The Importance of Compliance: Understanding Switzerland’s New Data Protection Law

by Buzzfactory Agency | Aug 4, 2023 | Enterprises, News, SMEs

Switzerland has recently enacted the Novel Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) to safeguard its citizens’ data. Approved by Parliament in the autumn of 2020, the nFADP will become enforceable on September 1, 2023. This fresh legislation represents an essential update to the 1992 Federal Data Protection Act, tailored to shield Swiss citizens’ data in the technologically advanced era of social media and digital advancements. The nFADP harmonizes Swiss data protection law with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in an effort to maintain data flow with the European Union (EU) and bolstering the competitive edge of Swiss companies.

The nFADP introduces various changes for businesses, including the mandatory registration of processing activities and the implementation of the “Privacy by Design” and “Privacy by Default” principles, assuring additional security for personal data. Moreover, in case of a data breach, companies are required to promptly notify the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). Additionally, the nFADP encompasses the concept of profiling and defines genetic and biometric information as sensitive data.

Compliance with this new legislation is important for Swiss companies, as it prevents reputational harm and potential fines. The nFADP empowers Swiss citizens with new rights to safeguard their data, necessitating companies to adhere to a series of steps to align with the new act.

The Path to Compliance with the new DPA

The nFADP presents a significant challenge to Swiss companies, particularly those that process large amounts of personal data. Here are some of the areas that companies need to take a closer look on:

Monitoring: evaluation of the current data protection standards. It is important to take stock of the collected, processed, stored and shared data. It is advised to estimate the data protection risks as well.
Appointing a Data protection advisor: The advisor is responsible for ensuring that the company processes personal data in accordance with the nFADP, advises the company on its data protection obligations and cooperates with the FDPIC.
Keeping records of all processing activities: Companies must keep a record of all processing activities. This includes data on the type of data processed and the purpose of the processing, among others. Companies must also document the technical and organizational measures they have taken to protect personal data.
Educating team members about the new law: Companies must ensure that their employees understand the new law and their obligations under it. This includes educating employees about the principles of “Privacy by Design” and “Privacy by Default,” as well as providing training on data protection issues.
Conducting a risk assessment: Companies should conduct a risk assessment to identify and evaluate the risks associated with the processing of personal data. This assessment should identify the likelihood and severity of harm that could result from a data security breach, and identify the measures that can be taken to mitigate these risks.
Implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures: Companies must implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data. This includes measures such as data encryption, access controls, and regular data backups.
Reviewing contracts with service providers: Companies that use third-party service providers to process personal data must ensure that these service providers comply with the nFADP.

This list is not exhaustive and does not cover all cases, but it should help to navigate through the new legislation. If you require help with reaching nFADP compliance, you can contact Buzzfactory for a free consultation.

Book a meeting with our expert now !

The importance of complying with the nFADP

Complying with the nFADP is essential for Swiss companies, as non-compliance can lead to significant fines. The FDPIC has the power to impose fines of up to CHF 250,000 for serious violations of the new law, and up to CHF 50,000 for minor violations. In addition to financial penalties, companies that violate the nFADP risk damage to their reputation, which can have long-term consequences for their business.

Furthermore, compliance with the nFADP is important for maintaining the trust of customers and stakeholders. By demonstrating that they take data protection seriously, companies can build trust with customers and differentiate themselves from competitors who may not be taking the same level of care with personal data.

The new Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) is an important legislative change that brings Switzerland’s data protection laws in line with the technological and social developments of our time.

How GDPR has influenced Data protection law internationally

While the new Data Protection Act in Switzerland does not provide the same level of protection as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), both regulations are very similar. Except for companies that exclusively serve the Swiss domestic market, we can say that Swiss companies serving international markets should, in most cases, already be compliant with the nFADP (new Federal Act on Data Protection). This new act can be seen as an alignment with the European regulation, which has been a game changer in the world of data protection since its implementation in 2018. It was designed to give European citizens greater control over their personal data and to bring uniformity to data protection laws across the EU.

One of the advantages of the GDPR for companies is that it has created a level playing field for all businesses operating within the EU. Companies now have clear guidelines on how they should handle personal data, and the regulations ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules. This has helped to create trust and confidence in the digital economy and has improved the confidence of consumers in the companies that handle their data.

Another advantage of the GDPR is that it has forced companies to take data protection seriously. Many companies were previously neglecting their data protection responsibilities, but the reinforced control and reputational damage risks has pushed them to make changes to their policies and practices. This has resulted in improved data protection for individuals and has helped to create a culture of data privacy across Europe.

At a global level, the GDPR is unique in its scope and ambition. It is regarded as one of the most comprehensive data protection law in the world, and its principles are being adopted by countries outside of Europe. For example, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act, and other countries have followed similar models as well since.

The GDPR has also paved the way for greater international cooperation on data protection issues. The regulation includes provisions for data protection authorities to work together across borders, which has helped to ensure that companies are held accountable for their actions regardless of where they are based.

Overall, the GDPR has been a positive development for data protection, both for individuals and for businesses. It has created an environment where data protection is taken seriously, and has helped to improve international cooperation on data protection issues.

In conclusion, the new Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) is an important legislative change that brings Switzerland’s data protection laws in line with the digital privacy challenges of our time. Its implementation follows the application of GDPR at a European level as necessity to level with this standard. The nFADP presents a significant challenge to Swiss companies, particularly those that process large amounts of personal data. However, by taking proactive steps to comply with the nFADP, companies can protect themselves from fines and reputational damage, build trust with customers, and differentiate themselves from competitors.

If you need assistance with implementing or assessing your current data privacy practices, feel free to reach out to our specialists.

Book a meeting with our expert now !

Goodbye Universal Analytics, Hello Google Analytics 4: The Future of Analytics

by Buzzfactory Agency | May 5, 2023 | News, Search Engine Optimization, SMEs

You might have heard that Google Analytics Universal, the trusty tool that we’ve been using for over a decade, is finally sunsetting, the official date given by Google is July 1, 2023. It’s a bittersweet moment, but don’t fret! Google Analytics 4 is here to save the day.

First, let’s take a moment to appreciate Universal Analytics. It was the go-to analytics tool for website owners and marketers, allowing us to track website visitors’ behavior, including pageviews, clicks, and time on site. It helped us measure the success of our websites and marketing campaigns, but it’s time to move on.

Google Analytics 4 is a new approach to analytics that focuses on the user journey across multiple devices and platforms. It’s like a superhero that can track user behavior and provide more comprehensive and accurate data than Universal Analytics. It uses machine learning to analyze data and provide insights to marketers.

So, why is Google Analytics 4 so important? For starters, it offers improved cross-device tracking, better data accuracy, enhanced privacy, and actionable insights. It uses machine learning to track user behavior across multiple devices and platforms, which is crucial in today’s digital landscape. And, with the cookieless era upon us, Google Analytics 4 is designed to meet the privacy challenges of the future.

But, let’s face it, migrating to Google Analytics 4 it’s not a walk in the park and can represent a technical challenge. It requires careful planning and execution to ensure that all data from Universal Analytics is transferred without any loss or corruption. And, it needs to be integrated with existing systems (website, CRM and others), which can be time-consuming and complicated.

That’s where we come in. As a marketing agency, we’re dedicated to providing our clients with the most advanced analytics tools and helping them achieve their business goals. We offer a comprehensive Google Analytics 4 migration service to help businesses transition smoothly to the new platform.

Our team of experts has extensive experience in Google Analytics and digital marketing. We have the expertise to help you migrate to Google Analytics 4 seamlessly. We work closely with our clients to understand their business goals and help them leverage Google Analytics 4 to achieve their objectives.

We understand that every business is unique, and that’s why we offer a customized migration plan tailored to your specific needs. We ensure that your data remains intact during the migration process, and the integration with your website and other systems is seamless. Plus, we provide comprehensive training to your team on how to use Google Analytics 4 effectively, ensuring that your team has the knowledge and skills to make data-driven decisions and optimize your website and marketing campaigns.

In conclusion, the sunset of Google Analytics Universal marks the end of an era. But, it’s a necessary step for Google to meet the challenges of the cookieless era and provide better analytics to marketers. Google Analytics 4 is the future of analytics, and it provides more comprehensive and accurate data than Universal Analytics. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level and make the transition to Google Analytics 4, contact us today to learn more about our Google Analytics 4 migration service. We’ll help you navigate the migration process and unleash the full potential of this superhero of analytics!

Book a meeting with our expert now !

Maximizing for Social Media: How to Repurpose Your Content for Multiple Platforms

by Buzz Factory Agency | Feb 23, 2021 | Nonprofits, SMEs, Social Media

Creating content is a difficult task, but one of the most rewarding in terms of visibility and conversion. It requires a lot of time and effort. Content creation is an art that requires skills and expertise that may seem hard to acquire for professionals that are not digital writers. However, content should be the core of your strategy and must be used intelligently.

Creating quality content requires strong research, writing, designing, editing/proofreading, and time management, which may not be your forte. You need to be well aware of where you want your content to sit on your website.

While creating fresh content is one thing, repurposing it for multiple platforms is a different ballgame. A great content strategy always incorporates content repurposing.

It should address how the content could be tailored for selected social media platforms.

Which content format or what type of content works best on a platform? Which style should you follow and maintain on another?

This blog is all about repurposing your content for multiple platforms. We are sure it will address some of the major concerns you might have and provide you with a solution.

So, let’s get started!

How to Repurpose Your Content

In the conference on Global Marketing Day, we discovered various examples on how we could repurpose content on multiple platforms. Before anything, you need to be familiar with your audience and their expectations.

For better awareness about the audience’s expectations on each social media platform, it is necessary to go through different analyses and be aware of what customers need. Let’s share an example:

In the conference, Cristy Garrat, Head of Digital Video & Social Media at CNBC International, presented a fine example. She showed how we could repurpose content to various social media channels.

Some time back, CNBC ran a TV series called The Brave Ones. It was an international series with 40-minute episodes, and it earned quite a success as well. Obviously, they wanted to repurpose the content of that series. For CNBC, there were two challenges:

How could they repurpose that content?
How could they move that content into modern-day’s digital era?

Buzz Factory digital marketing social media smartphone people timelapse street

Here’s what CNBC did and what you should learn

Step #1 Always check if the content is worth repurposing

First, they started by uploading small cuts of the series on YouTube. They made sure that the videos remained short so that the audience didn’t get bored and stayed connected with them. The focus was on measuring engagement.

Step #2: Create a marketing campaign

After seeing that the content enhanced and got a lot more attention on the web, they decided to go with the advertising. They began creating appealing images, with some texts, brought directly from the TV series. They also started to write articles and put them on their website. In the articles, there were some smaller snippets.

Step #3: Repurpose the content differently according to the platforms

Next, the point was to adapt the content on different platforms.

Repurposing content for Facebook and Twitter

People using Facebook and Twitter don’t necessarily have earphones. That means the audio is not always available. It was an objective to find an alternative, repurposing content.

So, they came up with the idea of adding subtitles to images that were presented on the TV show. To garner more engagement, they used animated subtitles. With a typewriting tool and CSS animation, sometimes the script was in bold, and so on.

Repurposing content for Instagram

Regarding the Instagram account, the decision to do a real take over for season 2 was made. They made nice visuals and presentations, with infographics and descriptive content.

One other way Instagram helps content creators and brands publish their content and generate fame is via interesting quizzes, posts, stories (we’ll discuss these), and questions. Once a page is public or open for others to follow, all these features can be utilized by the people to take part in the campaigns. They might sound very simple but are extremely efficient.

What happens in turn of answering questions or taking part? Reward your user’s actions with something that improves their trust in your brand. For CNBC, it was them talking about actors giving a shoutout, causing a huge boost in engagement and brand love.

IGTV videos

IGTV videos allow you to create long video-form content, and that’s what the brand utilized for their show. This kind of action creates a significant increase in the engagement rate.

They further decided to modify the content in a visual way and adapted it into IGTV videos that were more fun.

That’s the key purpose of content – to quickly grab attention and pass this lead off to somewhere, which compels the user to take action in favor of the brand

Key Considerations to Content Repurposing

Device Orientation

Using good infographics is key to getting your point across your followers. Some social media platforms are more susceptible to this form of advertising, while others aren’t.

Majority of the users have mobile devices. The point being, the content has to be repurposed in terms of the usage or orientation of the device as well. For mobile, the usage of infographics is extremely useful.

Platform’s Strengths and Limitations

Next, considering Twitter’s limitation on the number of words, there’s also the need to present content in a short form. That requires you to understand two things:

The purpose of the message you’re going to send
An understanding of the audience it’s posted for

This will help grasp quick attention and open pathways to lead to other platforms for a more thorough look at the advertisement.

Present Your Content Differently

When you’ll be leading your branding campaigns on several platforms, the same content can’t be repeated as is.

Let’s say the brand starts off generating leads from Twitter. It will be important to know where these leads go to. Facebook and Instagram are two other, picture-intensive social media platforms that will require more attention. Here, the content can be a subtitled-video (like we discussed before) or long-posts with quick attention-grabbing sentences. That’s on the level of the copy!

Utilizing Time-specific Content

The last decade has been very intensive in terms of ‘stories’. These are pictures, which have a special meaning. They are short and timed, so they can be seen for a limited time. That’s one other medium where a brand might be required to put up content.

However, most social platforms allow users to re-use the content which was shared in the past, but is not active. This feature lets you leverage the old content, and prevents you from recreating the same content again and again.

Conclusion

This was an explanatory example of how a brand can repurpose the content across different platforms. We’ve seen that it is possible to transform some text into a video just by enhancing it into subtitles. It’s possible to go from video visuals to just simple images.

It can also help with repurposing content by getting inspired by a text and illustrating the text through an image. Generating content, adding attention-grabbers, and call-to-actions on relevant platforms based on their audience is the way to excellence.

Though this is hard, it’s definitely doable with research and actual experience of how the audience reacts (which you can get by means of feedback and polls).

If you need assistance in repurposing your content for multiple social media networks or even creating fresh content on your social media accounts, you can talk to Buzz Factory. We have experienced social media marketers, familiar with all content formats. We can help you optimize your content for any platform, be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or more.