One year later: Apple's data privacy policies force a rethink of customer engagement

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Last year's update to Apple's privacy policy was one of those events where worried predictions ended up being exactly what happened: the significant reduction in the ability of marketers to personalize and target ads based on consumers' digital behavior and the downstream impact on social media giants' advertising revenue.

Worse still, the dollars still being spent by chief marketing officers (CMOs) have become less effective. In fact, by some metrics, ROI has dropped nearly 40%. This new environment is shaking up marketers. But that hasn't radically changed their behavior yet.

Marketers still act as if we live in an advertising world enriched by an almost unlimited amount of available data. Many have yet to pivot in the way that I believe would help them the most: realizing that in this post-privacy era where marketers receive less information about individuals or their digital consumption in d ' other apps, it's vital to engage with customers immediately. after expressing interest.

Take this example: I recently did an online search for children's bikes and found a bunch of old-school advertiser thoughts: all I saw, four Google links Most expensive Pay-per-Click (PPC) to anyone lucky enough to be listed afterwards, was basic. A simple link to a site.

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Perhaps those who clicked on the site would see an advertisement for a flash sale or some other incentive. More notable was what I didn't see: any attempted engagement.

I'm referring to the kind of human interaction that many marketers still believe (wrongly, I think) won't scale effectively. These include click-to-message or click-to-call prompts, which engage highly interested and possibly motivated consumers with fewer clicks (with far less frustration) instead of finding them through them. -same.

In an ideal world, consumers are engaged with a resource, human or otherwise, that helps them understand their options and propel a potential purchase.

Driving a conversion in a world where you have less information about a potential buyer requires a different approach. This means setting up conversion channels at every opportunity, rather than just asking those same consumers to do their own homework, passively engage with a website, and expect the same results as when you could rely on some degree of interest from those you have targeted. (later) with a link or discount.

It's not enough to assume that every person you reach is the ideal demographic candidate for your product, especially those who require high consideration. A value exchange has yet to take place, where marketers provide something a customer needs – which in most cases is just more information – in exchange for their attention and hopefully loyalty. .

If these requirements were not necessary, mattress stores or any physical business would no longer exist. That they still do it is proof that consumers are after so much...