There is little mention of Social Media in the GDPR, DPA, or PECR regulations.
Obviously the same rules apply to processing of data and as a responsible GDPR
compliance company we would never suggest that you should attempt to
circumvent GDPR. However, there is a little trick that might help you rescue
your customer database.
Many companies are desperate to rescue their customer databases but just don’t
have records of consent that allow them to send email or sms text messages to
ask their customers to re-optin. Even prior to GDPR they don’t meet PECR
regulations and they are not willing to take the risk of large scale email blasts.
We absolutely agree that this is the correct choice and that spam of any
description is not acceptable. However, Facebook custom lists might just be the answer!
Facebook custom lists are a pretty well known
marketing approach on Facebook – using custom lists to promote products and
services to well-defined groups of people. You upload your data [email or mobile
numbers], create a list and then target your campaign at Facebook users that
match the credentials uploaded in your custom list. Your list will only include FB
users that match the people in your list and the % match will vary but you should
reach a 60%-70% match if your data is recent. Make sure your campaign is
attractive and legitimate and make sure you re-optin responders when they
click. Simple, quick, easy, and cost effective. Set the ppc at a level that works for
you and make sure your re-optin is GDPR compliant.
Is this just social media spam – we don’t think so and it’s a very common
approach - but you can make your own decision. You can setup fast, test, adjust,
and optimise your campaign to ensure you achieve the results you need. Best of
all this doesn’t break any regulations and carefully managed campaigns work
really well. Try it – this might just save your database.
Good luck all.