Marketing personalization has long been trending, but if we’ve seen anything trend significantly upward during the last year, it is that a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer an option for brands looking to make their mark with communities.

Google’s recent announcement that the ad platform will no longer provide the same level of interest-based tracking as it has for so long is a major indicator that marketing is shifting away from generic presumptions in terms of targeting. A transitive property approach to ad and content targeting has long been held; if User A likes X, and User A and User B both like Y, then User B must also like X. Now, it seems, we are facing a significant shift away from this model and marketing personalization trends upwards in all facets of communications.

Marketing Personalization Is Nothing New

For years, marketers have attempted to build the most detailed user profiles and customer personas they could using tools like email clients and CRMs, or whatever else they had at their disposal. As ad platforms – like Google’s – became more sophisticated, some of the manual work that went into targeting was diminished. Over time, for many marketers, the targeting process was largely left on autopilot, relying heavily on the advancement of technology to effectively target ads based on data minutiae, like cookies. Though with increased use, and the scattering of user behaviors and preferences, this targeting mechanism has had an inverse impact on end-user demand as it compares to data supply. People don’t want their data used for broad match ad targeting, and companies like Google and Apple are listening and taking action.

Sweeping reforms are underway both in the worlds of hardware and software. Much of that has to do with privacy. Though the data is there, its power is being given back to its creators: the individual. The question now, it seems, is how brands and marketers can respond to the increased restrictions (if you want to call it that) on public data use. The answer rests in tailored data collection processes and personalized marketing efforts.

How Marketers Should React

First and foremost, marketers need to accept that for a long time, we’ve enjoyed access to data that was never really ours to use. While it was our great pleasure to leverage it into successful campaigns, that should never have stopped us from continuing efforts to build our own data funnels and audience personas. So, if you haven’t been doing that while also using the data afforded to us through ad channels, here are the steps you should start taking immediately in order to avoid backsteps in your efforts to grow.

You’ll want to start by auditing your existing data collection processes. If you’ve relied on ad platforms to handle the data side of your marketing efforts (even if only in part) then an audit is going to be crucial to regaining control of your data. Once done, you’ll want to analyze any and all historical data related to customers, visitors, and those that have engaged with your content in order to start developing a series of updated audience personas. From there, the process of marketing personalization can begin in the form of content and segmented communications.

As I mentioned, not all visitors are created the same. As such, you’re going to need to start creating content campaigns that are geared towards the specific tastes and preferences exhibited by your audience in your historical analysis. Yes, this means more work. But it also leads to more loyalty, higher levels of engagement, and a significant improvement in your ROI with a direct correlation between the degree to which you connect with your audience and the results of their engagement or conversion.

None of this is easy, nor should it be. We have talked a lot about personalization for a long time, but we have increasingly let the tech do the work. Now, as demand has outpaced what the technology can offer (and tech companies are responding in kind) we need to get back to the process of manually analyzing our audience, identifying how best to engage with them with tailored offers and communications, and personalize the process for a greater brand loyalty moving forward.