Does your promotional staff know about GDPR? As a matter of fact, do you, either? An acronym for ‘General Data Protection Regulation’, new GDPR legislation is set to come into action on 25 May 2018 and is set to completely rewrite the way businesses can collect and store consumer data.

For those who have delayed implementing GDPR-compliant measures to their sales and marketing strategies, the time is now. For those who have worked hard to futureproof their company to comply with the legislation, congratulations!

While many have become aware of GDPR and are working towards compliance, there is something a lot of marketers and brands have been overlooking. GDPR isn’t just an ‘online thing’; it relates to every single piece of consumer data you collect and store, including your promotional staff working to collect information on the exhibition floor.

Hiring promotional staff who know the intricacies of GDPR

So many companies have focused on reworking their online data collection methods that they’ve overlooked factors such as what to do when their promotional staff collect people’s information.

With the rise of experiential marketing and other factors, brands are fast realising the incredible benefits a strong, long-term trade show lead generation strategy can bring to the growth of their business. From May 2018, hiring promotional staff needs to be as much about your ability to collect information in ethical, transparent ways as it is about communications.

Speaking to publication ConferenceNews at the start of January 2018, David Chalmers, senior marketing director in Europe at Cvent underlined the troubles that the events industry is set to face if they don’t take GDPR seriously.

“There is a huge amount of misinformation being bandied around, and even alleged experts are getting it wrong,” he says. “It’s a hugely complex set of legislation that has been written for the cyber age.”

He’s not wrong, and it’s easy to see why so many people may have focused more on their digital data collection procedures than their promotional staff. So, what’s the solution for exhibitors, not just for a future beyond 2018, but for the here and now?

Finding a promotional staff agency with experience of GDPR

The whole point of GDPR is that people are set to have more control and power over how their personal data is handled than ever before. That relates not just to how it’s collected, but how it’s stored and how it can be specifically used by marketers in the future. Those that don’t comply can be subject to enormous fines and penalties.

Working with a promotional staff agency can help to provide masterclasses and training programs to your existing exhibition team to help them get up to speed on the intricacies of GDPR, how they can approach potential leads, collect their information transparently and ethically, and how it can be stored in safe, secure ways.

A specialist agency is also able to provide promotional staff with experience of GDPR and what the legislation entails to exhibitors, allowing you to staff your booth with an expert team that not only know how to generate leads in a hugely effective manner, but also know how to do it to the letter of the law.

Find out more about the impact GDPR will have on the exhibition space and how to prepare for it by speaking to the Expo Stars team today.