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Do You Need a Privacy Policy on Your Website?

Who doesn’t love their privacy? In today’s digital landscape, user data is more important than ever, and protecting your customer’s privacy is a top priority for your business.

Not just for your business, for every business. Every time you have input data (intentionally or unintentionally) into a website or service, you’ve agreed to a privacy policy. It’s meant to protect the company that’s collecting the data and the visitor giving it up.

Keeping your business compliant to national (and international) standards is crucial to keeping you and your customers protected. This means implementing a rock-solid privacy policy (even if it’s ignored by your viewers).

Violations to privacy policy and data collection law can result in hefty fines for your company – all that can be avoided if you put the appropriate effort and resources into your policy.

Here’s a quick brush up from Attorney Aiden Durham to get you on track:

Quick Takeaways:

  • If you’re collecting any kind of information from viewers on your website you need a privacy policy
  • This isn’t an option, it’s a must-have legal requirement to protect you and your customers
  • Privacy law is different by state, so it’s important to make sure your policy is layered and accounts for the outliers

Shift4Shop.com says:

Together with Terms of Service documents, acquiring user consent and Cookie Policy/Cookie Law, it’s a key component of what should be a 360° approach to making your e-commerce website compliant to both national and international regulations.

And they’re right! A tight privacy policy keeps you looking professional and credible with your website visitors.

What IS a privacy policy?

A privacy policy is a legal document provided to any user on a website that data is collected from. If you’re collecting data, you have to tell your visitor what data you’re collecting (demographics), how you’re collecting their data (methods), and why you’re collecting their data.

All three of these are extremely important. Some reasoning for data collection includes customer service, court ordered research, or general research into website improvement. This informative practice also extends to how you’re sharing it with third parties like Google Analytics or your marketing firm.

Another requirement for your privacy policy is letting your visitors know how to opt out of your services. Everyone gets a say in their data being collected, so they need to know how to contact you, the business, to get out of data collection.

Additionally, visitors to your website are allowed to request the data you have on file for them. You’ll need to create and write a protocol for them to be able to reach out and receive this information in a timely manner.

Privacypolicy.com uses Etsy’s privacy policy introductory summary as a good example of what to look for when writing yours:

etsy privacy policy

Let the reader know what to expect from the contents of your policy. Also important – remind them that you care about them and their general security. Etsy leverages their introductory paragraph as means to soften their brand image.

“We believe in transparence, and we’re committed to being upfront about our privacy practices, including how we treat your personal information.”

This ‘we care about you’ sentiment is a great way of building trust with the people who actually take the time to click on and read your privacy policy, reinforcing brand loyalty and authenticity.

Don’t forget, if you’re working with a third-party company or software to analyze the data you’re collecting, they’ll require you to have a policy as well. It’s important to keep this in mind when you’re figuring out what you need on your website.

Who Writes a Privacy Policy?

Now that you understand what sort of content is required for a legitimate privacy policy you might be asking yourself – should I be writing it? Well, the answer is maybe.

You definitely could find a template online, use other privacy policies you think look good as reference, and hunker down to draft this important legal document. Maybe you’re a go-getter or this is the only option you have.

Source: Fast Company

But let’s face it, your business probably isn’t in data collection law. In reality, hiring a lawyer to write your privacy policy is a stronger strategy for your website (if you can afford it).

You don’t want to leave yourself legally unprotected to save a few dollars. Writing these is tricky, especially when accounting for outlier states and countries that have different laws from the normal ones. Hiring a lawyer saves you the headache of potentially paying hefty fines because of a poorly written policy.

Where Should Your Privacy Policy go?

This question has a couple of different answers depending on how you collect your users’ data.

For example, if you only collect data from those who visit your website that create accounts, then the appropriate place to put your privacy policy would be on their account creation screen. By requiring them to check the box, they are stating they’re aware of your practices and their rights.

If you’re harvesting data and demographics from anyone that visits your site, it has to pop up the second they enter your site. Oftentimes you’ll see the phrase “by using our website you are acknowledging our privacy policy”. This is a pretty easy way of protecting your back while collecting data for research.

The real answer is – it depends on how you’re collecting data.

Wrap Up

Yes – you do need a concrete privacy policy on your business’ website if you are collecting your visitors’ data. You need to be upfront, transparent, and professional about how you conduct your business and research.

You definitely don’t have to (and shouldn’t) go in alone when crafting your privacy policy. Hiring experts with proven track records will protect your company and your visitors’ worries about data collection. Now you have the knowhow – get to writing a policy or go fix your current privacy up!

Do you want to use some of the marketing strategies seen here on MIG’s site but need some help or advice? Marketing Insider Group has a team of 35+ experienced writers ready to produce content for YOUR business. Check out our weekly blog content service or schedule a free consultation.

The post Do You Need a Privacy Policy on Your Website? appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

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Research: 5 Insights on Improving the Employee Experience

Research: 5 Insights on Improving the Employee Experience

A top priority for marketing professionals is analyzing and improving the customer experience. We talk to customers, pour over the data, build the necessary technology stack, use customer journey mapping, build feedback loops, and more. 

But what about improving the employee experience? 

Improving the employee experience involves all departments and leaders in an organization. Marketing, HR, finance, operations, sales, customer success, the C-suite, and more are part of the strategic challenge of improving the employee experience. 

In recent months, Ascend2 and our research partners have performed various studies that have revealed helpful data on the state of the employee experience and how to improve that experience. Here are 5 key findings. 

Finding 1: Employee Experience Matters

Time is Ltd and Ascend2 conducted a study to determine the state of the employee experience and its impact on the evolving workforce. In the report, HR leaders overwhelmingly recognize that employee experience and well-being drive productivity, effective collaboration, and more. 

Employee experience matters. Nearly all (94%) of HR leaders surveyed consider employees’ experience at their organization to be important, with over two-thirds reporting that it is extremely important.

And here is an important reason why it matters. Poor employee experience is leading to high turnover. Turnover rates are up, and a majority of HR leaders think that trend will continue. Over 75% of respondents experienced an increase in turnover in the past year, and nearly one-third report a current turnover rate of 16% or higher.

poor employee experience and turnover

Nearly all (94%) of HR leaders surveyed consider employees’ experience at their organization to be important, with over two-thirds reporting that it is extremely important.
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Finding 2: Connection Between Employee Experience and Alignment

An important aspect of improving the employee experience is the alignment of departments. In the research study, The RevOp Difference, by the Pedowitz Group, the alignment of marketing, sales, and customer success departments was analyzed to determine the top benefits of alignment. 

The research highlighted that companies should not overlook the benefit of an improved employee experience when striving to align teams. As companies struggle to find and retain talent, improved employee experience will be critical to keeping the talent needed to meet revenue goals and other key goals. 

top benefits of team alignment

When teams are aligned, it allows organizations to:

  • Achieve organizational unity
  • Effectively use resources
  • Understand and meet goals
  • Be more agile in making adjustments to plans
  • Improve planning
  • Reduce frustration
  • Improve overall efficiency

48% of marketing, sales, and customer success teams that are fully aligned far exceed their revenue goals, significantly more than those that are not fully aligned. When teams are successful, that dramatically improves employee satisfaction and experience – and as a result, revenue and growth is positively impacted.

Finding 3: Employee Experience Starts at the Top

72% of executives feel strongly that their current workplace dynamics (meeting culture, work environment, etc.) are sustainable for the next three to five years… 

BUT only 42% of those in non-executive roles — managers, directors, and VPs — feel the same. 

That’s a significant disparity in perception of what’s sustainable. So how can executives get a clear picture of the true employee experience to better align goals to the needs of their workforce?

  • Accurately gauging meeting efficiency should be a top priority. 46% of HR execs say meeting culture is a top challenge in the workplace, but only 33% say they struggle to measure meeting efficiency. 
  • Taking control of collaboration tools is critical to success. 77% of execs strongly agree that the pandemic has made tools that support effective communication more essential, but 61% also find that managing this technology is a top challenge. 
  • Retention starts with onboarding. 88% of execs report a higher turnover in the last year, but only 41% say that a top objective for improving the employee experience in the year ahead will be improving recruitment and onboarding. 

46% of HR execs say meeting culture is a top challenge in the workplace, but only 33% say they struggle to measure meeting efficiency.
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Finding 4: Insights Into the Employee Experience Will Be Critical to Success

With more remote work, the influx of technology that keeps us connected all the time, and a culture that has accepted instant gratification as the norm, it is no surprise that 37% of HR executives saw a significant decline in employee productivity during the pandemic.

If team leaders were given the means to discover the nature and scope of this problem, would this help improve productivity? A whopping 93% of survey respondents say “yes.”

93% of HR leaders agree that providing data-backed insights on collaboration and communication would help managers improve productivity.

benefits of team alignment

Which areas are most difficult to measure when it comes to the employee experience?

  • Employee satisfaction: 45%
  • Employee productivity: 41%
  • Meeting efficiency: 38%
  • Employee engagement: 37%

Finding 5: Red Flags Regarding the Future 

HR leaders recognize that employee experience and well-being drive productivity, collaboration, and more. However, the majority still fall back on antiquated HR objectives like improving employee satisfaction and company culture. 

There are major red flags in HR leaders’ responses when asked how they will improve employee experience in the coming year.

  • Red Flag #1: With turnover rates expected to rise, it may be a red flag that only 32% of HR leaders are focused on recruitment and onboarding processes as a top objective for improving employee experience in the year ahead.
  • Red Flag #2: Less than one-quarter (24%) of those surveyed report improving employee engagement is a top priority for improving the employee experience in the year ahead.
  • Reg Flag #3: Improving employee satisfaction is the top objective for improving employee experience. But, employees expect more concrete solutions and are resigning at a much higher rate.

Conclusion

Improving employee experience is a collaborative effort, filled with challenges. But the benefits to your organization when you make a difference are felt throughout the organization. Your marketing improves. Revenue grows. Frustration is minimized. Turnover decreases. The benefits are many and long-lasting. Take time now to prioritize improving your employee experience in the year ahead – you will not be disappointed in the results.

The post Research: 5 Insights on Improving the Employee Experience appeared first on Convince & Convert.

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