Comprehensive guide to privacy-first marketing

Data is the foundation for building personalized customer experiences that drive sales and foster customer loyalty. However, personalization as we know it is becoming more challenging, with shifting customer expectations around how their data is handled and third-party cookies being phased out. 

That’s where privacy-first marketing comes in. By focusing on zero-party and first-party data, i.e. data that customers willingly share directly, businesses can continue connecting with their audiences in meaningful ways while respecting data privacy.

In our privacy-led marketing guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the important aspects of privacy-first marketing. From compliantly managing data collection to optimizing user experience, we’ll explore actionable strategies to empower you to thrive in a cookieless world. 

Following the advice in this guide will help you stay compliant with data privacy regulations, build trust with your audience, and create stronger connections with your customers.

What is privacy-first marketing and why is it important? 

Often known as privacy-led marketing, privacy-first marketing prioritizes collecting zero-party and first-party data and obtaining explicit consent before doing so where required by law, or as a best practice. 

Adopting this type of marketing strategy enables you to gather higher quality data than what has often resulted from second-party and third-party data sources, and aligns your marketing efforts with major data privacy laws. What’s more, the focus on privacy helps build trust with customers and increase engagement over time.

With growing concerns about data privacy, consumers are becoming more selective about sharing their information. Nearly a third of consumers would decline non-essential cookies if given the choice. Primary reasons for refusing cookies include:

• not wanting to be targeted by advertising (36.6%)
• lacking trust in the website (36.3%)
• concerns about data theft (27.1%)

Privacy-first marketing practices enable businesses to comply with regulations, build trust and customer loyalty, and help boost revenue through personalized and effective marketing strategies.

McKinsey research supports these benefits, finding that companies that excel at demonstrating customer rapport, usually through personalization, typically generate 10 to 15 percent more revenue than those that don’t.

We’re moving towards a cookieless future

For years, marketers relied on third-party cookies to gather large amounts of data without much concern for its quality or how it would be used. While this practice generated lots of data, much of it was fragmented and needed to be combined with other sources to deliver any meaningful insights. Often, there was no consideration for user consent for collecting, sharing, and processing it, either.

Marketers today have access to more precise tools, like those from Usercentrics, that enable them to gather valuable user data with full transparency and consent.

As we move towards a cookieless world, first-party and zero-party data enable you to gather better quality customer insights, integrate them into your marketing and data strategy, and make better informed decisions to improve customer engagement and results.

Customers increasingly care about the privacy of their data

Consumers want control over their personal information. They are also becoming less tolerant of companies that don’t offer transparency around how their data is collected, used, and shared. 

In a consumer survey, 65 percent of respondents ranked “misuse of personal data” as the top reason they would lose trust in a brand. The fact is, if customers don’t trust a company to handle their data responsibly, they’ll take their business elsewhere.

Building trust through privacy-led marketing is no longer optional; it’s essential for developing prosperous, long-term relationships. As data privacy laws become stricter and consumers grow more informed about their rights, failing to prioritize marketing data privacy can lead to losing both customer loyalty and revenue.

Privacy regulations place pressure on businesses for compliance

Data privacy laws have raised the bar for how businesses handle customer data. While there are differences among the major data privacy regulations, they do share common principles. These include data minimization, user consent requirements under certain circumstances, transparency about data usage, and permitting data subjects access to and other options regarding their information.

Failure to comply with these regulations can result in hefty fines and other business-limiting penalties, as well as reputational damage. What’s more, under the rules imposed by the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that are passed on to businesses using gatekeepers’ platforms, access to vital revenue optimization tools, like advertising on Google and Facebook, can be restricted if you don’t prioritize marketing compliance.

“How marketing is done is changing a lot, thanks in large part to consumer expectations and regulatory and business requirements. Privacy needs to be a critical component of that. Privacy-first marketing builds trust and more engaged long-term relationships with customers, and the resulting data for marketers is higher quality as well.” — Adelina Peltea, CMO of Usercentrics

Key data privacy requirements marketers need to know about and comply with

Marketers need to stay on top of the following key data privacy regulations, frameworks, and platform requirements in order to handle customer data responsibly and maintain compliance.

• Digital Markets Act (DMA): An EU regulation that aims to promote transparency and fair competition by placing stricter controls on how large online platforms — known as gatekeepers — can collect and use data.
• Google Consent Mode v2: A tool that signals consent information to Google services and enables marketers to adjust how Google tags behave, helping them to achieve compliance while still gathering valuable data.
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A landmark European regulation that requires businesses to obtain explicit consent before processing personal data and ensures users can control how their data is used. The GDPR is used as the blueprint for many data privacy laws worldwide.
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA): Provide California residents with the right to know what personal data is collected, request its deletion or correction, and opt out of various uses of their data.
• Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) v2.2: Developed by IAB Europe, the TCF v2.2 helps businesses comply with the GDPR by standardizing how they obtain, manage, and share user consent in the digital advertising ecosystem.

For a deeper dive into these and other requirements, be sure to explore our marketing compliance chapter.

The challenges of privacy-first marketing

Privacy-first marketing offers clear benefits in terms of trust and compliance, but it also presents a range of challenges. From limited data access and attribution difficulties to evolving regulations and the balancing act between personalization and privacy, marketers must navigate a more complex privacy landscape than ever before.

Limited access to data

Privacy-first marketing avoids the use of third-party cookies, which have traditionally been a key tool for tracking user behavior across websites. Without these trackers, marketers have less insight into user behavior beyond their own platforms, making it more difficult to build detailed buyer personas and optimize marketing strategies.

“Marketers are concerned about access to and potential loss of data, as well as obtaining valid user consent,” states Usercentrics CMO Adelina Peltea. However, she also highlights that “both of these are addressable with greater transparency and ensuring customers know what’s in it for them when they consent to data access and use.”

While the shift away from third-party cookies means there can be less consumer data available, the move can be seen as an opportunity to focus on collecting higher quality data. 

Going straight to the source to gather zero-party and first-party data, rather than aggregating information from disparate sources, enables you to gain more precise insights about preferences and behavior. It also enables customers to feel more in control of their interactions with your company. This does mean developing marketing strategies that are more personalized, and therefore effective.

Attribution difficulties

Restrictions on cookies and other tracking technologies make it difficult to accurately track user behavior across platforms and digital assets. Without these tools, it becomes more challenging to get a clear picture of which of your marketing efforts are leading to conversions. 

“Marketers have questions about targeting, personalization, and other tactics, as well as measurement and attribution, especially if they think it means a major investment in new tech and processes to roll out,” states Peltea, “But there are ways to adapt and continue doing these things that don’t alienate customers, put companies at noncompliance risk, or blow your budget.”

Conversion modeling has become an essential tool. It uses machine learning to link ad interactions with conversions, even if cookies or other identifiers aren’t available.

By analyzing patterns in clear conversion paths and applying that knowledge to missing data, conversion modeling helps you to track conversions more accurately and optimize your strategies. Although not a perfect solution, it provides a reliable alternative to traditional attribution methods in a cookieless world.

Complex and evolving regulations

Data privacy regulations are constantly changing as new laws emerge and existing laws are updated. It can be difficult to stay compliant. From the GDPR to the CCPA and industry-specific statutes, marketers must keep up with complex requirements that vary by region and industry. 

Compounding this challenge is the emergence of new, seemingly broad regulations, like the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, or updated requirements from major business partners like Google. While initially these may not seem directly relevant to data privacy, they do have significant implications for how businesses operate and strategies they may consider in the future.

Staying ahead of these regulations requires constant vigilance and a proactive approach, which can be especially challenging for smaller teams without the necessary legal or technical expertise.

Balancing personalization with privacy

Delivering personalized user experiences without access to large sets of data can be a challenge for marketing teams. But when you can get customers to tell you exactly what they like, how they want to receive communications, and other key information, large data sets can become much less relevant.

Traditionally, marketers have relied on third-party cookies to collect reams of data that help them tailor content and offers to individual customers. However, with data collection becoming more restricted, marketers must find new ways to personalize marketing without compromising privacy.

Preference management plays a key role here as it enables users to actively share their preferences and consent. By focusing on zero-party and first-party data obtained by account settings, purchase history, customer surveys, and more, businesses can still deliver meaningful personalization while respecting user privacy and complying with privacy laws. Companies can also improve customer experience by showing direct cause and effect from the information and consent customers provide to the communications, offers, and other interactions they receive.

10 privacy-first marketing strategies to stay compliant and build trust with your customers

A privacy-first marketing strategy is essential for building trust with customers and staying compliant with evolving data privacy laws. The tips in this section will help you balance personalization with privacy, optimize data management, and achieve compliance, all while delivering value to your customers and enhancing their experience.

1. Simplify consent processes and educate customers

The first step in privacy-first marketing is simplifying how you collect and manage consent from your customers. Users should be able to easily understand how their data will be used through clear, jargon-free privacy policies and consent banners.

When users understand what they’re agreeing to, they’re more likely to feel in control of their data, which in turn fosters trust and encourages engagement. This is where a consent management platform (CMP) can make a huge difference.

Usercentrics CMP offers a fully customizable and user-friendly interface that helps businesses collect and manage user consent across multiple domains and regions. Our CMP supports compliance with local and international regulations, as well as requirements from the IAB, Google, and other ad tech platforms.

It also enables geolocation targeting, displaying banners specific to users’ locations so you can meet relevant legal requirements and provide their preferred language. Plus, granular privacy notices enable customers to easily manage their preferences, so they feel in control of their data.

2. Collect zero-party and first-party data

“As we continue moving away from third-party data, companies need to prioritize zero-party and first-party data,” emphasizes Peltea. This data comes directly from customers via your websites, apps, and customer interactions and reflects their real preferences and behaviors.  

“Hearing directly from customers is the gold standard, and a great way to build long-term and more personalized customer relationships with ongoing high engagement,” Peltea states. “Just make sure the exchange is also valuable for them.”

For example, a clothing brand might send customers a quiz to help them find their perfect look. The quiz might ask for preferences about style, size, and budget. The customer then receives highly personalized recommendations, and perhaps a discount code, while the business gains valuable zero-party data to enable ongoing personalization of that customer’s brand experiences.

Although gathering this data is crucial for your operations, it’s important not to overwhelm customers with irrelevant communications. Let them choose the topics they’re interested in, the frequency of contact, and their preferred communication channels to build trust and develop a more effective marketing strategy. 

3. Build trust with customers and offer clear value propositions

Part of building trust with customers is clearly communicating how and why you collect their data, the benefits they’ll receive, what their rights are, and how they can exercise those rights. This type of transparency fosters trust and makes customers more likely to share their information. 

“Being clear with customers builds trust and encourages them to provide more data, not less, in addition to helping companies meet data privacy requirements,” underlines Peltea. In other words, when people understand that their data is being used to provide personalized offers, exclusive content, or better service, they’re more likely to participate.

Practically, this could look like an online grocery store offering personalized product recommendations based on users’ purchase history. Clearly explaining that shopper data is collected and offering options to adjust preferences gives the customer complete control while enhancing their shopping experience.

Providing real value in exchange for data is essential, but giving customers control is, too. Enabling them to adjust their preferences, opt out of types of communications, and manage their data reinforces trust and shows that your brand prioritizes their privacy.

“There are always opportunities to educate users about their privacy and what their rights and choices are. It can also be really valuable to build community among your customers and with your teams, which can exponentially expand education value, connection, and engagement.” — Adelina Peltea, CMO of Usercentrics

4. Enable users to choose the content they actually want to see

Making it possible for users to customize their experience by selecting the types of content, offers, and communications they’re interested in can significantly reduce the need for extensive and untargeted data collection. 

Contextual targeting is another effective strategy. “Invest in high quality, well-targeted content that drives organic traffic,” suggests Peltea. “Then, leverage it with contextual advertising, which respects privacy more and can be more relevant.”

Instead of relying on user profiles, contextual targeting delivers ads based on the content users are currently viewing. For example, a fitness brand could advertise exercise gear on a blog post about workout routines, thereby delivering relevance without the need for personal data.

Another example could be a newsletter signup form where users can choose the topics they want updates on, the frequency of emails, and the types of offers they receive. By empowering users to shape their own experience, businesses can increase engagement, reduce the need for data collection, and build trust with their audience.

5. Take a “less is more” approach to data collection

Data minimization is key for protecting customer privacy, maintaining trust, and achieving compliance with major data privacy laws. It’s important to regularly assess what data you’re collecting and ask yourself whether it’s absolutely necessary to gather and retain that information, especially as your marketing strategies and operations change. 

While privacy laws like the GDPR and CPRA require businesses to adopt data minimization practices, the benefits go beyond regulatory compliance. 

Reducing the volume of data you collect means that you can gather higher quality information, reduce storage and management costs, and lower your risk of breaches. Plus, with less data to process, you can improve operational efficiency and simplify data governance. 

This “less is more” approach not only better protects your customers’ privacy but also enhances trust and strengthens your relationship with them. In short, less data really can mean more valuable insights, greater security, and a more efficient, compliant organization.

6. Optimize your data management practices

Optimizing your data management practices means: 

• storing data securely to meet policy and legal requirements
• making user data easy to access and update in a timely manner
• integrating data across various touchpoints for a seamless customer experience 

This optimization requires managing data subject access requests (DSARs), which enable users to request access to, update, or delete their personal information. Fulfilling a DSAR typically involves logging the request, verifying the requestor’s identity, gathering the relevant data, and securely delivering it. Most data privacy laws require DSARs to be processed within a specific timeframe.

For example, a company might receive a DSAR from a customer requesting a copy of their transaction history and personal details. By using an automated system, the company’s data protection officer can quickly retrieve and review the information, verifying that it is accurate and complete before delivering it securely to the customer.

To streamline this process, businesses should maintain a detailed record of DSARs, including response times and actions taken. A CMP can help ensure compliance here and keep your data management processes efficient and auditable.

7. Regularly audit your marketing processes and practices

A comprehensive approach to privacy compliance and privacy-led marketing should include regular internal audits and clear data-handling policies.

By reviewing how you collect, store, and process customer data at regular intervals, you can identify potential risks, improve inefficiencies, and ensure your marketing practices align with the latest legal requirements.

For example, you might conduct quarterly audits of your email marketing campaigns to review how consent is collected, whether user data is properly anonymized, and if unsubscribed users are promptly removed from mailing lists. 

These audits are a critical item on any marketing compliance checklist, as they help identify gaps or areas where compliance might slip so you can address them before they become bigger issues. When supported by continuous education and training, audits can help your organization stay compliant, protect customer trust, and avoid costly fines.

8. Stay up to date with privacy regulations

Privacy laws are constantly being passed, and existing ones are evolving. It’s important to stay current to maintain compliance. One way to do so is to work closely with legal and/or privacy experts who can help you navigate the complexities of global privacy regulations like the GDPR and CCPA. Legal teams provide guidance to align your marketing practices with the latest requirements so you can avoid costly penalties. 

For small organizations that may not have an in-house legal team, regular consultation for drafting and updating policies, confirming the requirements or new laws or changes to existing ones, and other functions, can be a critical investment.

In addition to getting legal guidance, running regular staff training on privacy regulations, secure data handling, and privacy compliance requirements is key to keeping your team informed of the latest changes. 

To make staying compliant easier, consider using a tool that automates updates as privacy laws evolve. By integrating automated updates to privacy policies and consent banners, for example, for straightforward consent management, businesses can stay aligned with the latest regulations without having to manually track every change. 

This three-pronged approach — legal guidance, staff training, and automated updates — can help you stay ahead of the curve to protect your business and preserve customer trust.

9. Use tools that facilitate compliance and prioritize data privacy

Consent management is a key component of privacy-first marketing, and a CMP can help your business achieve privacy compliance while continuing to gather essential data and foster trust with your customers.

This tool enables you to collect valid user consent while gaining valuable insights into user interactions with consent banners. These analytics help you optimize opt-in rates to mitigate the impact of losing third-party cookies and improve your data collection efforts.

Usercentrics goes beyond just privacy compliance by offering contextual consent options, giving you the ability to ask for consent at specific times and for particular services to provide more clarity to customers. Knowing exactly why their consent is being requested and what benefits they’ll receive from sharing their data also improves the user experience.

Our CMP also offers peace of mind by enabling blocking of non-essential cookies and trackers until user consent is obtained. Privacy notices can be automatically customized based on geolocation to meet the compliance requirements of the relevant data privacy laws, meaning visitors see the right banner for their location, regulatory requirements, and language. 

10. Adopt privacy-focused analytics and advanced attribution models

As privacy regulations continue to evolve, businesses must adopt analytics tools that respect user privacy while still delivering valuable insights. 

Platforms like Google Analytics 4, Matomo, and Plausible offer privacy-compliant analytics by focusing on aggregated data rather than potentially intrusive user-level tracking. This approach helps marketers gain insights into customer behavior while maintaining compliance with data privacy laws.

In addition to privacy-focused analytics, advanced attribution models (e.g. multi-touch attribution) can help businesses understand the impact of various marketing touchpoints. 

These models assess aggregated data to track the customer’s journey across multiple channels. This provides a clear picture of how different marketing efforts contribute to conversions to help you optimize your strategies without compromising privacy.

“Keep iterating. Test and optimize your consent banners, your campaigns, and everything else. Analytics can provide a gold mine of insights to enable you to be more user-friendly, resonate with your audience, and boost performance.” — Adelina Peltea, CMO, Usercentrics

Embed data privacy into your marketing strategy with Usercentrics

As third-party cookies are phased out, privacy-led marketing is becoming increasingly important for personalizing marketing outputs in a way that respects user privacy. When you prioritize zero-party and first-party data, you can build stronger, more meaningful connections with customers while staying compliant with data privacy regulations.

Adopting the privacy-first marketing strategies we’ve outlined in this guide and leveraging the right tools will enable you to create personalized experiences that drive customer loyalty and business growth.

The Usercentrics CMP streamlines consent management, promotes compliance with multiple laws, frameworks, and policies, and gives customers greater control over their data. From customizable consent banners to detailed analytics, Usercentrics helps you optimize data collection and improve user engagement, all while protecting privacy and building trust.