With revisions to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill expected to come into play in Spring 2024, Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT) predicts 50% of SMBs will look to re-invest in customer communications.
The new regulations will loosen the shackles around the consent and impact of data sharing, meaning SMBs become able to use this data to proactively communicate with and promote to customers and prospects.
The SMBs that are ready for these changes will win the lion’s share of the market.
The introduction of GDPR and the Data Protection Act (2018) placed limits on how customers’ personal data could be accessed by businesses.
However, with consumers increasingly demanding a high level of personalisation from businesses, SMBs have been struggling to meet these demands with the strict limits they have been working under. Until now, proactive communication and direct marketing has been relatively limited.
Antony Paul, Head of Global Product Marketing at Quadient, said: “Whether consumers are dealing with a huge multinational corporation or a small business down the road, they will ultimately demand the same level of customer experience.
“This means hyper-personalised, proactive communication, that anticipates their needs. Customers today want to be treated as an individual – not just a number. The revised regulations will allow SMBs to access customer data much more easily than they could before, enabling them to deliver this high level of communication.”
Quadient advises that SMBs should act soon to get ahead of the incoming changes, or risk being overtaken by more agile competitors. This might mean creating communication templates or unifying their data strategy; putting data in one accessible place where it can be used by different parts of the business.
Paul warned, “Ultimately, the big players – the huge international corporations – will already have strategies in place to take advantage of the revised regulations. SMBs need to be ready for the starting gun to be fired, putting processes in place so they can quickly create and distribute communications.
“Overnight, they could be freer to reach out proactively to customers and prospects than they have been for many years. The early movers that are preparing their strategies now – rather than when the laws come into force – will be the ones that gain the market advantage.
“The upcoming changes represent a great opportunity to look at automation of communications to enhance and streamline existing processes. These technologies, initially exclusively designed for larger enterprises are now readily accessible by SMBs.”
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