links to copies of the data and copies of the data itself.

Businesses such as Google and Facebook share user data. GDPR has been introduced to regulate this to build trust and standardise data protection across the EU. This should reduce legal fees considerably.

GDPR will take effect across the EU from 25 May 2018 in its current form without the need for Member States to introduce their own national legislation. It applies to controllers of data who have strategic oversight of the data (such as a government) and processors (often IT companies) who process it. Controllers can be liable for a breach by one of their processors.

The clock is ticking before GDPR takes effect.

Controllers need to check that personal data is processed lawfully, transparently and for a specific purpose. When it is no longer needed, it should be deleted. Controllers need to record active consent to keep the data which can be withdrawn at any time.

Data breaches

Data breaches in the UK need to be reported within 72 hours to the Information Commissioner’s office. You should explain what data has been exposed, what impact this will have for the people involved and what steps you’ve taken in response to the breach. You must also tell the people affected or face a hefty fine. Fines are becoming much bigger and are often 2% of annual turnover rising to 4% if a controller or processor does not follow procedures. Fines still need to be proportionate and evidence of compliance with GDPR will show good faith and should reduce the fine.

5 08, 2016

PPC Marketing £2 Made For Every £1 Spent Really?

By |2019-01-30T21:20:49+00:00August 5th, 2016|PPC, AdWords, Blog, Keyword Research, Keywords, SEO|0 Comments

PPC Marketing – Where Do You Make Your Money?

PPC Marketing – Jupiter Research a Forrester Research company said that 81% of users find their desired destination through a search engine. Broadly speaking, you need to be in the top of the SERP (search engine results page).

PPC marketing is still a relatively new concept and from the outside looking in it can look a bit daunting. What with it looking like a war zone with multiple companies trying to outbid each other on keywords to get their ads to the top. There are many more business not doing PPC Marketing than there are, so therefor Google and Microsoft stand to get even larger in size.

But its important to be aware of whether or not it is right for your business. There have been multiple success stories when it comes to PPC, but it has also seen its fair share of companies who haven’t seen success with the advertising platform.

I want to share with you some amazing statistics before I get into the good & bad of PPC Marketing.

When it comes to AdWords, businesses make an average of £2 in revenue for every £1 they spend PPC Marketing on the platform.

Organic results are 8.5x more likely to be clicked on than paid search results! However, PPC holds a slight edge in conversion rates, as paid search results are 1.5x more likely to convert into sales or email sign-ups for example than organic search. After all the average click-through rate for a Google ad is 3.16%

While those may be huge positives, let me share with you what I found to be the bad points of PPC……

The Bad

It can get very expensive

PPC Marketing costs money, after all its in the title Pay Per Click, you pay up every time someone clicks on your ads. Depending on your experience with the advertising medium it can appear like you are burning cash with no return on investment. So it is essential and good practise that you have defined objectives before you start. Keep your PPC objectives and strategy at the forefront of your mind. What is your CPC (Cost Per Click) target. Even then with the fact that you are bidding with hundreds of other companies for keywords – costs can still skyrocket if you want to see your ads in the top 3 of the first page in Google or Bing.

As an example, “Insurance” is the most expensive keyword at £55 per click! Now can you imagine if 100 people clicked on your ad. That would end up costing you £5500!

Of course this is all relative depending on the size of the business and how much a conversion is worth compared to the PPC spend. Another essential element of effective PPC management is knowing how much you are making in profit margin terms. The product or service you are advertising will have a profit and this should be included as a goal to measure against your PPC efforts.

Did you know, a YouTube homepage ad can cost on average £4,000!

Constant management

One thing a lot of companies don’t realise is the constant management required to run effective PPC Marketing campaigns. A lot of companies start out not knowing this fact and believe it is a set and forget job, burning cash and not achieving results in the process.

For small companies this can be a problem as they usually do not have the resources or time to allocate to manage PPC on an ongoing basis. Many get disillusioned and will say ‘it doesn’t work after trying it briefly’.

Keeping up to date

This almost ties into the previous point in some respect, as being on the ball with PPC Marketing will make sure you are aware of the latest updates and changes. Looking at AdWords for example and Google being Google, they are constantly updating the algorithms and if you are not aware of the changes until its too late, then your campaigns suffer. A good example is Google expanding the character limit for text ads. If you weren’t made aware of this, then you’ll be losing out as your competitors will be one step ahead of you, all because they are constantly aware of what Google have planned and act upon it.

The Good

Instant results over SEO

It’s a fact that SEO takes times before any improvements or changes take effect within the search engines. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, its not great if you are looking for results in a short space of time.

This is where PPC Marketing comes in! you can put together a campaign with ad groups, keywords and ads – set it live and the next morning see results from the get go. These may mainly be impressions and only a few clicks but results nonetheless. Getting these results instantly also enables you to make changes whereas you would have to wait for SEO to take effect before seeing if you need to make any improvements.

That’s not to say you should neglect SEO entirely, as they both go hand in hand in improving your visibility.

Data, data and more data!

Using AdWords as an example again, there is so much data you can pull from campaigns that help you make smarter decisions and optimise effectively. Data like quality score, average CPC, average position, impression share, % impressions lost and the rules around these.

As an example of how data heavy PPC Marketing can get, the Google Display Network serves about 180 billion impressions (views of an ad) each month, which is about 6 billion a day!

You can also pull data from Google Analytics to find out the effect the campaigns are having on traffic, bounce rate and new sessions.

Some may also see this as a negative because of the overwhelming amount of data, but I like to look at it in a positive way. The more data means the more opportunities you have to make smart decisions that improve your campaign and therefore improve click-through and conversion performance.

Specific Customer Targeting

This is great for businesses of any size, location and target market.

For example you can specify locations down to individual counties which is great for local businesses, this means you won’t waste money from clicks by individuals who are not in your location.

Another great feature is the ability to schedule when your ads are shown. Like the previous point, it helps to reduce click wastage by making sure your ads are shown when your target audience is at its most active.

Conclusion

I have aimed to provide a completely even view of the benefits & negatives of PPC Marketing, to summarise it works for some companies and others not so much. It requires diligence, understanding and real commitment to see true results that become conversions for your business.

If you find that the process puts you off, then we would love to help manage your PPC and show you just how successful it can be for your business. We have years of experience and proven results! If that interests you Click Here!

Some further reading we would recommend includes :

  1. Microsoft Adwords
  2. Google PPC Adwords
  3. Digital Glossary

We are currently making an offer that will enable the

8 07, 2016

How To Make Content King

By |2019-01-30T21:20:49+00:00July 8th, 2016|Content, Blog, SEO, Website Design|0 Comments

So How Do You Make Content King?

If there is one thing we haven’t talked about enough, its Content. Get it right and not only will Google love you but your readers as well. But how do you get it right? How do you make content king?

Before you begin, you need to understand what you are trying to achieve with each piece of content. Web form sign-ups, leads, sales conversions, or just for impressions (users viewing without taking any action). Once this has been established you can then start to understand how to make content king.

1. Using Resources To Your Advantage

Creating content from scratch is not easy, I think we can all agree on that. But the process can be made easier by looking at the vast wealth of resources available to you online.

One great resource to use is Answerthepublic.com. This tool enables you to enter any keywords you can imagine and get multiple different results. Including visual graphs/data based on questions, prepositions and alphabetical results of the keyword input. The reason this is a great tool is because it gives you insights into what people are looking for in relation to the search query. If you are struggling for ideas, I would give this website a try.

There also many other keyword tools that you may find useful. For example Google’s Keyword Planner and Übersuggest.io. These are great tools in their own right and if you want more information on them and others, I wrote an article on the Best keyword research tools which you can check out here.

Depending on the industry you are in there is usually a forum for it. Use these to your advantage as they can be a goldmine for discovering about the current state and questions being asked within your chosen industry. Therefore providing some great ideas for content and giving you a platform to become an authority in your niche.

Whatever industry you are in, it is wise to keep abreast of the latest information and set the trend. Remember to put the wealth of resources available to good use.

2. Search Engine Optimised Content Is The Best Kind Of Content

This is absolutely key if you intend your target audience to discover the website. Especially now Google cares about content more than ever. Not only do it’s algorithms like a well optimised page, but now more than ever, the uniqueness and length of content when determining where it will rank the page on the search results.

Depending on what website platform is used, how you optimise content may differ platform-to-platform but the principle still remains.

Lets say for instance the platform being used is WordPress. This platform does a good job of giving you the tools to optimise pages effectively without the need for plugins. But to truly benefit your website, it is ideal to download one of the numerous SEO plugins available. My recommendation is Yoast SEO.

Yoast is a fantastic plugin for streamlining the SEO process and making it easy for content writers to optimise what they have written. Once you have picked a focus keyword for the particular page, the content will be analysed against different criteria. These range from the keyword density, to making sure the focus keyword is used in the page title and meta description. The plugin gives you ratings of red, amber and green based on how well the page is optimised, so the more in the green the better.

3. Now All That’s Done, How Do You Get Conversions From The Content?

This goes back to the first point I made, about what you want to achieve with each piece of content. Many ideas can be considered a conversion, it then comes down to if your content is compelling enough for the reader to take action. It’s great having well optimised content that is bringing in a wealth of organic traffic, but what is the point if no one is taking the intended action at the end of it.

There are many different ways to optimise content to improve conversions, it’s just a matter of understanding what your conversion rates currently are. This way you can decide where an area may need improving. For instance split-testing (splitting the traffic to multiple pages) is a great feature that enables you to test e.g. two different images or two different headers to see which one performs better with users. This way you can analyse the data and make decisions for the betterment of the content and overall conversions for the business.

Of course this isn’t something that will improve over night, it requires constant testing and refinement to start seeing an optimised conversion rate.

Summary

The ultimate goal of a business is to gain conversions at a sustainable pace to succeed and online is no different. There is so much content out there for so many different niches, it makes it a really difficult place to shout and get noticed. But if you take the time to discover the next best topics and how to make content king, then the final goal of consistent conversions will be truly attainable.

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