All posts by : janinepaterson

It just rolls off the tongue.

Procrastination is such a wonderful word it really ought to mean something good, but it doesn’t.

Deliberately delaying or postponing something, despite knowing the negative things that could happen is something we all do at some point.

It can be so easy to put off a decision as there are so many other things you need to think about when running a business. But if you keep kicking the can down the road, it can have a devastating effect.

Clients have come to me with problems they’ve had for a long time, years in some cases.

They knew they needed to fix it but avoided making the decision to seek help.

This is understandable. It’s not their fault. And they’re often doing it unconsciously.

The brain is a wonderful thing but it can work against us. It will justify our inactivity by telling us things like:

– the problem is not that bad

– it’s all too confusing and difficult

– it can’t be fixed.

This can cause real stress and worry to business owners like you.

If you have issues with your marketing, knowing the rules and understanding how they apply to your business allows you to change the way you see the situation.

Having some expert help to navigate what can seem like a minefield of do’s and don’ts can bring clarity to the problem and enable you to resolve that issue once and for all.

Do your training courses not attract the audience you deserve?

You know your stuff – in, out, and upside down, but your ideal audience just isn’t signing up.

Have you considered that you could be making the number one mistake with your sign-up form, which also happens to be illegal?

And what is that mistake?

Forcing your delegates to consent to receive marketing from you!

I’ll explain: If, as part of the registration process, you make delegates agree to receive marketing from your company, your sponsors, or anybody else you’re connected with, then you are not alone.

Pound to a penny, you’re using the same format as many other businesses and you’re all making the same mistake.

Potential customers are more aware of their rights when it comes to their data. And many know that having to provide marketing consent just to access a training course or download a whitepaper or other lead magnet is a breach of GDPR.

Even those who don’t know it’s a GDPR breach still might think twice about signing up the moment they realise giving you their contact information for marketing purposes is a condition of attending your webinar or course.

And, if you were unaware this fundamental error with your sign-up page was even an error, there may well be other hidden issues with your marketing and advertising.

And as you don’t know what you don’t know, you could even be breaking a few other marketing rules and regulations along the way.

The solution isn’t rocket science: you need to know what the rules and regulations are and then apply them (sensibly) to your business!

You could try learning them yourself.

Alternatively, you could ask an expert.

Someone who can advise not just on the law, but on how those rules affect your business.

Paying for expert advice on your marketing and advertising is an investment in your future success.

The Advertising Standards Authority publishes its adjudications on complaints received each Wednesday …

… and I can’t wait to read them.

Why?

Not because I like reading them, but rather because I read these with a sense of disappointment of what might have been.

Understanding the advertising rules and implementing them can be a challenge, especially when there are several factors to consider:

1. Your products/services
2. Your target audience
3. What type of advert to run – a tv/radio splash, an email campaign, an exciting competition?

The thing is I know that if those brands had asked me to help, their name would not be on the ASA website, nor would they have suffered the embarrassment of appearing in newspapers and news feeds as an upheld case.

The rules are there for a reason, but they can be confusing. If you can get your head around them, the problems mount when you try to apply them to your business.

Nobody can do everything in a business, sometimes because it’s an area you don’t like (I leave the accounts side of mine to my husband) and sometimes because you don’t have the skills.

So sometimes you have to ask an expert. You have an accountant as it makes sense to pay to ensure your accounts are accurate and up to date.

Paying to ensure your ads comply with the ASA codes is no different.

Making a mistake like calling people on the Telephone Preference Service could just be the start of your troubles.

Why?

Because once the ICO receives a complaint, they will look at not just your telephone records but at all aspects of your data processes.

They will ask questions about what personal data you use, how you store it and how you source it.

And that could be where it gets worse.

5 companies learnt this to their cost.

First, they called people on the TPS. As you may know, the TPS is a list of people who have objected to receiving marketing calls.

People (rightly) complained about this, bringing the companies to the attention of the ICO.

And when the ICO dug deeper, it turned out they had purchased data about the over 60s from 3^rd party data companies and had deliberately targeted these elderly and infirm consumers. They then played on their fears about the pandemic to sell them insurance and servicing agreements they didn’t need!

What these companies did was totally unacceptable and their practices were exposed.

Fortunately, they are the exception to the rule, as most reasonable business owners want to market their products and services legally and ethically.

However, even the most moral and upright businesses can fall foul of the law

That’s why you should be very careful when purchasing 3^rd party data to use in your marketing. It can be a great way of reaching new customers, but if you don’t know what personal data the lists contain or how the lists were compiled you can end up in difficulties.

The bottom line is trying to navigate all the rules and regulations can feel like walking through a minefield.

Some conscientious business owners will try to learn them, however, they often end up more worried and confused than when they started!

Especially when they then try to apply what they have learnt to their business.

I heard a discussion on the radio the other day about cookery lessons at school.

It took me back to my school days when we had weekly cookery classes for a half term, usually running up to Easter.

I consider myself a fairly good cook and my bakes were eagerly consumed by the family to high praise and empty plates…. most of the time.

However, the radio chat reminded me of the time it went all wrong. But, in my defence,  it wasn’t my fault!

That week we were making a French Apple Tart. A puff pastry case with a layer of stewed apple, and on top thinly sliced apple in concentric circles.

My offering was beautiful, even if I say so myself.

I put the tart into the school oven and allowed it to cook until it was a rich golden brown – a triumph!

Then disaster struck

The school ovens had an inner glass door. And as I was taking the tart out, the inner door swung back, knocking the tart across the floor.

The oven manufacturer sold this design on the fact you could open the outer door to check on progress without causing a loss in temperature.

But this design had a fatal flaw. The glass doors were quite thick and prone to swing of their own accord.

I think the fact that these types of ovens are no longer sold shows that were a bad design.

Bad designs in products or processes in your business can result in more than a broken French Apple Tart.

They can cost you time, money and reputation and this is especially so when it comes to your marketing and advertising.

Ads that attract complaints from the public can be the start of a very stressful period while you deal with the regulators, distracting you from the business of growing your brand.

I saw the other day that the European Commission, one of the bodies that passed the GDPR 6 years ago, has been accused of breaching its own legislation!

A German resident, assisted by a German organisation that helps those affected by data breaches is taking legal action.

The EC is running a conference, which sounds fine you might say. However, the website collecting the registration data transfers it to the United States.

You can transfer data around the world, but you need to be satisfied that the data will be protected to the same level as if it stayed in the EU.

There are a number of agreements between the EU and countries around the world that say the data standards are adequate. The UK has one, as this was necessary when we left the EU.

However, where the US is concerned, its Intelligence Services have unrestricted access to the data coming from the EU. And as you can’t challenge this or claim damages, transfers to the US do not meet the necessary protections under the GDPR.

The US did have agreements in the past which have allowed data to be sent there. However, the first version, Safe Harbor, introduced in 2000, was struck down in 2015 as not adequately protecting personal data. The replacement, the EU-US Privacy Shield, was also successfully challenged and declared invalid in July 2020.

There are continuing talks about Privacy Shield 2.0, but these have been slow.

So, what do you do if you want to send data to the US?

As a data owner, you have to make the decision whether that data will be protected, which with the situation in the US at the moment is a very difficult thing to do.

Deciding whether you can send data abroad is just one decision a business owner has to make when dealing with personal data, and if the lawmakers can potentially get this wrong, you as a business owner may think what chance have I?

And when it comes to using data for marketing, it may seem that it is not a risk worth taking.

However…

… you can use data in your marketing, as long as you follow the rules.

And if you don’t know or understand the rules, ask an expert.

But don’t worry if it’s a jockey.

The rules for advertising and marketing gambling products are set to change in October this year,

That will mean if you currently have a topflight football player or manager promoting your betting services, this will have to stop.

Why?

Gambling services are an age-restricted product and there are rules to protect the under-18s.

Advertising of betting and other gambling services must not appeal to children in the way it’s presented and through its content. This is why the use of football stars and other popular sporting celebrities has caused concern.

Football managers, such as Jose Mourinho, who promotes a well-known betting company, and many English footballers and athletics stars have many social media followers, many of which are under 18.

However, if you’re using a well-known jockey then you’re OK… probably.

What’s the difference?

Well, the ASA has decided that most kids aren’t overly interested in jockeys and horse racing. So, as their fanbase is predominantly (or exclusively) over 18 then there’s no issue as the ads won’t appeal to children.

This change is a prime example of why learning the dos and don’ts of marketing and advertising for yourself can be a bad idea.

Many responsible business owners invest considerable amounts of time to figure it all out.

They may even think that their hours of study have been worthwhile and will save them a fortune by not paying for the expert.

But then the rules change or are updated, and they are back to square one!

To be compliant in your advertising you need to understand the rules and regulations that apply, but you also need to know if they change.

Keeping up with changes can be difficult, especially with a business to run.

Sometimes engaging an expert makes business sense. Marketing spend is not an expense, it is an investment in your future.

I was talking to a client the other day and he told me he signed up for a free webinar.

As part of the sign-up process, he had to agree to receive marketing emails – he received 7 on the first day!

For the avoidance of doubt, this is illegal!

This is one of the easiest ways to come to the attention of the ICO, as people are more aware of their data rights and more likely to complain.

Once the ICO become interested, your whole business practices come under scrutiny. Responding to their questions and requests for evidence of your data handling will take time and effort and can be very stressful.

Now, I am sure you are not sending 7 emails a day. But make no mistake about it, if you force people to opt-in for regular marketing emails to access a free webinar or other lead magnets, you are breaking the law.

And not only that, would you trust a company that did this?

Forcing someone to opt-in is the wrong start to your relationship with potential customers. You are not being honest and you are not respecting their right to choose how you use their data.

If you have a good offer, potential customers will come. They may not flock to you, but those that do will be a high-quality lead more likely to convert into a paying customer.

There are a lot of legal experts out there that are shouting about the enormous amounts of money (potentially millions of pounds) that you can be fined by the ICO, and that you need to be worried about this.

And I could do the same, but I’m not going to.

Here’s why: Whilst you could get hit with one of these fines, evidence to date indicates this is unlikely to happen to your small business.

Great you say…

… but there’s more to the story.

Because you should worry about the effect an encounter with the ICO will have on your reputation plus the time and stress of being on the receiving end of one of their investigations.

If the ICO receives a complaint and decides to take it forward, they will ask questions about ALL aspects of your data handling, not just about the specific case in hand. This will take time and effort from you and your senior managers, and your IT team (or outsourced company).

If after all this they find a breach, they may fine you or they may issue strong words of advice.

Either way, you will almost certainly be named and shamed on their website, and this could have a long-lasting effect on your credibility. This is because when people search for your business on Google, Bing, and so on, the chances are the ICO investigation will be one of the results returned.

The reputation of your business is valuable and is worth protecting.

To do this you need to comply with the rules around the use of personal data in your marketing.

But understanding the rules and then applying them can be a time-consuming process and can be difficult when you have all the other aspects of your business to get right.

Sometimes you have to accept that you need expert advice.

If you regularly run product promotions to boost your brand, you will know the difficulties involved if you want to include Northern Ireland residents.

The law in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) was updated in 2005. This allowed promoters to require consumers to purchase their products to enter the competition.

Before this, if you had to buy something before you could take part in the promotion, this was seen as an illegal lottery.

The update was great if you wanted to run a product promotion in Great Britain but was a pain for brands that wanted to include Northern Ireland. Trying to make your terms fair to all when some don’t have to buy your product –  always a tricky balancing act.

But this has all changed. The NI law has now been updated and is now in line with the rest of the UK, which will make planning a promotion across the UK easier.

Many responsible business owners invest considerable time to learn how to compliantly run a successful product promotion.

But the challenges arise when the rules change or are updated.

Because to be compliant in your advertising you need to understand the rules and regulations that apply, but you also need to be aware when they change.

Keeping up to date with what’s right and what’s not is just another ball you have to keep in the air when you run your own business.

And you can’t do everything. Sometimes you have to accept that you need help from an expert. You pay your accountant to do your books and your commercial lawyer to handle your contracts. Maybe now is the time for expert marketing law advice.