A Marketer’s Guide to Data Privacy: Ethical Use of Personal Data

In our Marketing in the Age of Digital Privacy article, we discussed a shift in paradigms, and how new regulations are accelerating that shift. In this article, we will explore the psychological philosophy behind why adjusting to that shift, rather than finding ways around it, is the “correct” strategy for long term growth.

You should adhere to new regulations, outside of avoiding the obvious drawbacks, like fines, for the psychological reasoning behind them. Ignoring the “why” behind the push for new regulations risks developing a voice that communicates that the brand doesn’t care what consumers want. After all, CCPA was passed on a ballot initiative. Meaning, the People directly voted to enact the law. Remember, these are potential customers who are interacting with your brand. It’s important to understand that the inconveniences that privacy laws create for marketers is largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

While not all prospects are aware of their rights in states that have implemented them, the pool of people who have access to those rights are ever expanding, and now, at an accelerated pace. Along with an expanded group comes expanded awareness within that group. That being said, states that have not implemented data privacy laws are home to millions of people, and a lot of them likely wish they did have a law that provides them with more control over their personal information online. The writing is already on the wall, why not flip the script? Provide consumers with what the data suggests they want – your brand, and your prospects will thank you for it.

That, however, does not mean that marketing tech is entirely out the window. We can still use our tooling to provide excellent, personalized marketing experiences. We just need to be more mindful that we are truly dealing with real people, not just a name on the screen.

In this article, we’ll explore exactly where ethical principles lie in data collection in general, and ways to avoid inadvertently suggesting your prospects shouldn’t trust your brand.

Before we get into it, there is one callout worth mentioning. When considering data collection, it’s important to distinguish between marketing data versus company data collection. Companies house profiles for customers which contain additional information than the marketing function does, like business addresses, billing information, etc. While the company is responsible for safeguarding both, we will focus on marketing data for the purposes of this article.

Minimize Data Collection

Minimizing the amount of personal data you collect is a great way to limit both business risk and negative consumer sentiment associated with data collection. For instance, effective digital marketing does not require collecting a home address. Sure, you could run a gifting campaign, but it’s important to consider the effect asking for that information will have. From data security, privacy, and ethics perspectives, the risks outweigh the benefit of housing, protecting, and managing the data.

Data collection minimization is also a sound strategy to improve conversion rates. Look at form submissions as a transaction. The value of the content you provide should be comparable to the amount and sensitivity of data you request in exchange for it. The less you ask for, the less “expensive” your content is. You will see an increase in conversion rates once you strike the correct balance and understand what the true value of each piece of content provides.

Obtain Proper Consent

As mentioned above, regulatory backing is indicative of public sentiment. Consumers have voiced their desire to control what happens to their data in California, and national (even international) surveys indicate that this trend is applicable to the rest of the US as well. Autonomy of personal data and associated consent plays a very large role here. It is what will enable you as a marketer to maintain the bulk of your current digital strategy.

Consumers have expressed, on record, their support for personalized marketing and targeted advertising. The issue is not that it doesn’t add value, it’s that the data and tracking technology required needs to be made apparent to them before they feel comfortable with your brand using it. Just as we talk about consent when it comes to bodily autonomy, we need to cumulatively develop an understanding of personal data as a private, personal asset to the consumer, rather than a company asset to be used without express consent.

As marketers, we so often discuss providing value. If the very first interaction we take with a customer is both selfish and dismissive of consumer comfort, what sort of message do you think that sends? One that states that the brand values marketability over individual preferences. Value your target markets’ preferences, and make it a company goal to respect them.

Clarip takes this concept even one step further – we leverage the consent interaction to offer consumers an opportunity to express their channel preferences. Does a consumer prefer to receive text messages over email for marketing material? That’s valuable information to you as a marketer. You’ll see higher engagement rates when aligning to those preferences.

Privacy Policies Should be Easily Understood

Ever looked at an End User Agreement? You scroll to the bottom, check the “I’ve read these Terms & Conditions in full and agree,” and then click next. That’s a contract. You probably didn’t read a single word of it, but it’s important to understand that it is a legally binding, enforceable (assuming the terms themselves are legally enforceable) agreement.

We are moving towards something similar in the data privacy space with cookie banners and privacy policies, although CCPA and CPRA have built in actionable recourse for consumers in private litigation, outside of regulatory fines. A simple fix is to leverage technology to pull out the “need to know” information. There is no reason your organization should open themselves up to additional liability by “dumbing down” their privacy policies in order to do so, but listing out associated channels, third parties, cookies, and other tracking technologies you plan to use should provide consumers with ample information to make an informed decision. Clarip has developed a natural language algorithm to do just that. 

Don’t Abuse Privilege

So, you’ve gathered consent properly, what’s next? Simply put – discretion. This is straightforward but necessary to mention. Don’t spam your prospects. Value the fact that they’ve entrusted you with their personal information, and use it to add value to their buying journey.

Provide Value

Again, this is likely a redundant statement to a marketing professional, it is still relevant and worth discussion. Be sure that when you do use consented personal data to contact or retarget your prospects, that it is worth their while. If a prospect decides that the value you provide is disproportionate to the discomfort they have with allowing you to use their personal data, that is where unsubscribes and opt-outs happen.

Monitor Where Personal Data Goes

This may be a discussion you should have with your CIO or IT department, however, understanding what third-parties have access to your customer data is extremely important. Certain third parties are known to collect retargeting data on your customers, and while you’ll likely be using that data yourself, you need to know whether they are contractually entitled to sell that data as well.

Should a customer opt-out of the sale of their data, and you’ve unknowingly enabled a data path to a third-party, you are liable for the sale of that data. CCPA has defined the sale of data as “selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer’s personal information by the business to another business or a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration.” Be selective of the third-parties you choose to work with, and always be sure to implement a DNSS solution that will notify third-parties of opt-outs.

Also be aware of what sorts of data are being sent to third-parties. Clarip’s Data Risk Intelligence platform has successfully aided one of the largest retail brands in the country to identify a data flow of customer purchase records to a social media platform. That data is dangerous in the hands of your competitors, as they can provide them with extremely targeted advertising capabilities, aiding them in stealing your customers. In fact, data leaks in the MarTech stack account for a 1-2% loss of revenue for Fortune 500 organizations every year.

Offer ongoing choice

This is an often overlooked area of risk, and can and will be costly to organizations that do not take it seriously. A multi-billion dollar cosmetics retailer was recently fined $1.2M in settlement for violating CCPA’s Do Not Sell/Share mandates. Companies must offer a link where customers can easily opt out of either the sale or sharing of their personal data. Customers should be able to opt out of marketing lists or modify their preferences as easily as they’ve granted permission. They should also be able to do so through something called a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. Certain browsers offer consumers the ability to set their general privacy preferences, and the browser will communicate them to your website. Your website should be able to both identify a GPC signal, and honor the request, or your org may be subject to severe financial penalties.

From a marketing perspective, this is nothing short of beneficial. You will be better positioned for success when working with a group who actually wants to engage with your content, and that will be reflected in performance metrics. In retargeting campaigns, that means higher CTRs. This is a great way to stretch your ad spend by increasing quality scores at ad auctions, and therefore lowering CPCs.

Ethical Marketing Practices Will Protect You and Your Brand

You’ll notice a trend in our marketing-centric content – that the shift to a privacy forward future does not necessarily mean marketing will be less profitable. One can argue it will be far more profitable for those who subscribe to the change in their psychological approaches. You and your brand must provide ongoing value through good content, develop trust with your audience, and continue to provide these services with ethical data management practices.

Click here to learn more about our Preference and Consent Management Platform! Clarip takes enterprise privacy governance to the next level and helps organizations reduce risks, engage better, and gain customers’ trust! Contact us at www.clarip.com or call Clarip at 1-888-252-5653 for a demo.

Email Now:
Mike Mango, VP of Sales
mmango@clarip.com