What do we mean when we talk about “data ethics”? Why is it important to include it within one’s marketing strategies and how can it be a competitive advantage for businesses?
In 2019, the Italian Big Data Analytics market reached a value of 1.7 billion euros, up 23 percent from last year, more than double that of 2015 (790 million), from which it grew at an average annual rate of 21.3 percent. Numerous and always increasing are the companies that have achieved or are seeking to acquire advanced knowledge in the use of Data Science technologies and skills. This is what emerges from “Strategic Data Science: time to grow up!”, the research conducted by theBig Data Analytics & Business Intelligence Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, which involved more than 1,000 CIOs, Chief Innovation Officers and Chief Analytics Officers from small, medium and large user organizations and executives from the main companies operating in the supply market.
Investment in the field is increasing, especially investment in data integration. This trend reflects the increasing centrality of data in the creation of marketing strategies.
A growing number of marketing managers, through their experience in the field, have clearly understood that careful profiling and segmentation of their audience are indispensable not only in the acquisition of new traffic and new users, but especially in the enhancement and qualification of already acquired contacts, which are the ones that, if well nurtured through lead nurturing strategies, are the ones that potentially have a high CLV and continue to bring value to the company.
This realization also emerges in “The CMO conundrum and the search for the unicorn marketer,” a research conducted by WFA – World Federation of Advertisers and 2CV and published in June 2020, which surveyed nearly 700 marketing leaders from around the world who were asked what their most important marketing responsibilities will be in 5 years.
In fact, for 6 in 10 marketers (62 percent), technology and digital marketing platforms already play a key role, while three-quarters (77 percent) believe the importance of these tools will increase in the future. Not only that, 54 percent of respondents say data analytics is an important skill in their role, while 73 percent believe it will become even more relevant in the coming years.
Growing value of Big Data and importance of privacy protection
The value of Big Data is growing not only for marketers, but also for a growing number of users who are increasingly concerned about protecting their privacy and data. This is the finding of two research studies, “Made-to-order: The rise of mass personalization” (2019) and “Changing attitudes to data privacy: Digital Consumer Trends 2020” by Deloitte, which find that more than 50 percent of consumers want more personalized experiences, but being able to maintain control over how their data is collected and used. In fact, 81 percent of respondents said they have taken at least one action during the past year driven by concern for data privacy. Specifically, 40% uninstalled an app, while 43% deleted their browsing history.
From this picture of the situation, we might surmise that consumer privacy-related instances come into conflict with those of marketers, who aim for the extraction and exploitation of data for the development of data-driven strategies that are performant and increasingly personalized according to user behavior.
Yet “Privacy by design: exceeding customer expectations,” the research Google commissioned from Ip sos with 2020 data collected from a sample of 7200 people across Europe, found that users voluntarily provide personal information if they are clear about how it will be used and what they will get in return because they recognize that, if done right, digital marketing can be a value-add for brands and customers.
From the research mentioned so far, it is therefore clear that privacy compliance today is not just a set of legal requirements to be met and incorporated into corporate compliance, but becomes in effect a competitive advantage for companies over the less transparent.
From compliance to data ethics
Exceeding user expectations and moving from compliance to data ethics in the enterprise seems to be the goal to be achieved for all those brands that will want to meet the challenges that are looming on the horizon while maintaining the trust of their customers. Indeed, the numbers suggest to us that data ethics is no longer just a matter of compliance, but has become in effect a competitive advantage.
But what is meant by Data Ethics? How does it affect companies’ business, especially after the launch of private data and privacy initiatives, such as those introduced by Apple (IOS 15) and Google (Privacy Sandbox)?
