The Common Sense Game-Changing Digital Marketing Shift For 2022
Year after year, businesses are plagued with compliance, higher bid-prices and unsuccessful ad runs when it comes to digital advertising. This should come as no surprise; last year the world was engulfed in a worldwide pandemic that forced companies to adapt their marketing strategies and budgets to the sudden shift in digital spend, increasing overall bid prices over 200%. Facebook planned on releasing IOS 14.5, now implemented and updated with IOS 15, which threatened businesses by limiting reach to their ideal audience by implementing updated privacy policy options, allowing Apple users to either opt in or out of data collection & tracking. A complete double edged sword. Yes for privacy, but not for businesses who use this 3rd-party data to deliver relevant ads.
I get it, Facebook and Google already have the information and preferences of millions of users, but at any point, that luxury can be taken away. I’m not saying using them is ineffective, however, we as business owners and marketers cannot be so heavily invested in only these platforms. Let’s put the power back in our hands. So what is the solution to our data problem?
Repeat after me, 1st Party Data. Yeah, seriously, that's it. We have to own our own data and implement strategies in marketing plans that allow us to collect data from audiences.
1st Party is data information collected directly from your audience.
So, how do we collect our own data and how do we then use that data to deliver content to our audience? Let’s break it down.
Utilize “old-school” tactics like email sign ups, white-papers, in-store data capturing, surveys, giveaways, etc. Get creative but ask for their email and or phone number. Build your list of data. It takes time but hang in there. It’s worth it.
What’s next.
Implement…wait for it…newsletters. They’re not dead, they’re reborn, more beautiful than ever. Utilize softwares such as Get Response, MailChimp or any others. Create a schedule, use emojis, be conversational. If you are an e-commerce website or brick & mortar store, you probably already have a list. Use it, talk to them. Same goes for text marketing.
Once you’ve collected first-party data, you can gain audience insights, create a personalized experience for your users, improve your retargeting strategy, identify patterns and predict future trends. Forbes
Let’s just end with this because you get it by now. The rising concern regarding how personal data is stored and used is making waves across companies and governments. This pressure will only make companies more weary about who and how they sell and distribute personal data — and all meaningful access could cease at any point.
It’s not too late to start growing your own 1st-party database. So just start now.
Crane The Agency builds bridges between companies and customers. We design, develop, wonder, strategize, manage, idealize, optimize–and we do it because we’re passionate. Passion grips us, enamours us, motivates us, pushes us to seek truth and meaning and reason and that’s why we give a shit.
