When talking about marketing, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind. After all, it’s a tool for online security and privacy, and marketing is public-facing.
However, there is one overlap between marketing and cybersecurity, which – if you think about it – makes a lot of sense. It’s data. Lots of it. Marketers need it for their work, and it’s also something that must be protected and secured.
In this article, we’ll discuss how VPNs can enhance your marketing strategy and ensure that your marketing team’s daily operations are compliant with important data regulations.
VPNs as a Marketing Tool
There are three ways VPNs can be used in marketing: region targeting, competitor analysis, and enhancing brand trust.
Targeting specific regions
Marketers can browse the web as if they are located in a specific country or region while using a VPN. This can be useful when you want to see if your targeted ads are working correctly. Marketing specialists can also explore localized search engine results, which are known to be very useful for market research.
For example, suppose you’re observing search results, social media ads, and popular e-commerce platforms that Australians frequently use. You notice that specific styles, such as beachwear and athletic wear, dominate the ads, indicating what appeals to that specific market.
In addition to that, you find that customers in Australia are drawn to environmentally conscious brands, prompting you to highlight sustainability initiatives in your campaign. You’ve figured out all of this in just a few clicks, whereas without a VPN, you’d have to go through a lot more hoops to access valuable information like this.
Gathering information about the competition
One of the most important parts of marketing is analyzing the competition. Let’s assume you are running a marketing campaign for a handmade jewelry business, and your target market is Europe. Connect to a Paris server, for example, and start researching how your competitors are positioning themselves there.
With a VPN enabled, you can view your competitors’ pricing, promotions, and localized ads based on a specific audience segment without revealing your IP address. This is important because some competitors block access to their websites or other platforms based on location.
Importantly, doing competitor research with the help of a VPN will allow you to gather actionable insights and improve your marketing approach while staying within the rules for a competitive advantage.
Building user trust
Handling sensitive client data is an important aspect of marketing. So naturally, marketing teams are expected to ensure that no data is easily accessible by unauthorized individuals and to implement strong security measures.
When businesses use security tools like VPNs to keep customer data safe, it shows that they are responsible and trustworthy and lets customers know that their privacy is important to them.
Role of VPNs in Data Security and Privacy Compliance
Indeed, securing client data and adhering to privacy regulations is paramount. With VPNs, marketing teams can smooth these processes.
Secure data collection
VPNs are critical for helping collect sensitive data by encrypting internet connections. They encapsulate data, including customer feedback, survey results, and website usage patterns, encoding it so it can’t be intercepted during transmission.
This way, VPNs protect the information marketers gather from potential data breaches and ensure the security of marketing tools and data repositories against cyberattacks targeting online vulnerabilities.
Assistance on compliance with GDPR and CCPA
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are critical regulations that businesses must comply with to operate in the digital environment.
While a VPN alone does not ensure full GDPR or CCPA compliance, it can help marketing teams with data encryption and secure access, contributing to the broader goal of protecting personal data under GDPR and CCPA.
Choosing the Right VPN for Your Marketing Team
Selecting the right VPN is crucial for marketers to maximize efficiency, maintain security, and achieve their goals. Here’s what to consider when making this decision:
Key VPN features
When choosing a VPN for a marketing team, prioritize speed to easily handle tasks like browsing competitor websites or testing location-specific ads. Look for extensive server coverage to access geo-specific content in multiple regions.
Security features such as unbreakable encryption and a zero-logs policy are also essential features you should be looking for. Additionally, an easy-to-use interface makes the VPN integrate better into your teams’ daily workflow.
Lastly, search for additional features like split tunneling. For marketing teams, split tunneling in VPNs can be useful since it lets route certain types of internet traffic through the VPN while leaving other traffic unaltered.
All of these requirements aim to blend function and security for any marketing department.
Budget and scalability
In most cases, cost-effectiveness is a crucial factor that marketing teams must take into account. So, consider VPN providers with affordable plans that still offer robust features like encryption and multiple server options. Scalability is a key factor, so for larger or growing teams, investing in a VPN that’s flexible would be preferred.
In particular, opt for providers that support multiple users, devices, and customizable plans to meet expanding needs. Balancing your budget with the ability to scale ensures that your VPN investment grows without trouble alongside your marketing efforts.
Trusted providers
Choose VPN providers with a good reputation in terms of security and reliability. Search whether the VPN in question has been audited by authoritative auditing firms and consider their audit results to assess the provider’s trustworthiness.
Besides that, check user reviews, case studies, or recommendations from industry experts and use them to determine the VPN’s real-world performance. You can also look at comparisons like Norton VPN vs NordVPN to see how one provider excels over another, and so on.
Embrace VPNs Within Your Marketing Team
VPNs are primarily privacy tools, and that’s a fact. Yet, they are also invaluable assets for marketers. From providing a direct marketing advantage to subtle trust-building, the potential is no short of astonishing. If you’re still skeptical, we encourage you to try it out yourself and see the difference a VPN can make to your marketing efforts.
