Today’s episode of Aligned continues Sean and guest Will Riley’s discussion on internet privacy changes and what it means for your marketing efforts in 2023. As a RevOps expert, Will shares his (inadvertent) first hand experience with terms of use issues and how you, as a marketer or business owner, can protect your company.
Will’s tragic tale:
- A client used Google ads as a primary digital advertising platform, and the client had a privacy policy available. However, they did not have a cookie policy. Because of this, that client received an email stating they were losing all Google advertising rights.
- It wasn’t a policy issue; in Will's case, their website policy was acceptable and allowed for paid advertising. However, when you advertise to a specific audience segment, that must be indicated in a privacy clause. And the client’s policy didn’t reflect that nuance.
- The takeaway? As platforms like Google and Facebook get pressure from the government to maintain privacy standards, they make updates the users don’t necessarily see.
- Before you place an ad, ensure you comply with the most current policy to ensure your ad will be approved.
2023 will bring a drastic change to privacy:
- It’s not doomsday, just a different day, and putting the correct parameters in place now will help with the initial adjustment.
- It’s not as easy as buying ads. There are now risks and legal implications if you ignore violations.
- A lot of third-party leverages domains other than your website. So, in some ways, the form of retargeting now will cease to exist.
- Lookalike targeting will likely stay - finding users similar (based on demographic and psychographic information.)
- You can buy people who have visited a database of every phone that’s entered specific geography. If you’ve been in a particular NFL stadium, you’ll get ads for stuff.
- People don’t know what companies are doing with their data. And that’s going to change radically.
Takeaways for digital advertising:
- If you can’t use a company like AdRoll to advocate and check the legality of your ads (and choose to go direct-to-market), invest in an expert rep who can guide you through the legality and policies.
- Invest in a CRM or marketing automation that enables compliance (HubSpot has integrated within its system the ability to enable compliance with GDPR.)
- Create a simplified tech stack. If you need new platforms or tools, make sure they natively integrate.
What you need to do next:
- Does your marketing team buy any data? If so, what are you doing with it, and where are you purchasing it from?
- Using mass lists will no longer be safe, especially if you do not get each user’s permission to contact.
- Before advertising on digital platforms like Facebook and Google, have a privacy policy and cookie policy.
- Ensure you have publicly accessible legal documentation that references visitor data tools, intent, and storage.
If you need a standard privacy policy or cookie policy to get the ball rolling, contact will.riley@fitzmartin.com
Start vetting out existing tech and ask if they’re in compliance with the data privacy laws.
Email Will at will.riley@fitzmartin.com
Submit inquiry at fitzmartin.com/contact and they’ll be happy to answer any questions.