2022 App Marketer Survey: Solutions to Privacy Challenges
Increased data privacy is “a good thing for consumers,” but how is the marketing world adapting?
The last few years have seen tectonic shifts in the world of mobile marketing, with consumer privacy being one of the leading issues transforming the industry. Apple’s 2021 App Tracking Transparency (ATT) update allowed iOS users to opt out of device ID tracking, spurring a rethinking of long-held marketing strategies on iOS and Android.
How have marketers adapted a year on from ATT and facing a new era of consumer privacy? To find out what mobile marketers are thinking and doing about privacy, we surveyed over 500 mobile marketing professionals worldwide, compiling their thoughts in our new 2022 App Marketer Survey. Though many have mixed feelings about the past year’s events, the overall outlook skews optimistic as marketers look to the future.
Here are some of their key takeaways.
Short-term challenges lead to long-term benefits
While most marketers will admit the new era of consumer privacy “is quite challenging in the short term,” the consensus is that it will all be worth it. “Once brands embrace and invest in ways to optimize customer identification and engagement via their owned channels, they will be able to grow and retain a more highly engaged, higher-converting, and more valuable customer in the long-term,” one respondent said.
To adapt, marketers “have to shift our whole way of doing UA” to find new solutions. “This includes how we measure success (the end of last-click attribution and device-level data) as well as how algorithms of marketing partners, targeting and segmentation, and many other aspects of UA work.”
That said, marketing pros are up for the challenge. “We can learn to advertise in ways that are less privacy-invasive while gaining the consent of consumers,” one respondent said, noting that it would be “beneficial in the long run.”
What’s good for consumers is good for advertisers
A 2021 report showed that 86% of consumers “feel a growing concern about data privacy.” This is becoming a critical consumer issue, and as one marketer put it, “It’s a good thing for consumers, which is a good thing for advertisers.”
“App users feel more in control of their data and privacy,” another respondent said, pointing out the positive aspects of these privacy changes.
Put yourselves in your consumers’ shoes: “As a general app consumer myself, there isn’t a need to forfeit that much data unwillingly unless I find any benefit in it. We’ve seen too many examples of abuse from companies that have access to too much data. Until there is stricter accountability for how this data is handled, companies having less access to that transparency is fine for me.”
Let your first-party data shine
Several survey respondents mentioned that in the absence of third-party mobile data, marketers should rely on their own. “User profile data can be obtained by consistently attracting them to our clients’ digital properties and thus having first-party data,” one respondent said. “In addition, statistical methods can be explored to model user preferences from non-sensitive information and the use of artificial intelligence.” In other words, there are still ways to tailor ads to consumer preferences, but you’ll have to find ways to gather this information.
As an added bonus, sticking to first-party data can help cut down the “analysis paralysis” that comes with “big data.”
Find the right mobile ad partner
At Liftoff, the leading growth acceleration platform for the mobile industry, we help marketers navigate the new mobile marketing landscape by using powerful machine-learning technology that can identify receptive audiences likely to engage with your app or ad campaign. Ready to boost UA and ROAS while facing mobile advertising challenges head-on? Get in touch!