The Brexit affect on websites and marketing
It pains me to write this as all the extra work we need to consider is a direct result of the political effort on Brexit which has been so deeply flawed from day one. We all hate extra work, especially when it is so unnecessary, but as I always say when it comes to planning my business “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst”
Though do not be too fearful if you have not considered the marketing impact of Brexit on your business, you are in the majority with over 80% marketers saying they have no clear plan in place. And this is largely down to having no idea what the end result will be, Brexit fatigue and there really is not that much to worry about.
For those that are of the more nervous disposition, below is my rather pessimistic and every-so-slightly grumpy list of things you might want to consider.
Main Brexit Marketing Issues
1. We will talk ourselves in to a recession – and I think we already have.
2. Data laws and any changes should not make much of a difference to the vast majority of UK businesses.
3. Some domains TLDs may cause a problem
4. Some online services could get quite a bit more expensive
5. Ecommerce websites that sell abroad will have delivery date headaches
Marketing in a recession
News headlines would have you believe that a recession is Armageddon, but they need to sell newspapers and clicks. The very few casualties there are in a recession are those that were on life support before things turned bad, be it badly run companies or those heavily in debt. And perhaps for them it may feel like Armageddon.
For the rest of us the different in growth during a recession is usually less than 1%, and if the UK were to be thought of as a business then that would not be the best news but largely ‘business as usual’.
So my view is, carry on as normal, though do expect purchase decisions to be a bit more cautious and criticism of poor service more vociferous. Money is tighter in a recession.
Data Storage and the Law
For our clients, who are typically SMEs that do not store vast amounts of data, nor highly sensitive data there really is nothing to worry about.
The main effect will be to have subtly difference data laws applying to the UK versus the EU, though the main GDPR legislation will remain. An example of a subtle data difference is the UK Government has the power to access encrypted data whereas as the EU does not. So criminals and really private people may prefer to store their data in the EU.
Domain Name TLDs
To own a .eu domain you need to be a EU citizen. This rule also applies to some of the country domains.
I have no idea how, or if this will be resolved. It’ll be one of the million Brexit questions the politicians won’t get round to in time.
But as the law stands, UK companies will not be allowed to own and operate one of these domains without having a registered body in that country / region.
Rising Costs
You may already have experienced this, the increasing costs of some internet services and products.
This is simple down to the appalling performance of the pound in the currency markets at the moment. And given that the internet is boundary-less we you may find that the company hosting your service is not as close to you home in Blighty as you thought.
This price increase includes the cost of the many overseas European developers that UK companies employ. And I do not expect the pound to recover any time soon so maybe it is time to review your digital suppliers and find out where they are based.
E-Commerce
Again, for the vast majority of our clients their really is nothing to worry about.
But any businesses that have any of their supplier chain or customers in the EU should be considering how they deal with the potential delays at customs and amend their t&c’s accordingly.