Marketers love data.
We collect, buy & sell data. Data on you.
We use it for showing personalised ads. Or simply targeting ads based on your browsing behavior.
Can we do this ethically and profitably?
In the latest HBR, John, Kim & Barasz suggest this to digital marketers:
✅ Stay away from sensitive information like health condition, sexual orientation & race. If you sell sensitive goods, you may want to avoid targeting altogether. Try to find customers in ways that don’t involve using personal data.
✅ Commit to at least a minimum amount of transparency. Provide information about data-use practices.
✅ Use data judiciously. Don’t use data in an intrusive or inappropriate way.
✅ Justify your data collection. Explain why you collect personal information & how it will generate more useful ads.
✅ Try traditional data collection first. Using stated preferences (surveys) is more transparent than inferring data from online behaviour.
What do you think as marketer? What do you think about this as a consumer and citizen?