Did you ever take a good look at a printed picture? It is made up of thousands of tiny dots that at arms length blend into a detailed picture. Same is true for images displayed on a computer monitor. Millions of pixels combine to bring you a clear image. Starting about thirty years ago tiny “pixels” of everybody’s life have been assembled to create a clear image of who you and virtually everyone else is.
“Big data” as it is generally called is the automated collection of every point of reference a person creates in the connected digital world. Check the local weather forecast, click on an ad for some good looking shoes, check the current value of your car, find a recipe for great fried chicken or worst of all, go shopping for anything - and the barrage of advertising attempting to target your interests will astound you. The people behind this supposedly targeted effort simply want to avoid selling steaks to a vegetarian.
But there is a problem in this entire premise, people check out a lot of things that really have nothing to do with their own lives! I have no interest in or need for a new car. I do find the evolution of electric vehicles interesting. My viewing several articles now has me receiving several ads for electric cars every day. I shopped for and bought boots online one evening. I am still getting ads to buy boots two years later!
Marketers are aware that many times the digital footprints people leave behind will lead in the wrong direction, so they try to get first hand data. That is specific information about people directly from the people. The conventional wisdom is that “young” people are willing to give lots of information to anyone that offers something in return that they feel has value. “Older” people want to keep their privacy.
Recently (Aug. 14, 2019) the Advertising Research Federation released a report on the results of a 1,000 person survey that found that people (US consumers) were less likely in 2019 to give personal information than they were a year before. People willing to give their home address dropped from 41% to 31%, the name of a spouse dropped from 41% to 33%. Only 54% would share an email address, declining from 61% the previous year. It seems that privacy is making a comeback with all age groups.
Social media sites have been the primary source for identifiable data and selling that information to advertisers has become the largest generator of their income. So the quote from Mark Zuckerberg is what would be expected. But with privacy appearing to becoming more important, new rules for how data can be collected, used and sold and new laws covering the same, businesses are returning to tried and true methods to collect the valuable information they need to market effectively.
Promotional specialty advertising and marketing is the answer. The offer of a “free gift’, a physical object, something real as compared to an added function for your smartphone, is still a powerful thing. And since a physical “gift” has to be delivered, an address is always necessary! By offering to let someone know when their gift is mailed, an email address is also acquired. To buy this complete information is expensive and certainly not as fresh as using a free gift offer on a website to generate this information.
There are added benefits for marketers generating their own data. First consider that people were already on the website when the discovered the free gift offer. As mentioned above, they might just be web-surfing but if the free gift is properly selected people responding can be vetted. For example, a cookware business might offer a free imprinted pot holder. Perhaps the most important aspect other than collecting information about potential customers is that the “gift” will continue to provide ad impressions that may eventually influence the consumer.
The majority of small and mid sized businesses do not have professional marketers on staff and may not be aware of this trend back to more privacy. The people selling online (programmatic) advertising certainly are not going to tell them! It is however a great place to start conversations with your clients. It allows you to give them important information and to discuss the value of the work you do rather than the price of a coffee mug!
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional products industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.