Consumer data privacy regulations keep popping up. After the European Union put the GDPR into effect in 2018, countries around the globe began following suit. States did, too, led by California’s landmark CCPA guidelines.
Since that time, more states have joined the mission to protect consumers’ rights to control Internet usage of their personal information. And while this is a great development for individuals, it’s making life a little bit harder for marketers.
Trying to personalize ad campaigns in an era of tighter privacy rulings and higher data security expectations (and data anonymization preferences) can be daunting. On one hand, you want to follow the rules. On the other, you want to deliver the most customized user experience you can. Fortunately, it’s possible to do both, as long as you’re willing to get creative.
Currently, forward-leaning marketers are leveraging three strategies to create effective, targeted ad campaigns that maintain user privacy. Each of the strategies is geared toward providing consumers with exceptional personalization without violating their privacy rights. Consequently, you may want to adopt one or more of them for your next ad campaigns.
Harnessing the Power of Zero-Party Data
As part of the evolution of data privacy, Google is changing the collection and dissemination of third-party cookies within Chrome. According to Digiday reporting, Google isn’t completely getting rid of third-party cookies as they originally intended. However, the search engine leader is going to give consumers the ability to make it harder for marketers to obtain and use their third-party cookie data.
What this means is that even if you can technically get your hands on third-party cookies, the data won’t be as robust or prolific as it is now. But you don’t need third-party cookies data from Google if you ramp up your collection of zero-party data.
As ViralGains explains, zero-party data can be a powerful tool for marketers who want to offer maximum personalization within privacy law parameters. Because zero-party data is gathered directly from the consumer (e.g., quiz-like ads,) it’s gained through opt-in methods. Consumers literally hand over their zero-party data in exchange for value-added content like customized product recommendations, poll results, related videos, case studies, white papers, and exclusive offers.
With zero-party data, you can develop zero-party audiences and boost engagement across your marketing efforts. Additionally, the zero-party process enables you to build the foundation for deeper connections with customers. That’s a huge advantage, and opens the door to a bevy of high-touch personalization possibilities — all without requiring you to have third-party data to achieve success.
Moving on to First-Party Data
Zero-party data isn’t the only type of data that can be advantageous for your personalized marketing. First-party data can be, too.
Instead of being given to you directly, it’s data that infers what consumers want based on the way they move around your owned sites. For instance, let’s say a lead clicks on one of your advertisements. Once the lead is on your site, you can track the lead’s navigational journey. At the same time, you can collect other information such as how long the lead stayed on each page.
With your first-party data (again, based on interactions,) you can begin to construct well-informed audience profiles. Though some first-party data will be anonymous, other first-party data may be individualized. Case in point, email signups and surveys with identifiers can give you tremendous knowledge about your leads and customers.
Currently, CMSWire estimates that around 90% of marketers want to use first-party data but aren’t sure how. Therefore, if you become an early adopter of leveraging first-party data to deliver personalized ads, you’ll be ahead of the competition.
Serving up Contextual Content for Ad Campaigns
Yet another way to give consumers customization without “creepy” third-party-reliant advertising is with contextual ads. Contextual ads are those that sit alongside relevant content, such as an article on a media site.
The thought process behind contextualized ads is that consumers won’t feel like the ads are invasive. On the contrary, they’ll see the ads as an extension of the content they’re already consuming.
Let’s say that a consumer is reading an article about the importance of bicycle and general road safety for children. A marketer for a kids bike company could pay to have a contextual ad placed alongside the article. The ad wouldn’t look out of place to the reader given its subject matter.
TEGNA notes that contextual advertising can help marketers build a trust bond with consumers. Over time, this trust can become the basis for purchases and loyalty, which can then lead to more incoming zero-party and first-party data. In other words, contextual ads can become part of the fuel to promote consistent personalization and increase both conversations and conversions.
Data regulations aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they’re likely to become stricter and more prevalent. However, if you’re finding ways to reduce your reliance on third-party cookies and other questionable data collection techniques, you won’t mind. Instead, you’ll be able to continue serving up advertising “wins” based on zero-party data, first-party data, and contextual ad approaches.
