A KPMG study revealed that 70% of businesses have increased their collection of personal consumer data. However, 86% of consumers are increasingly worried about their online data privacy.
As of April 2022, only about 25% of iPhone users have decided to allow app tracking monthly, and this is expected to decrease further as governments enact data privacy laws and more users become aware of how tech giants are using their data.
With consumers now in greater control over their data, brands face a pressing challenge: balancing data collection with privacy concerns.
So, how can brands adapt their strategies to collect the data they need to ensure the success of their marketing strategies?
The answer lies in transparency and personalized experiences.
In this interview, WebOps platform Pantheon Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Josh Koenig discusses:
- The key challenges businesses face with the shift to opt-in cookies
- How to create consumer journeys that enable data sharing
- How businesses can establish and maintain trust with their website visitors
Who Is Josh Koenig?
Championing developer experience and data-driven impact, Josh blends the visionary ideals of Open Source with agile practicality. At Pantheon, his mission is to free web teams from enterprise monoliths and infrastructure burdens, enabling them to focus on strategic goals using top-tier tools. In 2021, The Software Report named Josh one of the Top 25 Software Products Executive.
Josh discusses the big changes ahead for marketing technology (MarTech), comparing the impact of third-party cookie opt-outs to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT).
While brands have made strides with first-party data, he notes that the challenge is far from over — this is despite the increased opportunity to build deeper trust and create more personalized customer experiences on their websites.
“Most experts are still predicting a fairly large impact, similar to what happened when Apple rolled out ATT [in April 2021]. Once the choice becomes available, a meaningful number (if not a majority of Chrome users) will likely opt out of third-party cookies by default,” Josh explains.
He believes the good news is that all the work over the past two years to build capacity for first-party data strategies didn’t go to waste.
However, the bad news is that a seismic shift in the MarTech landscape is still coming, and marketers are only equipped with strategies that are largely unproven.
At Apple, we’ve always believed that you should be in control of your data — what you do with it & who you share it with should be up to you. App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5 gives you the choice to share the data that’s being collected about you across apps and websites. pic.twitter.com/EbfN8CtiKd
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 27, 2021
Looking at the bright side, the shift to opt-in cookies allows brands to have a better opportunity to foster deeper trust with their customers while offering more meaningful and personalized experiences.
But what are the potential challenges they might face with this change?
“The challenge to marketers is, as always, how to authentically add value to the customer journey. User data must be earned,” he says.
Pantheon found that 54% of consumers are unwilling to share personal data, and almost the same amount (49%) will only share data if it means receiving a customized experience.
“The biggest hill marketers will need to climb facing an opt-in future will be to make data sharing worthwhile to the consumer,” Josh adds.
Creating Consumer Journeys That Encourage Data Sharing
With Google's decision to maintain third-party cookies as an opt-in solution, I was curious to hear from Josh how brands are creating compelling consumer journeys on their websites to get consumers to share their data.
“Over the past 10 years, virtually every breakthrough brand and disruptive company has been built off the back of a killer website.
A compelling consumer journey coupled with a comprehensive in-house understanding of the customer (built on first-party data) clearly has transformational value,” he explains.
He believes that it’s always been superior to relying on third-party crutches, and the shift to opt-in means that, while those crutches will remain available, they’re going to lose a good bit of efficacy.
“A brand’s website is the only part of the digital experience they fully own or control. As social media continues to grow as a way to connect with audiences, the power of a cohesive website is more vital than ever.
While social feeds are crucial for discovery and sharing, marketers still need CTAs. Whether they’re directly retailing via eCommerce, building the B2B pipeline, or driving brand awareness, CTAs are clicks, and clicks should go to their own property.
As the old saying goes, ‘Don’t build on rented land,’” he adds.
In a previous podcast, DesignRush spoke with Brittany Wray, Senior Director of Platform Solutions at AudienceX, who discussed how to get ready for a cookieless future with AI Analytics. Watch the video to learn more:
Josh also shares that he has seen many examples of companies relying too much on external platforms like social media and adopting trends like producing short-form videos.
This often led to big problems, especially after such platforms changed their algorithms or policies.
While other platforms help build brand connections, research from Pantheon shows that websites still hold the top spot as consumers see them as the most important digital touchpoint.
According to Josh, the keys to a consumer journey that earns the right to that user’s data are quality and authenticity.
“If the customer journey can be custom-fit (e.g. brands are able to drive personalized experiences for consumers), it incentivizes users to opt-in.
The idea of continuing the journey across multiple touchpoints, as well as creating enjoyable and novel interactive experiences, can also draw more out of visitors willingly,” he adds.
Josh also points out that if brands use customer data to spam users with ads or misaligned content that doesn't match their preferences, they will definitely opt out.
The Role of Trust in Encouraging Data Sharing
Pantheon data shows that for 73% of consumers, brand trust is the biggest motivator to share first-party data.
“Trust-building will be one of the most worthy endeavors for marketers moving forward. But trust is hard-fought and easily lost,” Josh says.
While 90% of consumers say negative digital experiences erode trust, 81% also say that they’re willing to give brands a second chance.
“Trust-building is a long but fruitful process, and brands must work hard to continue to prove the value of data sharing,” he adds.
Branding also plays a key role in building consumer trust and gathering data.
Previously, we spoke to Living Corporate CEO Zach Nunn who discussed why it's good for businesses to admit their branding mistakes and shared how to build audience trust. Watch the video to learn more:
But how can brands establish and maintain trust with website visitors?
“Because personalization is now driven by opt-in solutions, brands must demonstrate that consumer data will be both protected and utilized in a way that makes consumers' lives easier.
Intentional data utilization is important, but brands should always consider how deployed strategies help the end user,” he says.
I agree with Josh that personalization, when done correctly, is a big step in the trust-building journey that shows consumers the true value of data sharing.
Josh shares a case study of a client, composable customer data platform and personalization engine Lytics, which partnered with Pantheon to help democratize website personalization and remove traditional barriers to entry of first-party data collection.
“By integrating Lytics’ Personalization Engine into Pantheon-powered Drupal or Wordpress sites, marketers and developers can now leverage AI-powered personalization capabilities and first-party data strategies to drive personalization.
This has traditionally been both a time and resource-intensive process that not only costs millions of dollars, but requires upwards of a year to implement,” he explains.
He highlights that now, the process is much less complex and more accessible for the clients, so they can focus on building trust with their audiences.
Building a Value Proposition for Data Sharing Through Website Design
To create a strong value proposition for data sharing, brands need to show how personalized website experiences can make a real difference for users, encouraging them to keep opting in.
“Brands can build a strong value proposition for data sharing when they continuously demonstrate the positive impact data can have on digital experiences.
If a user continues to receive bespoke recommendations based on past visits to that website, they’ll see the value of data sharing, and it will encourage them to continue to opt-in to data collection,” Josh says
As brands adapt to stricter privacy regulations, having a cookie opt-in process is critical for maintaining user trust and improving marketing performance. Partnering with top a digital marketing agency can help your business implement strategies that balance privacy compliance with audience engagement.
Make sure you prioritize transparency, offer customized experiences, create compelling customer journeys, and build trust through responsible data use and positive user experiences.
