We’ve entered a new era — one that places a more intense focus on consumer data privacy. Google and Apple took significant steps toward a more data-protected environment for consumers, and other large technology companies are following suit. For the consumers who value increased data privacy and consider it a human right, this is a win. However, new data restrictions create obstacles for marketers and can impact their advertising return on investment (ROI).
In this article, we’ll discuss notable changes to consumer data privacy and how financial marketers can effectively measure engagement with new and existing consumers.
Tech Giants and Data Privacy
In an event referred to as the “cookie-pocalypse,” Google made waves with its announcement to phase out all third-party cookies on its Chrome browser starting in late 2023. Many digital marketers have relied on third-party cookies to gather information and behavioral patterns, and they create consumer profiles and serve targeted digital ads in return.
With an estimated 118 million iPhone users in the United States, Apple software updates can also significantly affect marketing strategies nationwide. As a result of Apple’s iOS 15 update, a recent Forbes article reported, mobile ad spend dropped by 25% and ad ROI decreased by 38%. Below is a list of features in Apple’s recent updates that caught marketers’ attention and why they matter.
Mail Privacy Protection and Hide My Email: Mail Privacy Protection prevents senders from knowing if someone opens their email, hides users’ IP addresses, and stops senders from using tracking pixels. Hide My Email is comparable to creating burner email accounts. When consumers fill out a form on a website, they can choose to generate random email addresses through this privacy feature. The message is forwarded straight to their inbox, so they don’t need to include their real email.
Email marketing is a crucial part of financial marketing, so this impacts how marketers collect information on new and existing consumers. As open rates become less accurate, marketers should focus on what happens after the email is opened through engagement with CTAs and other trackable links within the email. Marketers should also expand their CRM system beyond one email address per person and identify other personal information such as phone numbers, social media accounts, etc.
App Tracking Transparency and App Privacy Report: In an effort to increase transparency, apps now must get users’ permission before they can track their data across apps or websites owned by other companies. If they opt-out, these apps can’t sell or share this data.
The App Privacy Report gives users more insight into their phone apps’ behavior. This serves as an opportunity to check in on data access, app and website network activity, and the most frequently contacted domains. Consumers can use this report to inform their decisions on their own privacy settings and downloaded apps.
iCloud Private Relay: The private relay feature allows users to privately browse Safari and hide their IP address. Traffic is encrypted and sent through separate internet relays, so no one can see who you are or what sites you’re visiting.
This impacts the accuracy and interaction with your marketing campaigns. If someone’s IP address is hidden, it’s difficult to target them geographically and your campaigns’ click-through rates could decrease.
Measuring Engagement
Data privacy is a top consumer value, and it’s important to balance smart data usage with privacy best practices to ensure consumers that they can trust you with their personal information. As the use of third-party data dwindles, marketers should focus on how to gather zero-party and first-party data. This is the data that consumers willingly give to you or the data you gather from your own channels such as your website.
These privacy updates also impact email marketing campaigns, and this affects how marketers collect information on new and existing consumers. As open rates become less accurate, marketers should focus on what happens after the email is opened through engagement with CTAs and other trackable links within the email. Marketers should also expand their CRM system beyond one email address per person and identify other personal information beyond an email address.
Incorporating your loyalty program is a great method to incentivize consumers to increase engagement with your content, social media, and more. To ensure you’re providing a rewarding experience for consumers, you should focus on building thoughtful content marketing and omnichannel campaigns that deliver true value to consumers and encourage them to visit your website and engage with your products and services.
With Prisma, you can take full advantage of the data you collect and implement high-performing omnichannel campaigns. Take control of your advertising efforts in the new privacy age and see what Prisma’s marketing automation software can do for your financial institution. Visit Prisma’s blog posts for more useful marketing tips and strategies.
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