{"id":753,"date":"2023-05-18T14:36:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T12:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loopify.com\/blog\/?p=753"},"modified":"2023-05-19T13:20:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T11:20:42","slug":"referral-marketing-and-gdpr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loopify.com\/blog\/referral-marketing-and-gdpr\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Win with Refer-A-Friend Campaigns That Are GDPR-Friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Friends<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)<\/a> is nothing new, nor is referral marketing. So how do these two pair up together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GDPR has been going strong for five years since it was enforced in 2018. If you deal with customers in Europe, you already know how GDPR works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it’s important to note that GDPR also impacts your referral marketing endeavors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No need to panic. You can still use referral marketing and be compliant with privacy laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does GDPR Impact Referral Marketing Programs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People advocate for brands they love and trust the judgment of people they know, like friends, family, partners, and colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.<\/em><\/p>Mark Zuckerberg<\/a><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Getting customers to refer your products and services to people they know is a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referral programs in the pre-GDPR era<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Remember when your inbox was full of emails from strangers and companies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referral marketing before the EU privacy laws was an invasion of private and personal data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers could add a list of their friends’ emails, and businesses could target and send communication to them and treat them as leads. This was a typical, non-compliant, refer-a-friend program that companies used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referral programs in the post-GDPR era<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the privacy laws came into place, businesses can no longer ask customers to share their friends’ emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the person who owns the email address hasn’t given explicit consent to use their email address. Every person has the right to know who processes their data and how they do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a way to follow privacy laws and have a great refer-a-friend campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how you can make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referral Marketing and GDPR-Compliance: Referring a Friend with Their Consent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To make referral marketing campaigns GDPR compliant, you shouldn’t store data about anyone your customers refer. Not until they sign up for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s work through an example of a GDPR-friendly referral campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Ask customers to invite friends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Suppose you run a tennis club and want to launch a referral campaign. Your goal is to get new leads that could eventually become prospective club members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One effective strategy to raise awareness about your club is to launch an Invite a Friend<\/em> campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to ask your current regular tennis club members to invite their friends or family to one free tennis session on one of your courts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, you create an email campaign<\/a> that you would send to your members telling them about your Invite a friend<\/em> referral program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Email<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n