Data privacy generally means the ability of a person to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent personal information about them is shared with or communicated to others. This personal information can be one’s name, location, contact information, or online or real-world behavior. Just as someone may wish to exclude people from a private conversation, many online users want to control or prevent certain types of personal data collection.

Marketing is one such department where Data plays a crucial role, in this newsletter let’s understand how marketing and Data Privacy can go hand-in-hand.

While there are multiple ways to make this happen, it starts with marketers realizing that the days of an abundance of personal data are long over. Having the ability to track every move of your target audience is over and what’s left is diminishing quickly, so it is better to have a plan for moving forward.

The best method for balancing data-driven marketing and privacy protection is to:

• Collect data responsibly.
• Be resourceful with how you reach audiences
• Hire and train for privacy.

  This means that:

  1.   Adopt a better focus on quality content:

  Up until now, the major focus of marketers has really been matching content to specific metrics. This is where switching to a better focus on quality content is truly paramount. Instead of just trying to meet the messaging for a lot of smaller demographics, you need to have ads and creative media that meet the needs of many, all at one time. By doing this, you’ll be able to adapt to a “messaging for many” approach.

  2.   Increase ad and communication frequency:

  Again, the evolution of digital marketing and privacy is going to make it necessary to adapt to different circumstances. Instead of relying on a knockout message that gets to the heart of your target customer right away, it is important to increase ad and communication frequency for a more well-rounded approach. For example, instead of showing one ad multiple times, you might need to switch to several ads with varying angles.

  3.   Embrace integrated brand metrics:

  In order to survive these changes and prepare for what happens in the future, it is important to fine-tune your integrated brand metrics. It means making sure you’re looking at campaign effectiveness at a macro level instead of a micro level.

  4.   Include transparency and compliance in your methodology:

  As we saw after the adoption of the GDPR, it is incredibly important to include transparency and compliance in your methodology of capturing personal data. While this may not always be your call, like with Apple and Facebook ads, there are certain elements on your website that you do have control over. 

  5.   Switch to gated offers:

  Instead of relying on specific individuals to opt into generic data sharing, give them something of value in return. This is a process known as providing a gated offer.

   

  REASONS WHY MARKETERS SHOULD CARE ABOUT DATA

  1.   Trust is a cornerstone of the inbound marketing methodology:

  You build trust in your business in a multitude of ways. This could be exemplifying expertise in your field or providing significant service centered around the customer experience. You also build trust by creating genuine relationships with customers that transcend simply converting a lead — and includes ongoing support that brings your customers enough success that they feel comfortable recommending your service to anybody they know.

  2.   Prospects and customers trust marketers to keep personal data secure:

  By giving you their personal information, they’re putting a massive amount of trust not only in your business but in you as the marketer who maintains those tools. They’re trusting you to keep their personal information safe, not to abuse it (say, by sending them a bunch of spammy emails), and to use it in their best interest to help them meet their goals.

  3.   Proper use of data isn’t enough anymore — you need to keep customer data safe:

  You’ve probably heard conversations about the proper use of customer data, such as emails, centered around the concept “don’t misuse the information.”

  For example: don’t over-email someone, don’t send them offers you don’t have any reason to believe they’d be interested in or don’t contact them without their consent. 

  THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL MARKETING AND PRIVACY

  While digital advertising is changing from what it has been over the last few years, it is important to remember that consumer behavior as a whole has not changed all that much. People still buy things that fulfill a need or engage with brands that they trust. This means it is time to start thinking back to the so-called old days of advertising. Instead of relying on analytics for all of your marketing decisions, it is time to look at your audience and find ways to resonate with them more effectively.