Data is the real king in today’s modern digital marketing world. Businesses use a lot of data and information to run targeted marketing campaigns and track success by using customer email lists and social media analytics like Google Analytics.
However, these data are not easy to protect. A lot of cyber criminals and hackers get behind to track this data. Also, these data breaches can damage a brand’s reputation too.
So to avoid this, one needs to invest in a reputed, reliable VPN. So in this blog, we will look at how VPNs can protect your marketing strategies.
Contents
Understanding VPNs
Before we get to different ways VPNs help in marketing, let us first look at the types of VPNs that are used in businesses.
I. Types of VPNs
Basically, there are two kinds of VPNs that are used in businesses.
A. Remote Access VPNs
These are the most common types of VPNs. They allow you to safely connect to a company network while staying from remote locations like their home office or while traveling.
If you are one of those marketers who want to access marketing tools or campaign data remotely, then this type of VPN could surely benefit you.
B. Site-to-site VPNs
These kinds of VPNs usually build a secure connection between two different networks. They are often used to connect distant offices or geographically spread offices.
Even though these are not that important for individual marketing campaigns, they can be a lot useful for businesses with multiple, distributed marketing teams.
II. Top Benefits of Using VPNs for Businesses
VPNs offer various benefits when we talk about businesses in particular. Let us look at some of the top benefits of using VPNs for businesses.
1. Improved Security
Security is one of the important aspects of any business. The marketing strategy of each business varies depending on what they want to achieve as a team. This is where VPN plays an important role. It is noted by Patrick from Firesticktricks.com that VPNs have the special ability to protect all kinds of internet traffic.
Similarly, they also protect confidential business data from hackers and unauthorized access via public Wi-Fi networks.
2. A More Secure Remote Access
Employees can safely connect to company resources from wherever they want using an internet connection. This improves teamwork and overall productivity.
How to Secure Marketing Efforts With VPNs
Even though Privacy might not be that important for a business, security is always key for any business model. And because VPN is known for its security, businesses rely a lot on it. Let us look at different ways to protect your marketing efforts by making use of a VPN.
1. Protecting Sensitive Data During Market Research
When we talk about marketing research, we also talk about collecting data with regard to top competitors, customer feedback, and industry trends. But this might well work out for you when you are new to the market. Have you ever thought about what would happen when you are one of those top competitors?
The newbies in the market would then start mimicking your marketing strategies. So the best way to hide your marketing strategies is by using a VPN. A VPN makes it difficult for third parties to track your online activity as well as your marketing strategies
2. Keeping Communication Secure Between Team Members and Clients
Marketing Campaigns are usually about internal teams and external clients working together as a single unit. So, there would be situations where you need to share some sensitive information related to your marketing campaign with your clients or with your team members.
This is where VPN helps you in sharing sensitive information like campaign details, client data, etc. A VPN basically secures whatever communication that happens between two different devices or two different parties.
3. Guarding Campaign Data and Marketing Strategies From Cyber Threats
The role of a marketer is to develop valuable assets like campaign strategies, creative content, and info about customers. So if you are one of those marketers, then start using a VPN. A VPN keeps your data safe by protecting it both at rest and in transit.
As a result, any of the cybercriminals won’t be able to access or exploit your assets.
Considerations for Compliance
Even though VPNs offer major advantages and security benefits, there are certain important data privacy regulations that might restrict VPN usage in marketing campaigns. Let us find them out.
1. General Data Protection Regulation Compliance
This is a law related to privacy and data protection that is applicable only in the European Union and the European Economic Area. VPNs make it easier for marketers to stay compliant by hiding user data for EU marketers.
But, you need to remember that General Data Protection Regulation compliance isn’t all about VPNs. Businesses need to have a solid data security strategy and get the users’ permission before collecting and using their data.
2. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Considerations
This law protects sensitive information related to a patient’s health in the United States. So, if you are one of those marketers from the healthcare industry, please make sure to consult a lawyer and take his/her advice. This way you will know whether your VPN usage complies with HIPAA regulations or not.
There are other instances as well where you might need more security measures than just a VPN, like access controls and data encryption at rest.
3. Other Industry-Specific Regulations
Various other data privacy regulations are in place like the California Consumer Privacy Act. Hence, businesses need to understand the regulations that apply to them and their target audience.
And even though VPN does a great job in terms of data security strategy, it shouldn’t be the only solution.
Best Practices for Using VPNs in Marketing
We all know that VPN is the best security tool for marketing teams. But to maximize the effectiveness of it, you need to know how to use them effectively in your business. So here are some best practices that you can consider and start following:
1. Setting up VPNs Across Marketing Teams
The first thing that you need to make sure is everyone in your marketing team has VPN access. This includes your remote workers and the ones who often use public Wi-Fi.
So what this does is it creates a uniform secure environment across the team and ensures sensitive data is protected.
2. Educating Employees on VPN Usage and Compliance Measures
Giving VPN access to your team won’t just be enough. You also need to train your employees on how to use the VPN software in the best way possible. It could be connecting to safe servers, creating strong passwords, or handling sensitive information when they are connected to a VPN.
Also, you need to educate them on relevant data privacy regulations and how a VPN can help them stay compliant.
3. Regularly Updating VPN Software and Security Protocols
VPN providers keep releasing regular updates to fix security issues and improve performance. So, make sure your organization has the right system in place to keep VPN software updated on all marketing devices.
This way you can protect yourself and your team from potential cyber threats and ensure the strongest possible encryption.
The Conclusion
In this data driven marketing world, keeping your data safe is very important. So with VPNs, you get this high level of security via encryption and IP masking. Additionally, it keeps sensitive data safe and makes sure data privacy laws are followed.
Hence, make sure to use a VPN in your marketing efforts and secure your strategies by staying compliant at the very same time.