GDPR compliance is the adherence to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation, the European Union's law governing data privacy and security. This means any organization that processes the personal data of EU residents must meet its legal obligations for how that data is collected, handled, and protected. The regulation outlines key principles, including lawfulness, data minimization, and accountability, that must be at the core of any data processing activity.
The GDPR is founded on seven key principles for processing personal data. These mandate that data handling must be lawful, fair, and transparent. Organizations must also limit collection to specific purposes and only gather data that is strictly necessary, a concept known as data minimization.
Furthermore, data must be kept accurate and stored only as long as needed. The principles of integrity and confidentiality demand robust security measures. Finally, accountability requires organizations to prove their compliance with these regulations.
This is how you can begin your journey toward compliance.
While often discussed together, these two legal frameworks have distinct scopes and applications.
Navigating GDPR compliance presents several significant hurdles for organizations of all sizes.
Achieving GDPR compliance offers significant advantages beyond just avoiding fines. It enhances an organization's reputation and improves data management practices, fostering a culture of privacy that resonates with modern consumers.
Does GDPR apply to B2B marketing?
Yes, it does. Business contact information, such as names and email addresses, is considered personal data under GDPR. Companies must have a lawful basis, like legitimate interest, to process this data for marketing purposes.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
Penalties can be substantial, reaching up to €20 million or 4% of a company's annual global turnover, whichever is higher. The severity of the fine depends on the specific nature of the violation.
Is consent always required to process personal data?
No. While consent is one legal basis, data can also be processed if it's necessary for a contract, a legal obligation, or based on the legitimate interests of the organization, among other reasons.
Yield management is a dynamic pricing strategy that adjusts prices based on demand to maximize revenue from a fixed, perishable inventory.
Adobe Analytics is a leading web analytics solution for gaining real-time insights into user activity across websites and mobile applications.
Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.
Learn about B2B contact base, including building an effective B2B contact base, & strategies for expanding your contact base.
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) measures the revenue generated by a marketing campaign relative to the cost of that campaign.
Sales funnel metrics are key data points that track how effectively you're moving potential customers from awareness to a final purchase.
Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.
Multi-touch attribution is a marketing analytics method that credits multiple touchpoints on the customer journey for a conversion.
Contact data is the set of details, like names, emails, and phone numbers, used to get in touch with a person or business for outreach.
Fulfillment logistics is the entire process of getting an order to a customer, from storing inventory to picking, packing, and final shipment.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium tool helping sales teams find and engage with the right leads and accounts on the LinkedIn network.
Learn about B2B sales channels, including types of B2B sales channels, strategies for effective channel selection, & integrating technology in B2B sales.
Sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential customers, or prospects, and initiating contact to convert them into paying customers.
Multi-threading allows a single CPU core to run multiple independent threads (or tasks) at the same time, boosting efficiency and performance.
Your email deliverability rate is the percentage of sent emails that successfully land in a recipient's inbox, rather than bouncing or going to spam.
DevOps is a culture and set of practices that merges software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to shorten development cycles.
The 80/20 rule, or Pareto Principle, posits that 80% of results come from just 20% of the effort. It's a key concept for prioritization.
A persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
A sales presentation is a formal pitch by a salesperson to a prospective customer, showcasing a product or service to secure a sale.
Scalability is a company's ability to handle increased workloads or market demands without a drop in performance or a spike in costs.
Think of a trademark as a brand's unique signature—a word, symbol, or phrase that legally protects its identity and sets it apart from the rest.
Channel partners are third-party firms that help market and sell a company's products or services, acting as an indirect sales force.
Sales territory management is the process of grouping accounts into territories and assigning them to reps to maximize sales and market coverage.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on-demand.
An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
A Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is a concise statement that clearly communicates the unique benefit a customer gets from your product or service.
Regression analysis is a statistical method for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.
Edge locations are globally distributed data centers that cache content close to users, reducing latency and delivering web content much faster.
Target Account Selling is a focused sales strategy where teams identify and pursue a specific list of high-value accounts.
A sales process is a structured set of steps that a sales team follows to move a prospect from an initial lead to a closed customer.
Closed Lost is a sales term for a deal that didn't go through. The prospect decided not to buy, or the sales team disqualified them.
A closed question is a type of query that elicits a simple, often one-word answer like 'yes' or 'no,' or a specific, factual response.
Dynamic segments are self-updating lists that group contacts based on real-time data, ensuring your outreach is always timely and relevant.
Customer Success is a business strategy focused on proactively helping customers achieve their goals with your product or service.
A drip campaign is a series of automated messages sent to prospects or customers over time to nurture leads and drive engagement.
A cold email is an initial outreach sent to a potential customer with whom you've had no prior contact, aiming to introduce your business.
Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.
The buying cycle is the journey a customer takes from first realizing they have a need to making the final purchase decision.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) benchmarks are key metrics used to measure the performance and success of your targeted account strategies.
A persona map visually outlines a target customer, detailing their goals, behaviors, and pain points to help your team build genuine empathy.
Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.
Sales Operations KPIs are measurable metrics that track the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales team's operational processes.
ETL, short for Extract, Transform, Load, is a data integration process for moving raw data from various sources to a central data warehouse.
Opportunity management is the process of tracking potential sales from first contact to a closed deal, helping teams prioritize and win more.
A needs assessment is the process of identifying the gap between a company's current state and its desired future state.
Compliance testing ensures a product or system adheres to specific regulations, standards, or policies set by governing bodies or organizations.
Latency is the delay between a user's action and a system's response. It's the time it takes for a data packet to travel to its destination.
The Dark Funnel describes customer buying activities that are untrackable by companies, such as private chats and word-of-mouth referrals.
Channel sales is an indirect sales model where a company leverages third-party partners, such as resellers or affiliates, to sell its products.
Sales acceleration refers to strategies and technologies designed to speed up the sales cycle, enabling reps to close more deals, faster.
Sales velocity is a key metric measuring the speed at which your company makes money. It shows how fast deals move through your sales pipeline.
A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect vetted by marketing and sales, deemed ready for a direct sales pitch after showing intent to buy.
Contact discovery is the process of finding accurate contact details for potential leads, including names, emails, phone numbers, and job titles.
Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired goal, like a purchase or sign-up, out of the total number of visitors.
Video prospecting is the sales technique of sending personalized videos to potential customers to grab their attention and secure more meetings.
Multi-channel marketing uses various platforms—like email, social media, and direct mail—to engage with customers wherever they are.
Unit economics are the direct revenues and costs of a business calculated on a per-unit basis, revealing its fundamental profitability.
Email verification is the process of confirming that an email address is valid and deliverable, which helps improve campaign performance.
Going dark is when a once-responsive prospect suddenly stops all communication, leaving you wondering what went wrong.
Customer retention refers to the strategies and activities a company uses to prevent customer churn and encourage them to continue buying.
Customer journey mapping is the process of creating a visual story of your customers' interactions with your brand across all touchpoints.
Contract management is the process of creating, executing, and analyzing contracts to maximize performance and minimize financial risk.
Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.
Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.
Discount strategies are pricing tactics used to attract customers and boost sales by temporarily reducing the price of products or services.
User testing involves observing real users interact with a product to identify usability issues and improve the overall user experience.
Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its staff members, who share positive messages and content through their personal networks.
Learn about buyer, including identifying your ideal buyer, understanding buyer's journey, & evaluating buyer decision processes.
Revenue intelligence is the process of collecting and analyzing customer data to provide insights that help sales teams make smarter decisions.
A data pipeline is a set of automated processes that move raw data from various sources to a destination for storage and analysis.
An electronic signature is a digital method for getting consent on electronic documents. It's a legally binding way to sign agreements online.
Sales rep training is the process of equipping your sales team with the skills, knowledge, and tools to effectively sell and hit their targets.
Learn about business development representative, including skills and qualifications for BDRs, & roles and responsibilities of a BDR.
The C-suite, or C-level, refers to a company's most senior executives. Their titles usually start with 'Chief,' such as CEO, CFO, or CTO.
Video hosting is a service that allows users to upload, store, and share video content online, making it accessible for playback anywhere.
An inside sales rep sells products or services remotely from an office, using digital tools like phone and email to connect with customers.
A marketing budget breakdown is a detailed plan that allocates your total marketing funds across various channels, campaigns, and activities.
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect who has shown interest based on marketing efforts but isn't yet ready for a sales conversation.
Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.
Email deliverability is the ability for your emails to successfully land in your recipients' inboxes instead of their spam folders.
Learn about buyer intent data, including sourcing and interpreting buyer intent data, & key metrics in buyer intent analysis.
SPIN selling is a sales technique using a sequence of questions—Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff—to uncover a buyer's needs.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another, outlining the chief terms.
Learn about brand equity, including understanding its importance, building strong brand equity, measuring brand equity, & real-world applications.
Chatbots are AI-powered programs that simulate human conversation. They interact with users via text or voice, typically for customer support.
Predictive lead scoring uses AI to analyze data and rank leads by their likelihood to convert, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts.
A competitive advantage is a unique edge that allows a business to produce goods or services better or more cheaply than its rivals.
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is a sales tool for creating accurate, configurable quotes for complex products and services.
Ad-hoc reporting is the creation of one-off reports to answer specific business questions as they arise, providing instant, targeted insights.
Marketo is a marketing automation platform used by B2B marketers to manage lead generation, nurturing, email marketing, and analytics.
Sales enablement technology refers to software and tools that equip sales teams with the resources they need to close more deals efficiently.
Win/Loss Analysis is the process of systematically tracking and analyzing the reasons why you win or lose deals with prospective customers.
Guided selling simplifies complex sales by giving reps step-by-step instructions and data-driven recommendations to close deals faster.
An Operational CRM is a system that automates and improves customer-facing business processes like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Docker is a tool that packages applications and their dependencies into isolated environments called containers for easy deployment and scaling.
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other and exchange information.
Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic, offering insights into user behavior and marketing effectiveness.
Personalization is the practice of using data to tailor products, services, or content to an individual's specific needs and preferences.
Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.