How to Survive in a Privacy First World

There’s no denying that privacy is fast becoming the hottest topic of the industry – with iOS14 substantially reducing data granularity (with 96% of users in the US choosing to block ad tracking) and the deprecation of third-party cookies looming (at a slightly slower pace than originally planned), we’re staring down a one way barrel to a privacy-centric future. 

Matilda Rose Moir

As an industry, we’re on the verge of the ‘single biggest change to digital advertising since its inception’ (Wood 2021) and ahead of our global privacy event on the 22nd July, here’s how to survive in a privacy first world. 

Understand

The first, most crucial step is to understand exactly how your business will be affected by the aforementioned privacy changes. While burying one’s head in the sand may be tempting, we need to be joining the privacy conversation, and becoming immersed in Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a good place to start. Understanding what’s in store for your business should become a number one priority going forward.

There are no workarounds, and it’s important to recognize that from the offset. Take control and consider running a complete campaign audit and privacy health-check of your business to identify exactly where you’ll be losing visibility. Understanding where your blind spots are now, will help you prepare for the decline in third-party cookies, and the increase in privacy awareness – and allow you to manipulate your strategy accordingly. 

As an industry we need to reset our expectations, and understand that the level of data granularity we’ve previously possessed is fast becoming a thing of the past. Recognizing that privacy is here to stay, and understanding what this means for your business is critical to your success.

Enable

The truth is that most businesses’ data strategies are built from unstable foundations. So much so, it’s possible to view the privacy changes as being a much needed platform for companies to rebuild their data strategy from the ground-up – ensuring a strengthened base that increases marketing effectiveness and rebuilds consumer confidence and trust.

Once you fully understand what the changes in privacy regulations mean for your business, you can start building and enabling secure, effective and future-proofed foundations that compliment a privacy first world. By enabling a robust strategy that is optimized for the collection and curation of first-party data, advertisers can continue with ad targeting and counteract the loss of third-party cookies. 

Deliver

Now is the time to implement and deliver a privacy-ready digital strategy. Remember to champion value and meaning – creating a customer-centric approach that will engage consumers and ultimately help you build out your first-party datasets. “Developing strong relationships with customers has always been critical for brands to build a successful business, and this becomes even more vital in a privacy-first world” (Google 2021).

As third party cookies head for extinction, and consumers develop a greater understanding of their privacy rights, businesses should be placing consumers front and centre to their strategy – evenly balancing performance and trust. First-party data is the golden ticket for advertisers, yet with consumers skeptical about handing over their data, businesses need to take the time to build trusting relationships with their customers. After all, first-party data that’s willingly offered up by consumers will be a deliberating factor between brands that thrive and those that fall short.

To learn more about preparing for a privacy-first world, and how you can future-proof your approach to digital marketing, join us on the 22nd of July for our upcoming event “Privacy – Cutting Through The Noise” and learn how to tackle privacy changes heads-on.

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