This post is about a session in our Signals Series. Watch the session The Colliding Worlds of Personalization and Privacy here.
We live in paradoxical times. Today’s consumer demands permission-based marketing, data legislation with teeth, and the right to be forgotten. Readily attainable until you conflate those demands with an expectation for true personalization in the form of bespoke product recommendations, tailor-made content and custom offers. These are the colliding worlds of privacy and personalization. A headache for marketers who have over-relied on third-party data, but a unique opportunity for marketers committed to building more meaningful relationships with consumers.
Marigold Engage+ CMO Richard Jones sat down with Forrester Principal Analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo at week 2 of Signals 2020 to discuss how marketers can navigate this ever-evolving landscape.
What are the big changes and challenges that are impacting marketers?
There are three forces converging that are shifting the global data ecosystem and all of this is restricting the amount of consumer data that is available to marketers and advertisers. Fatemah detailed them as the following:
1. Consumer behaviour and attitude
Consumers are finally acting on privacy concerns and installing ad blocking tech and using incognito browsing to curtail ad retargeting and the like. “In fact, 77% of consumers in the U.S. have used one privacy preserving tool online.”
2. Regulation
GDPR, CCPA or the burgeoning biometrics privacy act are constraining what data private companies can collect and what they can do with that data. Consumers are on board, even when presented with anti-CCPA rhetoric the legislation has a 73% approval rating in California.
3. Technology wars
We are seeing social media platforms lock down their walled gardens even further, Apple’s IDFA changes will mean users need to consent to receiving personalized ads and browsers are getting tough on cookie tracking, pivoting from advertisers to being consumer-first.
Why should marketers own consumer data?
The future is marketing to consumers as individuals not as large cohorts of similar people, and to do that effectively it requires marketers to wean themselves off their third-party data quick fix and turn to zero-party data.
For the uninitiated, Fatemah describes zero-party data as a class of data that “a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand. It can include purchase intentions, personal context and how the individual wants the brand to recognize her.”
With the privacy regulations and cultural shift described above, “You cannot be data poor anymore. You need to find a way to deliver value in return for data.” In essence marketers need to deliver experiences that offer some sort of value in return for preference data. “We have seen a 200-300% increase in inquiries from markets how to collect zero-party data.”
By taking the zero-party data path, marketers become empowered to build direct relationships with consumers and, in turn, better personalize their marketing efforts, services, offers, and product recommendations.
If you’d like to check out Fatemeh’s full session, watch it here.
Next up at Signals 2020, it’s our Data-Driven Engagement week, packed with thought leaders and expert panels looking at how marketers can create that organizational utopia: the golden customer record, and use that to deliver truly-personalized marketing. Check out the agenda for your favorite sessions and reserve your spot.
