What a shift toward first-party data means for destination marketers

As the subject of online privacy makes daily headlines in news outlets around the world, destination marketers are taking note. Consumers are more aware of their online privacy, and the oft poor marketing tactics that threaten it.

Big tech companies like Google are committing to the strategy, declaring its intention to send third-party cookies the way of Flash.

In doing so, the tech giant is putting privacy first—though without completely leaving publishers and other advertisers out in the cold.

As marketers in the destination space ourselves, we’ve long been talking about marketing practices that needed to change, specifically in travel. Not in an effort to make marketing harder, but to make it better. Better for the traveler and better for business.

We’re happy to say that destination marketers are leaning in, with the privacy-first approaches centered on first-party data. We spoke to growth innovator and longtime destination marketer Scott Schult for his take.

As Scott shares and Google demonstrates, putting your audience and your community front-and-center is the core of a great marketing plan. Having better conversations with these people—as real people—and earning their trust is a well-regarded, privacy-first approach.

That turns into more meaningful insight which builds stronger business—so long as you protect your audience.

As our audience, we’re putting you first, too. We’d love to hear about the first-party data strategy your destination uses at zstovall@flip.to.

Cardinal rules: how marketing got off track and a new era ushered in change

Conversations on marketing and data are no longer confined within the walls of brands alone. As headlines around the world show, now more than ever the general public wants to know that brands are trustworthy, especially when it comes to how their personal information is being used.

To really get better, it’s important to understand why these events came to be in the first place. As we see it, they’re in large part (long overdue) fixes to spammy marketing practices, fake news, clickbait, and the like, that have people fed-up. And so change is happening.

Now we’re setting out to help travel marketers adapt. Below, I discuss a short history of how we landed here, plus the first step–being a good steward of customer data, and thus a better marketer:

 

There are some wins in all of this, too.

While immediate changes in how we market day-to-day might change, the truth is that these changes will also help us build our most engaged audience. And that means building stronger relationships with our travelers and customers, too.

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