Summary
The article emphasizes the need for marketers to prioritize privacy due to upcoming changes like third-party cookie deprecation and AI advancements. Jason Hartley of PMG advises brands to adopt a privacy-first mindset, identify privacy strategy gaps, and test new methods while measuring their impact. Delaying privacy changes could result in missed opportunities.
A privacy-first mindset in marketing refers to prioritizing user privacy as a core principle within an organization. This involves shifting focus from relying on third-party cookies and other invasive tracking methods to finding innovative ways to respect and protect user privacy while still engaging customers and driving growth. It's about embracing the changes in the privacy landscape as an opportunity for brand innovation and growth, rather than just focusing on the potential penalties of noncompliance or the limitations imposed by the loss of third-party cookies.
To prepare for the deprecation of third-party cookies, brands should take the following steps:
- Embrace a privacy-first mindset: Focus on the positive aspects of the change and involve everyone in the organization.
- Identify your gaps: Assess how much your current strategy relies on third-party cookies, understand your use of first-party data, and identify areas that need improvement.
- Test with intention and measure for impact: Implement an agile test-and-learn approach to close the identified gaps, focusing on strategies that will remain effective post-cookie deprecation. Utilize measurement techniques like incrementality testing, media mix modeling, and customer-based modeling to evaluate the success of your tests.
- Incorporate AI: Use AI to predict and model evolving customer journeys, which can help in delivering growth and accurate measurement while respecting user privacy.
To build a first-party data strategy, consider the following tactics:
- Strengthen tagging foundations on digital properties to capture consumer consent and measure engagement and traffic.
- Explore low-hanging fruit such as customer surveys, app usage, or website visits for data collection.
- Tap into untapped sources of consented data from customer service interactions or online chats.
- Consider new initiatives like loyalty programs to gather more first-party data.
These strategies help create a unified view of customer data and enable brands to activate this data effectively for better marketing outcomes.
Prioritizing privacy in marketing is important for several reasons:
- Regulatory compliance: Adhering to state and global privacy regulations to avoid penalties.
- Consumer trust: Respecting user privacy builds trust with customers, which is essential for long-term brand loyalty.
- Market competitiveness: Brands that prioritize privacy can gain market share by meeting the demands of consumers who are increasingly concerned about their data.
- Sustainable strategies: With the deprecation of third-party cookies, privacy-centric strategies are more durable and future-proof.
Overall, prioritizing privacy helps maintain the effectiveness and functionality of marketing and measurement efforts in a landscape that is increasingly privacy-focused.
AI can contribute to privacy-centric marketing strategies by providing aggregate insights rather than user-level precision. With the right data, AI can:
- Predict customer journeys: AI can model how customer behaviors and preferences evolve over time.
- Deliver stronger growth: By understanding broader trends, AI can help brands grow in a privacy-respecting manner.
- Enable more exciting creative: AI can inform creative strategies by identifying what resonates with audiences on a larger scale.
- Provide accurate measurement: AI can help measure marketing impact without relying on invasive tracking methods.
AI's predictive capabilities and ability to work with aggregated data make it a powerful tool for brands looking to innovate while upholding user privacy.
