Three Opportunities For Marketers In A Privacy-First World

Many see the changes happening in the marketing world as insurmountable challenges. We see them as collectively giving marketers and brands a second chance to start afresh by laying stronger foundations of data- and consumer-centricity. Here are 3 opportunities for marketers.

Marketers have another chance to truly get to know their customers

Cookies are device-specific and are not designed to share data about a user across different screens. According to GoogleThe New Multi-Screen World Study, consumers online time is spread between four primary media devices smartphone, tablet, PC/ laptop, and TV. Cookies have proven themselves to be a very limited data source in this device-agnostic context. Add to this the fact that cookies are redundant in app environments. While they may have been useful in specific instances in which a browser is required in an app to view content, cookies are by and large redundant for segmentation and retargeting needs in app-only environments. Further, in the omni-channel context, cookies focus on consumers online behaviour alone. Like we have always maintained at Lifesight, where people go says a lot about who they are.

Marketers have a fresh opportunity to bring consumers physical world insights into consideration in a brand new, holistic not siloed consumer insight strategy.

Marketing has a second chance to reclaim what it brings to the table voice of the customer

For generations now, marketing has been being perceived as a cost-centre despite being one of the most critical business functions in history. From acquiring new customers to earning their loyalty, from bringing back lost customers to continuously being top of mind, lets just say that businesses would cease to exist without marketing done right. However, when the time for budget cuts comes around, organizations continue to put marketing teams in the line of fire. Thanks to these demands, advertising and marketing have had to be in a maverick, continuously experimentative avatar. But a cookie-less future, evolution of privacy, and evolution of consumer behaviour itself demands that marketing teams take a step back and evaluate their approach to their data and burn down their old playbooks. More importantly, it is the right time for marketers to demonstrate that their approach to data and insight impacts entire organizations, businesses, and business outcomes. The future requires marketers to empower themselves not only with new tools but a whole new mindset, a mindset that allows them to view demographic, online, and offline elements of consumer behaviours in totality.

Instead of fearing the cookie-less future, marketers must use the opportunity to actively seek holistic and refined perspectives on data-centricity for informed decision-making and measurement and eventually, deliver higher business outcomes.

This is an opportunity for marketers to urge their organizations to make the right data investments for a whole new world of evolved consumers, marketing, and business. A world that has channel- and device-agnosticism, privacy-first mindset, true consumer-centricity, and relentless demand to demonstrate marketing ROI imprinted all over it.

A chance to befriend and earn trust of customers, all over again

How marketers and organizations navigate the resounding call for a privacy-first mindset will ascertain how they earn the trust of consumers who are finally seeing the light in terms of data privacy. This is a renewed opportunity for marketers and organizations to be more upfront and transparent about how they use customer data, using it to deliver empathetic experiences across the board in a post-lockdown world and beyond, and bridging the gap between corporate demands and consumer interests.

In such times, marketers need trusted, ethical partners with a privacy-first mindset to lead the way. These are partners that commit to win-win scenarios, no excuses.

What do these win-win scenarios translate to? Higher dollar and cent ROI on each marketing investment, thanks to hyper-personalized marketing that results in less waste and more relevant reach with identity resolution. Consumers win because of empathetic experiences and better control over their privacy. It is now time for the marketing ecosystem to listen, understand, and come together to create these win-win scenarios and consequently, earn consumer trust in the long run.

What comes next?

Many evolutions are under way as we speak. The evolution of consumers who demand hyper-personalization and simultaneously, more control over their data privacy. The evolution of buying behaviours in the context of COVID. The evolution of marketing in order to deliver higher business outcomes.

We have well been on the path of trusted, ethical data partnerships with brands globally for some time now. We continue to be here to hand-hold marketers to create win-win scenarios for their organizations, consumers, and themselves. Watch this space for more.