Editorial
The Gist
- Privacy focus. Marketers must adapt strategies to prioritize consumer privacy and consent.
- First-party data. Shifting from third-party to first-party data enhances trust and engagement.
- Compliance necessity. Understanding and adhering to data regulations prevents legal issues.
Data privacy is on everyone’s lips as we reach the midpoint of 2024. All eyes are on the new regulations that enhance the protection of consumer data, the monumental fines in place for data breaches and Google’s plans with third-party cookies.
Although everyone is telling marketers that data privacy needs to be their focus, it can be difficult for them to know where to start. The main thing to keep in mind is that this shift isn’t coming from marketers or the big tech companies — it’s coming from consumers, so we need to adapt our strategies with them in mind.
Regain Consumer Consent
We need to understand what consumers mean when they talk about their data privacy. They’re still on board with personalization — they just want us to be a bit more mindful of their desire to know why and how their data is used.
For too long, marketers and advertisers have taken data without a second thought — that needs to change. We need to meet our consumers halfway and develop transparent strategies that clearly demonstrate where their data is going and how it’s collected. This means moving away from third-party cookies taken without consent and toward a freely given, first-party data future.
However, some companies are so reliant on third-party cookies that they’ve never even thought about direct engagement. Most of the big players have trusted retailers to own this journey, letting them focus solely on brand — they’ve been shouting in the wind and hoping someone else connects them with an audience, without owning any consumer data themselves. They fear they won’t be able to get the first-party data if third-party cookies were to say goodnight. But that looks like it's no longer the case: Cookies in Chrome seems here to stay.
So, what steps can these companies take to start collecting valuable data that follows all these new data privacy laws and regulations?
The Privacy Toolkit
1. Understand Data Privacy Regulations
Although some companies are up to date with data privacy regulations and governance laws, many are still playing catch up. Understanding these regulations must be the first step or these companies could encounter legal complications down the road, such as the €40m fine faced by CRITEO. This advertising technology company violated five breaches of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) including failing to obtain their user’s consent to collect and use their data.
To ensure you’re safe from fines, it’s important to map the regulations that apply to your company. For example, factors like geographic location will change the governance you need to follow. With this understanding, you can ensure your marketing practices are compliant, helping you avoid legal issues and maintain customer trust.
Related Article: The Role of Data Privacy in Customer Trust and Brand Loyalty
2. Implement Data Governance
Once you understand the compliance, you need to be all over the data you collect. Maintain a comprehensive inventory, decide how it’s collected and institute access control to ensure personal data is only accessible by authorized personnel.
Currently, organizations hold so much unnecessary data that if they get hacked, it can lead to an enormous spill, damaging consumer relations. Companies should instead go forward with a data minimalist outlook. Stick to collecting data that matters to your marketing objectives and demonstrate to consumers that you’re only collecting what you need.
Related Article: Consumer Data Privacy: Win Trust With Consent-Based Marketing
3. Seek Explicit Consent
To begin regaining consumer trust, use straightforward language to help them identify when they’re opting in to something. Preference centers (as you’d expect) should allow consumers to easily manage their data and communication preferences.
Some companies hide the "reject all" option behind so many pop-ups that users either click off immediately, or check "accept all" even when they don’t want to. We need to find a happy medium that provides them with something of value in exchange for more data collection.
Related Article: 10 Potential Data Privacy Pitfalls for Marketers
4. Ethically Leverage Privacy Enhanced First-Party Data
Collecting data directly from the consumer is the best way to build direct relationships. It lets you offer value in the form of personalized content and discounts, in exchange for highly valuable and freely given data.
To maintain trust, keep personalized messages relevant and genuinely beneficial. Avoid over-targeting and respect the frequency of interactions. Data should be encrypted and anonymized as much as possible, removing personally identifiable information where it’s not needed and protecting it from unauthorized access both in transport and at rest.
Related Article: First-Party Data: Getting Creative for Cross-Channel Identification
5. Invest in Customer Data Platforms
A customer data platform (CDP) gives marketers a unified view of their customer base, allowing them to segment their audience based on behavior and preferences to deliver more personalized experiences. Marketers can purchase off-the-shelf CDPs and will receive extensively tested platforms that offer quick implementation and vendor support, at a lower cost to building a custom solution.
However, some ready-made, third-party CDPs come with potential complications — the main one being that the first-party data collected does not actually belong to them because they didn’t collect it.
Instead, marketers can use self-created CDPs that, while costlier, give you complete ownership over your customer’s data and control over its features and functionalities.
Related Article: CRM vs. CDP: Key Differences and Which One to Pick
6. The Next Steps
From here, you should continuously gather customer feedback to refine your personalization strategies and use A/B testing to see what best resonates with your audience.
You must also keep your team up to date surrounding both the laws and regulations and your company’s ethical personalization practices. This, along with a clear and accessible privacy policy, will make sure that everyone in the company can easily communicate how you protect customer data and your commitment to privacy.
Related Article: Conquering the Customer Feedback Gap
Webinar
Sep
25
CMS Briefing: A Live Look at What’s Next in AI-Driven Platforms
Learn how leading organizations are using AI‑driven tools to publish faster, personalize smarter and stay secure.
Register
Webinar
Sep
25
Call Spoofing Trends Financial Institutions Can't Afford to Ignore
Don't let robocalls sabotage your customer relationships. Learn how to secure your voice channel.
Register
Webinar
Oct
16
Agentic AI Playbook: Real-World Customer Service Use Cases You Can Deploy Now
Boost self-service by 30% and slash call volume by 63% with agentic AI.
Register
Webinar
Oct
22
Beyond Storage: Smarter Content, Bigger Impact with DAM + AI
Discover how the DAM + AI duo makes content smarter, stronger and more accessible.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Ready or Not: How Data-First Organizations Are Unlocking Agentforce Potential
Learn how to cut through the noise, activate Agentforce and build a Salesforce AI strategy that actually delivers.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
CX Reality Check: What Your Customers Are Really Thinking
Register now and get the insights you need to not just meet rising expectations, but exceed them.
Watch Now
Data Leads the Way
Once you take the time to leverage the data you’ve collected in a much more meaningful way, you can invest in how to act on that data. This lets you build smarter audience segmentation that benefits both marketing and your entire strategy.
You’ll know exactly how much stock to purchase of a particular product because your customers will tell you what they want to see. Similarly, this data will influence how you design your website, creating a much closer relationship between data and user interface and user experience.
When we know exactly what our customers want regarding data privacy, we can model against it, letting us build a much better value exchange. Previously, we focused on creating demand. Now, we’re responding, enabling us to produce more meaningful and honest content that truly resonates with our audience.
Learn how you can join our contributor community.
