For a long time data was the lifeblood of digital marketing, now personal data protection laws and users’ concerns about their privacy pose a threat. So, today we will explore what is the future of marketing in the age of privacy.

Digital marketing is reinventing itself, to stop relying on personal data, for many this means a throwback to traditional marketing, however this change also represents new opportunities and new challenges. If you want to know what are the alternatives to marketing without personal data, you can not miss this post.

Which data is personal data

The Internet is full of data and when you browse it you leave a large amount of information that is often personal data. For a long time, using this data for advertising was completely normal, even techniques such as inbound marketing are an indispensable part, because the goal is to offer personalized advertising and according to the needs of consumers.

However, since a couple of years ago, this type of data has been regulated under legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Although these are the most important laws worldwide, more and more countries are issuing similar laws, including Mexico, which has enacted a law to protect personal data. However, no matter what country your site is from, you have to abide by this legislation, because you cannot know when a citizen of these countries will visit your website, so you must be prepared and ensure the privacy of their data.

 

The data that are protected under this regulation are all the data that allow to identify an individual such as: name and surname, address, telephone, work or academic history, patrimonial and financial data, signature, as well as biometric data such as iris or fingerprint.

What will happen to personal data?

These laws do not force you to stop collecting personal data, but you are required to provide a privacy notice where you inform visitors what data you are going to collect and how you will use it, and you are also required to have the consent of your users to store it.

In summary, even though the law does not prohibit the collection of personal data, it does foster an environment where users are more aware of their data and the information they provide to companies, which drastically reduces access to this type of data.

 

Choice

With the addition of personal data notifications and the option to delete third party cookies, users have become more aware and cautious about controlling information, which can cause your marketing campaign to run out of data to personalize advertising.

Luckily there are still some strategies you can put in place to collect your customers’ data and, in fact, you probably already use this technique, we mean asking for it in exchange for a benefit.

The best option to collect personal data directly from your customers is to give them the option to give it to you. Surely, you already do it, the idea is that they give you some of their data in exchange for something that represents value to them, it can be a subscription to your newsletter, a free e-book or a discount, coupon or free service. In this way, you offer your customer the possibility of giving or not their personal data in exchange for these services.

 

Create quality content

Undoubtedly, the strategies to survive this new era depend in a high percentage on the quality of the content. No matter what your business niche is, offering meaningful and high value content to your audience will be an indispensable requirement.

Under these new rules the audience is the one who decides if they consume you and if they give you personal data, so in this era your content must be of high quality and above all attractive enough to attract your customers and earn their trust.

To make this type of content you do not need specific information, because if you have made a design of the ideal customer then you already know what their needs, tastes and motivations are, so use this to your advantage and try to focus the content on them.

 

Interactive content

Another excellent way to motivate your audience to leave your personal data is through content. You probably already know that content is everything in marketing, but collecting data from your audience requires more than just blog posts or entertaining infographics.  What you need is to create interactive content.

This type of content is all about direct interaction with your audience. There are several formats you can use to do this type of marketing, for example:

• Surveys
• Solution finder
• Calculators
• Interactive maps
• Quizzes
• Landing pages
• Games

The important thing is to offer quality and attractive content to your target audience so that they can’t say no to filling out a form for you.

With this content, the type, quantity and quality of data you can obtain will depend a lot on the format and design you want to publish. For example, with landing pages, games or calculators you may not have reliable data, since users tend to fill in the form to access it quickly, and many even write false information. So, the best way to guarantee access to quality personal data is to create content such as surveys or quizzes.

 

The rise of macro metrics and the end of cookies

Faced with the end of personal data, the answer may lie in focusing campaigns not on the microdata we are used to, but on macro data, which will be the result of grouping users into large groups with common characteristics.

This strategy emerged as an alternative to the end of third-party cookies. Google launched the Federated Learned of Cohort program that aims to measure the consumption and browsing habits of users, just as cookies do, however the big difference is that this new way groups the information of users in large groups, in which the privacy of each individual is guaranteed. Thus, marketing from platforms such as Google Ads can be focused on groups with qualities that interest you.

 

Is this the end of personalized advertising?

If you’ve been in the digital world, advertising or sales for a while now, you’ll know the results that personalized advertising can achieve. In fact, there is some research claiming that 78% of consumers admit that personalized and relevant content increases their purchase intent.

After all, in this new era, it’s up to marketing to win back the trust of customers and visitors. In the end, we all like to have personalized experiences, so giving up some data in exchange for these experiences will be no problem.

Surely, as a consumer you also like to be made to feel unique and special, so when a brand achieves this and delivers advertising that is useful to you at the right time, you will most likely end up consuming, but what happens when we no longer have access to the data that allow us to generate this type of advertising.

While it is true that it will no longer be so easy to obtain more accurate data, there are still strategies that allow you to create personalized advertising and content, for example closed offers or tracking frequent customers.

 

Personalized advertising still has a long life, however to survive it has to be reformed by being more respectful with the customer, giving the option to choose whether to provide their data or not; it must also comply with legal privacy regulations. Tell us about your strategies for marketing without personal data.