One year later: Apple’s data privacy rules force a rethink of customer engagement

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

Even worse, the dollars still spent by Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) have become less effective. Sure enough, through a number of measures, ROI plummeted by nearly 40%. This new environment makes marketers think. But it hasn’t drastically changed their behavior yet.

Marketers still pretend that we live in an advertising world enriched by an almost unlimited amount of available data. Many have yet to pivot in the way I think would help them the most: by realizing that in this post-privacy era where marketers are getting less information about individuals or their digital consumption through other applications, it’s vital to immediately engage with customers after they show interest.

Human-centered interaction

Consider this example: I recently searched online for kids’ bikes and discovered a wasteland of old-fashioned advertiser thinking: Everything I saw, from the expensive top four Google pay-per-click (PPC) links to all those lucky enough to be listed afterwards , was simple. A simple link back to a site.

Perhaps those who click through to the site see an ad for a flash sale or some other temptation. More striking was what I didn’t see: all the attempts at engagement.

I’m referring to the kind of human-assisted interaction that many marketers still believe (wrongly, I think) cannot be scaled effectively. These include click-to-message or click-to-call prompts, which address highly interested, potentially motivated consumers with fewer clicks (with much less frustration) rather than finding them themselves.

In an ideal world, consumers are preoccupied with a resource—human or not—that helps them understand their options and drive an eventual purchase.

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

Exchange value

It’s not enough to assume that every person you reach is the ideal demographic candidate for your product, especially those that require a lot of attention. Some exchange of value has yet to take place, with marketers offering something a customer needs — which, in most cases, is simply more information — in exchange for their attention and, hopefully, their loyalty.

If these requirements were not necessary, mattress stores or physical stores would no longer exist. That they continue to do so is proof that consumers are looking for more than just a transaction and proof that the challenge now facing digital marketers is to recreate the three-dimensional relationship that still exists in person in a one-dimensional world.

In many ways, the change to Apple’s privacy policy revealed just how lazy some marketers had become. They had grown accustomed to an environment where they could learn as much about each customer as they wanted by paying close attention to signals for future buying behavior.

But the absence of that world doesn’t mean marketers are doomed. It just means they need to find new and creative ways to achieve their goals, including relearning some old lessons they may have forgotten.

Nick Cerise is head of marketing TTECa technology services provider that provides customer experience, engagement and growth solutions to customers around the world.