Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 12 months, you should be aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May 2018.

Whilst much has already been documented about these forthcoming rules to data protection, there also seems to be a lot of contradiction going around as well, particularly when it comes to business to business (B2B) marketing.

So I rang the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) helpline, whose feedback was reassuring. They say that whilst they are waiting for the final guidance to be published later this year they do not think there will be a huge change to B2B marketing under the  GDPR. That, of course, assumes that businesses are already complying with the existing Data Protection Regulations and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. So as a recap, B2B marketing should comply with the following:

• You should provide clear opt-outs/unsubscribe facilities on your email marketing.
• Where a business has registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) or the Mail Preference Service (MPS) you should not be sending any marketing communications to them.
• You should keep suppression files, so where someone opts out of receiving marketing communications you flag this on your CRM, database, spreadsheet etc., rather than deleting it. Otherwise, you risk re-adding their details at a later time if they haven’t given you consent to do so.
• If you have a personal email address for someone in a business, i.e. vicki@hotmail.com (made up email!) which is allocated to a business, say Momentum for Professionals, you won’t be able to email them on that address unless you have obtained consent from them before 25 May 2018. However, you don’t need consent to send a marketing email to vicki@momentumforprofessionals.co.uk as long as you have a clear and easy opt out-format, should someone want to stop receiving marketing emails from you.
• You should review and, if required, update your privacy notices on your website so that it is clear when and why you collect data and for what purposes it is used for.

Hopefully the above busts some myths which are currently doing the rounds when it comes to B2B marketing and the new GDPR rules. I strongly recommend if you have any questions on the GDPR that you call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113, I have always found them to be very helpful and give sound practical advice.

To keep up to date with the latest announcements from the Information Commissioner’s Office, visit their blog at www.iconewsblog.org.uk.