The size of one’s black book of customer data was once something to aspire to. For many, big data was the big boast, and the size of your contact list was directly proportional to you marketing weight and reach. However, getting your hands on it was never the problem, it was what to do with it once you had it.
In recent times, our industry has got over excited by programmatic and scale. This obsession with scale and the collection of data has meant that unfortunately, many have forgotten about the importance of context. GDPR is arguably one of the consequences of this drive for size over and above the quality of engagement.
Only last month the DMA Awards revealed that 71% marketers believe that the new GDPR laws will be an opportunity for creative industries to find new ways to engage with potential customers.
Whilst our headlines have been dominated with questions like ‘Are you GDPR ready’, it is time to flip this on its head and focus on the opportunities that GDPR will bring. Only last month the DMA Awards revealed that 71% marketers believe that the new GDPR laws will be an opportunity for creative industries to find new ways to engage with potential customers.
It’s time to nurture customers
With the arrival of GDPR, brands will need to focus more on nurturing the users they have, pushing them to add value at every turn. In doing so, they will place even more value on their audiences whilst the initial effort of acquiring an audience will inadvertently refocus their efforts on maintaining them.
Brands will no longer see customer data for the commodity it once was, insight that was traded freely on the open market. GDPR is the nudge we needed to drive us to put our money where our mouth is; demonstrating value in a consumer’s interaction through better, more relevant content.
The shift in power
As a result, and even if most don’t realise it, a shift in power will begin to arise where consumers will have the power to not only protest at poor value through the right to be forgotten but actually, but inflict collateral damage on those brands that are seen but aren’t necessarily welcome. Consumers are now seeking value, efficiency and experiences through the brands they engage with. The pressure is on for brands to prove why they should have a place in a consumer’s inbox or on their home screen. It has never been more important to be relevant.
Context is relevance
Relevance is determined by right time, right place, right content, or simply put, context.
Context, or marrying the right ads to the right content in real-time ensures a brand can drop in when it matters, with an audience it will resonate with. When it comes to ad targeting, if we can understand the content on the page in that exact moment, we can also very accurately determine the audience that will gravitate towards it and therefore we can determine the best suited ad content.
Contextually powered targeting solutions takes us from a world dominated by cookies to a supplementary solution that is based on the now. Alongside real-time relevance and value creation, contextual targeting also has the benefit of delivering this without user IDs, tracking or cookies meaning those businesses offering this can classify themselves as GDPR agnostic or safe.
Quality over quantity
Brands need to drive value and engage audiences first and foremost. By understanding more at the moment of engagement, we are able to truly bring relevant messaging to user journeys. They need to focus on individual customer journeys and deliver quality experiences. At every single turn, touch-points and engagement is an opportunity to add value. It’s no longer about building the biggest database, brands must serve engaged customers with content that is relevant and in the moment. In turn, this will drive loyalty and long-term relationships with customers.
A step change in digital advertising is upon us and those that adapt most quickly to demonstrate real-time value to customers will be the ones to thrive.