5 Key GDPR & Privacy Findings for B2B Marketers

The deadline for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may be in the rearview, but according to our latest research, there’s still a long road ahead for B2B marketers when it comes awareness and implementation of the regulation.

We partnered with Demand Metric to better understand how B2B marketers’ are approaching GDPR and data privacy, how the use of customer and prospect data will evolve, what challenges exist and identify new areas of investment. Below, we’ve narrowed down five of the most relevant findings from the report:

Finding 1: Awareness and education around the GDPR is still needed.
We surveyed 255 marketers from a wide range of industries, including business/professional services, consulting, education, financial services and healthcare and found that 23% aren’t even aware of the GDPR. Of those who are aware, only 32% of marketers report that their companies are fully GDPR complaint.

Finding 2: There are a lot of hurdles to overcome.
There remains much for marketers to learn and implement after the GDPR deadline. Nearly all marketers surveyed report some level of challenges when it comes to GDPR and privacy.

Finding 3: Obtaining data rights is a concern.
The marketers surveyed are particularly concerned about obtaining rights to use data through consent.

Finding 4: B2B marketers are vary of marketing technology vendors. 
80% of marketers surveyed report concern that their marketing technology vendors may expose their company to legal risks because they are not GDPR complaint.

Finding 5: Companies are changing their approach.
60% of companies surveyed reported that they’re changing their global approach to privacy in light of the GDPR, with Europe and North America as the most affected regions.

Survey Methodology
The Demandbase Privacy and GDPR survey was conducted by Demand Metric among 255 marketers globally from June 13 – June 28, 2018, using an email invitation and an online survey. The majority of respondents are employed at organizations with between 20-10,000 employees and come from a diverse set of industries, including business/professional services, consulting, education, financial services, healthcare, Internet, manufacturing, marketing, non-profit, retail, telecommunications and others.