Two-thirds ( 66%) of marketers surveyed in the research said they are now less able to personalise marketing to individuals and have switched to segmentation. Eight out of 10 ( 78%) agreed that being able to segment or understand their existing customer database is now more important following GDPR coming into effect in May.

The survey of 100 UK marketing decision-makers also found that 63% are now using widely accessible data such as firmographics, demographics or geodemographics as their primary segmentation dimension. Additionally, 62% said they felt confident they can segment their consumer database more effectively.

Almost half ( 46%) of marketers surveyed said they are increasing their focus on digital advertising post-GDPR, with the same proportion increasing their focus on direct mail, while others are increasing their focus on content marketing ( 53%), paid social ( 51%) and online PR ( 50%) respectively.

Ryan Kemp, business development director at TransUnion said: “The GDPR has restricted marketers’ abilities to micro-target customers and that’s why we’ve seen a huge rise in the use of widely accessible data that doesn’t infringe on a person’s privacy, but can give a better understanding who you’re marketing to. There’s also a clear indication that as a result of the GDPR there has been a rebalancing between both push and pull tactics, as well as online and offline marketing.”