Increased concerns over privacy have presented a unique opportunity for growth.
Businesses investing in privacy forward policies are seeing a boost to their bottom line. And it’s not just the brand-new privacy industry cashing in. Big tech companies known for burying information about their data usage practices have pivoted toward privacy-focused messaging. Apple made headlines when it updated their app store’s privacy policy, but it also positioned itself to see an increase in sales.
Why? Because privacy is a big business and only stands to get bigger. The increase of concerns over privacy paired with a heightened awareness of data usage has left consumers scrambling for solutions to solve their privacy management issues. Businesses are feeling the pressure too as they face constantly expanding compliance regulations.
The shift in how consumers and businesses interact with data and manage privacy is creating a vacuum, and organizations that adopt strong privacy-forward policies are positioned to gain the most.
Privacy Actually Brings Profit
For every $1 spent on privacy, the average organization receives $2.70 in associated benefits.
In a recent survey performed by Cisco, over 70% of organizations say they received significant gains from investing in privacy. These reported gains were felt on every level of their business, including the all-important bottom line.
Avoiding hefty fines and penalties with compliance regulation is a key factor in generating a stable ROI. The costs incurred during a privacy breach can be detrimental. In data loss events, data recovery costs are just the beginning. Workforce downtime or a decrease in consumer confidence can result in debilitating losses. Investing in privacy upfront is a prudent practice that helps businesses save in the long and short term.
Privacy invested companies of all sizes reported noticeable returns across all areas of their business. Greater customer growth and retention, a one up on competitors and increased productivity can all be achieved by putting privacy front and center.
The greatest benefit of a privacy forward approach is less frequent privacy breaches, a benefit that directly affects customers.
Privacy Policies Strengthen Customer Retention
74% of privacy invested companies see increased customer loyalty and trust.
Studies have proven customers are more loyal to companies that have increased security controls. But many consumers have lost trust in companies’ ability to rightfully handle their data. Privacy first policies reshape this. By putting accountability and increased security at the center of their privacy, businesses are able to regain and reinforce customer loyalty and retention.
During a data breach, consumers are most likely to blame and lose trust in the company. One in four of those customers will abandon the company altogether. Companies favoring privacy through accountability can see a difference in customer rebound after such an event.
Accountability makes all the difference for consumers. As a central theme in many privacy laws today, consumers have come to rely on it. Businesses that can prove their compliance and application of privacy and data requirements fare better amongst consumers. Customers want to know about their data and are much more willing to do business with companies they can trust to champion privacy.
Investing In Privacy Differentiates You From Competitors
42% of organizations investing in privacy gained a competitive edge.
Privacy forward businesses are also in a position to outperform their competitors. It can’t be stressed enough how important privacy has become to consumers. A business able to prove their accountability, dedication to privacy practices and compliance won’t just retain existing customers, it’ll generate new ones too. This holds true for both B2C and B2B.
Major privacy breaches can affect more than the companies involved. Significant breaches cause consumers to reconsider their support of all businesses, not just the affected ones. Instituting a privacy forward approach can stop consumer second guessing in its tracks. And even better, provide solutions for consumers disenfranchised by breaches. In this way, organizing your business as a privacy committed solution gives you a competitive edge. The same is true for business clients. Other than its staff, data is the most important asset a business has. Organizations bolstering privacy policies that protect enterprise data will always be considered over those who don’t.
Investing In Privacy Increases Productivity & Efficiency
72% of privacy invested and focused organizations experience increased operational efficiency.
In addition to increased financial returns, organizations reported a rise in operational efficiency, shorter sales delays and improved business agility. Roughly translated, privacy doesn’t just affect the way consumers behave, it affects employee behavior as well. Implementing policy changes that reinforce the importance of privacy to both consumers and staff yields a twofold return: consumer confidence and retention is increased as well as employee confidence and productivity.
Being privacy-first doesn’t start and stop at data management. It’s a principle that affects every department. Reinforcing privacy mindedness at the team level is the first step toward bringing a privacy focus to your company as a whole. A privacy forward strategy also includes employing software across all work functions that respects and promotes privacy amongst the workforce. Privacy doesn’t just empower your customers; it empowers your staff too.
Learn How to Set Up Teramind with Privacy in Mind
Conclusion
Businesses that have embraced a privacy-first policy have seen benefits across the board. The importance of privacy and privacy-promoting business practices are essential to the growth of an organization. As consumers become increasingly aware of their privacy and data safety, companies have the opportunity to adopt policies that are beneficial to their customers and their bottom line. And they would be smart to do so. A business in any industry can make huge strides by fortifying their privacy practices from a sizable ROI to increased productivity and everything in between.
Optimize Your Business With Teramind
Optimizing your business starts by making data-driven decisions. Get timely and quick access to key data such as app and online activity, task and project engagement, work time analysis and more. Teramind is an enterprise grade employee monitoring solution with integrated business intelligence features that shows you the information that’s most relevant for your organization.
But don’t just take our word for it…
