Fast.MAP/DMA Marketing-Gap survey – data protection

Managing and maintaining customer communications is vital for acquisition and retention, yet as awareness of the Data Protection Act grows, growing numbers of consumers are choosing to opt out of some or all contact from companies.

However, marketers often underestimate these opt-in levels – both for their own and third party communications – which can have an adverse effect on the products and services they're trying to promote.

This fast.MAP data looks at the changing picture of consumer opt-in, giving marketers valuable insight in to how to manage this process more effectively.

Key findings include:

• 79% of consumers are aware of and understand the Data Protection Act, while 20% of people are aware of the act but do not understand it.

• 25% of consumers who have an existing relationship with marketers always tick the box to stop further contact compared to 77% of consumers who do not have a relationship with a particular company.This proves how important it is to build up a relationship with consumers.

• 90% of consumers look for opt-out boxes to stop details being passed on to a third party. This has gone up 4% from 2008.

• Marketers overestimated the number of consumers with no relationship with marketing companies who always tick the box to stop further communication by 41%.