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	<title>data Archives - SmartFrame</title>
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		<title>Data minimalism: What it is and why it matters for brands</title>
		<link>https://smartframe.io/blog/data-minimalism-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters-for-brands/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Golowczynski]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 14:13:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[News & Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gdpr]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://smartframe.io/?p=118154</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Data minimalism balances efficient information collection with better protection for brands, while [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/data-minimalism-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters-for-brands/">Data minimalism: What it is and why it matters for brands</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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									<p class="blog-stand-first">Data minimalism balances efficient information collection with better protection for brands, while also building trust with audiences. Here&#8217;s what you need to know.</p>
<p>Data has become the backbone of online advertising. But as privacy concerns grow and regulations tighten, the industry is rethinking its approach.</p>
<p>This is where data minimalism comes in.</p>
<p>Data minimalism refers to a strategy that prioritizes the most essential data for campaigns while simultaneously respecting user privacy.</p>
<p>This not only aligns with regulatory standards like GDPR, but also reflects the growing demand from consumers for transparency.</p>
<p>Here, we take a look at how adopting a data minimalist approach can create smarter and more ethical advertising practices without sacrificing performance.</p>
<h4>What is data minimalism?</h4>
<p>Data minimalism describes the collection of data that’s truly necessary.</p>
<p>This approach challenges the assumption that more data means better results.</p>
<p>Instead, it encourages advertisers to think carefully about their campaign data strategies.</p>
<p>It gives rise to questions such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>What specific information do we need and why?</li>
<li>What’s the most effective and accurate way of getting it?</li>
<li>Are there alternative ways to gather these insights without compromising user privacy?</li>
</ul>
<h4>Privacy-first advertising: Why it’s the future</h4>
<p>The evolution of data collection practices is largely driven by two things: regulatory changes and shifting public sentiment.</p>
<p>Regulations such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California impose clear restrictions on how user data should be gathered and used.</p>
<p>At the same time, tech companies and browser providers have spent the last few years adjusting their products to bolster privacy.</p>
<p>While some of these efforts may be viewed as necessary attempts to comply with regulations, they also provide a clear advantage when marketing to an increasingly privacy-conscious audience.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="adobestock_564006407_1733846661037" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 4920/3280; max-width: 4920px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
<p>From a consumer perspective, the issue is trust. Several studies show that today’s online users are concerned about how much personal information companies collect and how this may be used.</p>
<p>For advertisers, this underlines the importance of relying less on invasive tracking.</p>
<h4>What are the benefits of data minimalism?</h4>
<p>There are four key benefits to adopting a data minimalism strategy.</p>
<p>The first is that it builds consumer trust, which advertising thrives on. By demonstrating restraint and transparency in data use, brands can differentiate themselves in a market that&#8217;s increasingly skeptical of covert and intrusive practices.</p>
<p>The second concerns security; every piece of data collected is a potential liability. Reducing data minimizes the risks associated with breaches, which helps to protect users and companies.</p>
<p>Storing and processing large amounts of data can also be expensive. Data minimalism streamlines operations, which allows advertisers to focus their resources where they matter the most.</p>
<p>Finally, data minimalism helps to boost regulatory compliance, and lowers the risk of being fined.</p>
<p>In short, while the philosophy that underpins this strategy has ethics and regulatory compliance at its core, it also fosters efficiency by reducing the time and resources required to handle unnecessary data. Additionally, it can help improve relationships between brands and consumers.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="adobestock_609543514_1734541367246" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 4743/3162; max-width: 4743px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
<h4>How to implement data minimalism</h4>
<p>There are various ways to implement a data minimalistic strategy – and these can be used in combination with one another.</p>
<h5>Adopt contextual targeting</h5>
<p>One of the simplest ways to respect user privacy is to use contextual advertising.</p>
<p>This matches ads to the content a user is engaging with, which eliminates the need for personal data.</p>
<p>For example, an ad for fitness equipment placed on a sports blog is both relevant and non-invasive.</p>
<h5>Leverage first-party data</h5>
<p>First-party data – that is, information gathered directly from your audience – provides a reliable, privacy-compliant alternative to third-party sources.</p>
<p>This can be gathered in various ways, such as through newsletters, surveys, loyalty programs, and tailored marketing communications.</p>
<h5>Use aggregated data where possible</h5>
<p>If individual insights aren&#8217;t needed, a company can opt for  anonymized or aggregated data.</p>
<p>This approach provides broad patterns and trends without identifying specific users.</p>
<h5>Streamline data collection processes</h5>
<p>It&#8217;s also a good idea to audit your current practices to identify redundancies or any unnecessary steps in the process.</p>
<p>By focusing on the data that actually matters and forgoing everything else, you can improve regulatory compliance while boosting operational efficiency.</p>
<h4>What are the obstacles with data minimalism?</h4>
<p>While the benefits of data minimalism are clear, its adoption isn’t without challenges.</p>
<p>A common misconception is that reducing data results in less effective targeting. In reality, contextual advertising, first-party data collection, and other privacy-friendly techniques can deliver superior results.</p>
<p>With contextual advertising, for example, not only do you target users in the right headspace, but you also avoid targeting them with something they may have either lost interest in or already have purchased.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="adobestock_567606932_1734541367248" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 4681/3121; max-width: 4681px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
<p>Meanwhile, with first-party data, your success largely depends on the data users are happy to provide. It&#8217;s important to carefully assess what information is most useful, monitor the willingness with which users provide it, and replace ineffective data collection methods with more effective ones.</p>
<p>Resistance to change is another challenge; moving away from entrenched practices requires cultural and operational adjustments, which can be difficult for some.</p>
<p>However, given the many, wide-ranging advantages that can come from this – improved trust, greater efficiency, reduced risk of litigation, and so on – it’s a worthwhile investment in time and effort.</p>
<h4>Why it makes sense</h4>
<p>Today&#8217;s online users demand more control over their data and regulations are becoming more strict, which makes the case for data minimalism increasingly compelling.</p>
<p>By collecting only essential data, advertisers can deliver campaigns that respect privacy, build trust, and maintain performance.</p>
<p>The future of advertising isn’t about doing more with more – it’s about doing better with less. Data minimalism isn’t just about compliance; it’s a smart, sustainable way to connect with audiences in an ever-changing digital landscape.</p>								</div>
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		<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/data-minimalism-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters-for-brands/">Data minimalism: What it is and why it matters for brands</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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		<title>Contextual advertising: Everything you need to know about contextual targeting</title>
		<link>https://smartframe.io/blog/contextual-advertising-everything-you-need-to-know-about-contextual-targeting/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[SmartFrame]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Apr 2023 14:14:54 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[In-image advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contextual advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contextual targeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cookies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gdpr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[privacy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://smartframe.io/?p=80191</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The world of online advertising is constantly changing, and understanding what solutions [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/contextual-advertising-everything-you-need-to-know-about-contextual-targeting/">Contextual advertising: Everything you need to know about contextual targeting</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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									<p class="blog-stand-first">The world of online advertising is constantly changing, and understanding what solutions might reshape the landscape will always be important. With that in mind, here&#8217;s what you need to know about contextual targeting.</p>
<p>Google’s send-off for third-party cookies may have been <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/27/23280905/google-chrome-cookies-privacy-sandbox-advertising" target="_blank" rel="noopener">postponed to 2024</a>, but brands, publishers, and advertisers are not wasting time finding a viable and effective alternative.</p>
<p>Although third-party data is still largely accessible, most organizations are already edging away from traditional behavioral targeting in preparation for the switch-off. And this is a logical move, not only to avoid being caught without a post-cookie solution, but also to build and maintain trust with their audiences. </p>
<p>With consumers largely in favor of this shift away from privacy-invasive methods, contextual advertising seems to be the natural next step, with its market worth predicted to reach <a href="https://www.strategyr.com/market-report-contextual-advertising-forecasts-global-industry-analysts-inc.asp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$562.1bn</a> by 2030.</p>
<p>As a strategy, contextual targeting isn’t new and has been discussed at length across the industry, especially in relation to the <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-contextual-advertising-market-to-reach-335-1-billion-by-2026--301500767.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opportunities and challenges</a> of a post-COVID-19 marketplace.</p>
<p>But do advertisers <i>really</i> know what it’s all about? </p>
<h4>What is contextual targeting?</h4>
<p>Contextual advertising is a method of serving advertisements to consumers that are relevant to the online environment in which these ads are viewed.</p>
<p>The popular resurgence of contextual targeting, dubbed ‘<a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/04/25/contextual-20-blazing-human-trail-forward-digital-advertising" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Contextual 2.0</a>’, has its origins in print media. Before the birth of the internet, the advent of third-party cookies, and access to Browse histories, advertisers only had content to rely on when it came to reaching their target audiences. </p>
<p>Instead of targeting users with ads based on topics the consumer has engaged with previously, contextual ads are matched with what a consumer is interested in at that moment. This way, brands are able to reach relevant audiences, make sure their ads are compliant with key regulations, and ensure that the consumer’s rights to privacy remain protected. </p>
<p>The recent popularity of contextual targeting sits within a wider background of legislative change – including GDPR regulations in Europe, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/data-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DPA</a> and the upcoming <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-businesses-to-save-billions-under-new-uk-version-of-gdpr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Data Protection and Digital Information Bill</a> in the UK, and a range of active and evolving regulations across the <a href="https://iapp.org/media/pdf/resource_center/State_Comp_Privacy_Law_Chart.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US</a> – which now sees 71% of countries across the world <a href="https://unctad.org/page/data-protection-and-privacy-legislation-worldwide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implementing data-protection laws</a>.</p>
<p>With 74% of consumers <a href="https://venturebeat.com/security/data-privacy-truly-matters-to-your-customers-its-time-to-make-it-a-core-business-value/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prioritizing data privacy above other concerns</a> – including sustainability, equality, and other ethical issues – the fact that contextual advertising doesn’t track consumers’ internet Browse habits stands out as one of its biggest strengths. </p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ymZK54XLXMU?si=aKuaAqFnlWuccJQl" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h4>How does contextual advertising work?</h4>
<p>Contextual targeting uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep-learning algorithms to analyze content in real time. In-page signals such as text, speech, and imagery determine the subject, general topic, and location of the content, and these insights inform the placement of the ad.</p>
<p>Matching keywords, topics, and subtopics are at the core of contextual advertising – but modern systems have refined abilities to secure more precise, suitable, and appropriate ad placement. </p>
<p>They also allow for greater nuance when it comes to scanning web pages to determine appropriate audiences, factoring in URLs, and semantic and natural language processing alongside traditional keywords.</p>
<p>These additional factors not only succeed in detecting phrases that are contextually relevant but also deduce tone of voice and general sentiment. </p>
<p>This provides an additional layer of brand safety, able to identify content that is relevant and appropriate, as well as content that should be avoided.</p>
<h4>What are the benefits of contextual targeting?</h4>
<h6>Trust, attention, and engagement</h6>
<p>From a consumer perspective, contextual targeting meets contemporary demands for more privacy-compliant marketing. 81% of UK consumers <a href="https://iabeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IAB-Europe-Guide-to-Contextual-Advertising-July-2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prefer ads that match the content they are viewing</a>, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). </p>
<p>Without the same ads following consumers around online – which many describe as &#8220;<a href="https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/most-consumers-creeped-out-by-ads-that-follow-them-across-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creepy</a>&#8221; – contextual advertising engenders a less intrusive and more positive brand experience.</p>
<p>According to one study, the chance of success is also high: 69% of consumers are <a href="https://doubleverify.com/the-resurgence-of-contextual-targeting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more likely to engage with contextually relevant content</a>, with 4 in 5 (81%) <a href="https://iabeurope.eu/knowledge-hub/iab-europes-guide-to-contextual-advertising/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preferring ads matched to the displayed content</a>. Contextually relevant targeting has also been found to increase attention by <a href="https://www.iabuk.com/research/rules-attention-five-ways-maximise-ad-attention-online" target="_blank" rel="noopener">107%</a> and purchase intent by <a href="https://integralads.com/insider/ad-context-attention-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14%</a>.<b></b></p>
<h6>Data, privacy, and relevance</h6>
<p>With 65% of UK consumers <a href="https://iabeurope.eu/knowledge-hub/iab-europes-guide-to-contextual-advertising/">favoring brands that use contextual targeting</a>, brand reputation can also benefit. Beyond consumer preference, brands that explicitly rely on audience and user data risk falling short of continuously developing data regulations and incurring fines for violating consumer privacy, a danger that contextual marketing avoids. </p>
<p>Nearly half (43%) of respondents to <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/trust-center/docs/cisco-consumer-privacy-survey-2022.pdf?CCID=cc000160&#038;DTID=esootr000515&#038;OID=wprsc030156" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cisco’s 2022 Consumer Privacy Survey</a> stated they do not trust companies with their data. According to most (79%), this is because there is a lack of transparency around data processing and management. </p>
<p>Businesses should always be clear on how they handle sensitive – or indeed, any – customer information, but contextual advertising bypasses many of these risks. </p>
<p>Beyond this, with 61% of users concerned about how their behaviors are tracked, marketing based on page content avoids potential harm to consumer trust, and further maintains a brand’s reputation and relationship with its audience.<b></b></p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_774890887_1681998407447" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 6000/4000; max-width: 6000px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
<h6>Brand safety and suitability</h6>
<p>Contemporary contextual tools are also vital when it comes to preserving brand safety. Accurate content identification reduces the likelihood of harmful or negative associations that can impact public and consumer perceptions. While many brands still rely on keyword blocking and exclusion lists as a way to advertise next to appropriate content, these methods should be used with caution.<br />
</p>
<p>As digital users are faced with seemingly unprecedented amounts of misinformation and disinformation, these broad-stroke approaches cannot guarantee both safety and scale. </p>
<p>Keywords can help to avoid placements alongside unsavory or untrustworthy articles but this often comes at the detriment of genuinely valuable content. News publishers, for example, while typically viewed as premium and trustworthy sources, often see upwards of 30% of their content <a href="https://digiday.com/media/news-publishers-lament-the-role-of-verification-firms-in-the-programmatic-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">misclassified and demonetized</a> for being &#8220;unsafe&#8221; – a number that surges to 65% for <a href="https://www.adweek.com/programmatic/i-have-given-up-adverse-blocking-continues-to-burn-lgbtbq-publishers/">progressive media content</a>.<b></b></p>
<h6>Financially viable and resource-light</h6>
<p>Contextual advertising is also a cheaper alternative to implement. Traditional behavior-centric advertising involves the thorough collection of consumer data. </p>
<p>To access enough data for insights to be worthwhile and actionable, companies need to invest in reliable and up-to-date technology or, alternatively, employ a third party. And that’s only the first step of the process, as additional resources are necessary to store, manage, and analyze this data. </p>
<p>Developing a whole team dedicated to data collection and analysis can be costly – and relying on another party to do this can be risky from a data protection perspective.</p>
<p>Contextual advertising doesn’t require consumer data or the resources necessary to process it. This contributed to many publishers&#8217; decisions to change their advertising tactics to contextual advertising ahead of the implementation of GDPR in 2018, seeing <a href="https://digiday.com/media/personalization-diminished-gdpr-era-contextual-targeting-making-comeback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">improved ROI</a> as a result. </p>
<h4>What are the disadvantages of contextual advertising? </h4>
<p>While contextual advertising offers consumers and brands an extensive range of benefits, it&#8217;s not entirely free from challenges. </p>
<p>Ensuring suitable topics, keywords, sentiments, and subtopics are found and adhered to in order to rival the level of accuracy behavioral targeting can provide can be time consuming. And even then, there is always a chance that page sentiment may be misunderstood.</p>
<p>For example, a consumer may read about a celebrity’s latest expensive purchase, but it doesn’t guarantee they are planning to make the same purchase. Any ads based on that part of the content, therefore, may well be irrelevant. </p>
<p>The focus on relevant content can also make scaling advertising more difficult. If marketers want to expand their reach, they have to learn to be creative when it comes to identifying what counts as contextually relevant.</p>
<p>However, as a solution that is growing in popularity, there are new technologies constantly popping up to mitigate against limitations. <a href="https://smartframe.io/contextual-targeting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SmartFrame’s solution</a>, for example, uses highly detailed metadata embedded into its images, which provides a reliable source of data. </p>
<p>Automation is also speeding up progress in this area, although since AI cannot be expected to fully grasp the nuance of certain stories, human intervention can and should be added to the process to spot ambiguous content, refine targeting, and maximize outreach to target audiences.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_1225440427_1681997049080" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 6000/3375; max-width: 6000px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
<h4>The future of contextual advertising</h4>
<p>The arrival of new privacy laws and the demise of third-party cookies – with 60% of web traffic <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/01/26/5-top-digital-advertising-predictions-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted to be cookie-less by the end of 2023</a> – demands adaptation of the wider advertising industry. And brands that choose GDPR-compliant, non-invasive advertising are likely to come out on top.</p>
<p>The data suggests that the only direction for contextual advertising is up, predicting a CAGR of 13.3% across the period of 2020 to 2027, making it <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289075/change-contextual-advertising-spending-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the most popular alternatives chosen across the industry</a>.</p>
<p>Time and time again, contextual targeting proves superior as an advertising strategy that meets both consumer and business needs. </p>
<p>At SmartFrame, our mission is to help build a more transparent and effective digital advertising ecosystem. Our technology not only ensures prime ad placement within page images, but also increases efficiency and precision by providing additional data signals.</p>
<p>By combining SmartFrame’s technology with a contextual strategy, brands can be assured that their ads will hit home – and all without the pitfalls of behavioral targeting.</p>								</div>
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		<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/contextual-advertising-everything-you-need-to-know-about-contextual-targeting/">Contextual advertising: Everything you need to know about contextual targeting</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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		<title>What is first-party data? And how should you use it?</title>
		<link>https://smartframe.io/blog/what-is-first-party-data-and-how-should-you-use-it/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[SmartFrame]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:44:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[News & Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[targeting]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://smartframe.io/?p=79335</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>What is first-party data? And how do you implement a successful first-party [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/what-is-first-party-data-and-how-should-you-use-it/">What is first-party data? And how should you use it?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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									<p class="blog-stand-first">What is first-party data? And how do you implement a successful first-party data strategy?</p>
<p>For years, brands and marketers have tracked user activity and behavior to tailor ad campaigns and shape communication strategies. </p>
<p>But as the capacity to gather more data has grown, so has customer <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series/trust-new-business-currency.html">distrust</a> in how this data is used. This has culminated in a privacy revolution, one that has seen Google renounce third-party cookies, and increasingly stringent data privacy regulations such as <a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/lessons/gdpr_key-concepts-of-gdpr_sihx">GDPR</a> coming into force.</p>
<p>Consumers today have unprecedented control over who they share their data with and how it is used. Explicit consent for data collection has to be earned, leaving companies to prove not only that they are being responsible with this data, but that they are providing something valuable in return – namely, engaging, personalized, and positive experiences.</p>
<h4>First-party and zero-party data</h4>
<p>Since brands and marketers still need audience insights to personalize content, offerings, and campaigns, there has been a shift away from third-party services and toward direct data strategies with clear consent management processes, largely using zero and first-party data.</p>
<p>Zero- and first-party data are two sides of the same coin in that the information is derived from audience interactions and transactions across a company’s own channels. There are, however, some differences.</p>
<p>First-party data comprises interactions on business platforms, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and point-of-sale data, together with online chat transcripts, social media conversations, purchase history, and demographic information.</p>
<p>Zero-party data comes from customers who actively provide a business with additional data and insights. This could be through a website form, for example, or a poll, survey, or membership application. </p>
<p>Whereas first-party data is derived from web activity that has to be subsequently analyzed, zero-party data is proactively given. But as opposed to third-party data, first- and zero-party data uses software and systems that are internal to the business, forgoing third-party intermediaries. </p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_1864365643_1734533569418" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 2000/1229; max-width: 2000px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
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<p>When used in tandem, first- and zero-party data can be used to develop audience segments into customer categories, which can be subsequently used to personalize products and communications.</p>
<p>Finding ways to motivate customers to share their information, however, is not always easy. Many businesses offer rewards in exchange for insights, such as premium content, exclusive offers, loyalty programs, newsletters, and e-books. All of these can be great ways to give back to consumers while encouraging them to share their interests.</p>
<p>Once a business has determined its specific value proposition, it needs to integrate an opportunity for the customer to supply their data seamlessly into their journey. Doing so can be tricky, but not impossible. Here are a few methods to try.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_741730075_1671450774795" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 2000/1334; max-width: 2000px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
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<h4>Registration</h4>
<p>Registration is an easy way to acquire basic customer information such as name, interests, and geolocation details. Offering a discount on a customer&#8217;s first purchase can also be a great incentive to inspire new users to sign up. </p>
<p>Partnering with a platform such as Facebook or Google can simplify the registration process. While this does include a third-party service, users need to grant permission to share this information to access the website&#8217;s content, which makes it a first-party data source. It’s always good to give users the option to sign in as a guest, however – no one likes being forced to share data, and having a good experience can persuade uncertain customers to provide more information further down the line.</p>
<h3>Interactive content</h3>
<p>Using forms, surveys, questionnaires, and web requests are simple ways to build customer profiles. These might be triggered on the landing page or after a product purchase, which allows the customer to specify the type of product or service needed, or perhaps to give feedback.</p>
<p>It’s important to have a goal in mind when taking this approach. Questions around product preferences, budget, or buying tendencies can accomplish multiple aims and can empower a deeper understanding of what a consumer needs, wants, and what stage of the marketing funnel they are at. This in turn can be used to recommend the ideal product and inform future communications. </p>
<p>Interactive images also yield consumer engagement information without any additional effort on their behalf. SmartFrame&#8217;s technology allows users to interact with an image through functions such as <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/spotlight-hyper-zoom/">Hyper Zoom</a> and full-screen viewing, as well as lawful image sharing through a specific embedded link, and this information can be used to guage popularity and better inform brands of how users want to interact with their content. This also creates a better experience for the user as it allows them to engage with a brand in a way conventional images do not allow.</p>
<h4>Enable content sharing and leverage user-generated content (UGC)</h4>
<p>Users enjoy making and sharing content: it’s what the internet is all about. Making this part of a business strategy can be a cost-effective way to promote a brand and include the loyal customers who love it most. Furthermore, encouraging and involving consumers to be part of a journey lends content an extra layer of authenticity. Our recent article explained <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/user-generated-content-the-key-to-brand-authenticity/">how to build an effective user-generated content strategy</a>.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_2176160997_1671451558695" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 4320/2880; max-width: 4320px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
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<p>A stellar content strategy – including visual, written, and video content – also makes sharing easy. When properly analyzed, this can be used to reveal consumer interaction with a website or product, and the kind of content that is most popular. SmartFrame&#8217;s technology facilitates this through a sharing function, which is trackable, and measurable, and protects intellectual property by streaming the image from one central server rather than making it available to download. </p>
<h4>Make customer feedback integral to the process</h4>
<p>Consumers trust reviews. In a recent survey, <a href="https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/">77%</a> of consumers admitted to &#8220;always&#8221; or &#8220;regularly&#8221; reading reviews when browsing for local businesses, and 89% admitted they were &#8216;highly&#8217; or &#8216;fairly&#8217; likely to use a business that responded to all of its online reviews.</p>
<p><script async src="https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js"></script><smartframe-embed customer-id="7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d" image-id="shutterstock_725746873_1671459837267" theme="blog-new" style="width: 100%; display: inline-flex; aspect-ratio: 6000/4000; max-width: 6000px;"></smartframe-embed></p>
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<p>Customer feedback is a fantastic source of consumer insights as well as a chance to enhance everything from website functionality and user experience to the product offering. There are many strategic points along the journey where a quick feedback form might be appropriate, including post-purchase, after a repurchase, if a shopping cart has been abandoned, or following a referral or tag on social media. These answers can then be leveraged to be featured as positive reviews, or as a starting point for improvement.</p>
<p>Crucially, if giving reviews and providing feedback looks like a hassle, many consumers simply won’t bother. Providing easy links to follow, making it an optional step in the buying journey, using simple questions, providing prompts, and letting customers know how long the whole process takes will lighten the load. The key thing is to limit the number of clicks and redirects, which minimizes the time and effort required to write and publish the review.</p>
<h4>Data follows trust</h4>
<p>A business needs to inspire trust at every step of the way if it hopes to access any personal data. This involves being transparent about how and why data is being collected and making the benefits of sharing this data clear.</p>
<p>In short, a trustworthy brand experience must be a priority at every step in a customer’s journey. Once there is a deeper knowledge about customers, it’s important not to misuse this. Many consumers, for example, find <a href="https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/most-consumers-creeped-out-by-ads-that-follow-them-across-devices">retargeting creepy</a>, and incessant <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/08/why-stores-send-you-so-many-emails-spam/619670/">marketing emails</a> quickly fall out of favor. Responsible and respectful data practices are key to not only gaining new customers but to keeping loyal consumers coming back for more.</p>								</div>
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		<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/what-is-first-party-data-and-how-should-you-use-it/">What is first-party data? And how should you use it?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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		<title>SmartFrame Insights: How to use your data to make better decisions</title>
		<link>https://smartframe.io/blog/smartframe-insights-how-to-use-your-data-to-make-better-decisions/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Golowczynski]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2020 16:15:39 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News & Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insights]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://smartframe.io/?p=62929</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>SmartFrame&#8217;s Insights feature helps you to keep on top of everything to [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/smartframe-insights-how-to-use-your-data-to-make-better-decisions/">SmartFrame Insights: How to use your data to make better decisions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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									<p style="font-size: 21px; line-height: 30px;"><b>SmartFrame&#8217;s Insights feature helps you to keep on top of everything to do with your images, and using this information wisely can pay dividends. We explain how.</b></p>
<p>SmartFrame has evolved to the point where it’s clear that there’s no single correct way to use the platform. What works for you really depends on what it is you want to achieve. Maybe it’s greater security over your images, better presentation, or perhaps increased sales. Perhaps it’s a combination of these – or something completely different.</p>
<p>One thing that all users can benefit from, however, is the Insights component, something that&#8217;s available to all personal and business users as standard.</p>
<p>This compiles a comprehensive range of stats that tell you far more about both your images and your SmartFrames than you’d otherwise ever know – and there&#8217;s plenty that can be done with this information.</p>
<p>From informing the design and layout of your website to fine-tuning Campaigns and boosting your e-commerce potential, learning about your audience’s behavior is the logical way of helping you achieve your goals faster and smarter.</p>
<p>Here’s everything you need to know to help you get started with SmartFrame Insights.</p>
<h3>How to get started with SmartFrame Insights</h3>
<p>When you log in to your account, simply click on <strong>Insights</strong> on the top navigation panel. Once you do, you’ll be presented with an at-a-glance view of recent activity.</p>
<p>The first things you’ll see are your most popular images, which are ranked by most views, most clicks, and most shares, and hovering over these images with your mouse cursor gives you more detailed information on that specific image.</p>
<p>Further panels show interactions with your images and your latest SmartFrames, together with the number and proportion of shares on social media sites and elsewhere.</p>
<p>These figures are provided for the past 30 days as standard, although you can amend this to a shorter or longer time frame using the drop-down control in the upper-left-hand corner. You can also click on the <strong>See More</strong> button within any of these panels, which allows you to check a broader range of information.</p>
<h3>Image and SmartFrames interactions: what they tell you and why it’s useful</h3>
<p>SmartFrame allows you to add a raft of features to your images, and these serve a range of purposes.</p>
<p>Some of these help you to present your images in the best way possible, while others provide further information on an image&#8217;s contents. These can also be used to grow your online audience and channel traffic to where it matters the most.</p>
<p>Some of these features are designed to be interacted with, and these interactions are recorded in Insights. Interactive features that you can add to SmartFrames include:</p>
<p><strong>● Full-screen viewing:</strong> Fills the screen with your SmartFrame</p>
<p><strong>● Hyper Zoom:</strong> Allows viewers to zoom progressively further into the SmartFrame</p>
<p><strong>● Information button:</strong> Allows you to add additional details to describe what’s in the image within the SmartFrame</p>
<p><strong>● Share button:</strong> Presents a range of options for sharing a link to your SmartFrame</p>
<p><strong>● Call-to-action button: </strong>Allows you to highlight a social media channel, newsletter, and more</p>
<p>Using this information to gauge which features and images are popular is all the more important when you consider that many photographers and content owners have their own favorite images in their collection, only to find that other images resonate better with their audience.</p>
<p>So how can you put this information to good use? At a basic level, knowledge of an image’s popularity can be very useful when it comes to selecting images for your homepage, social media profiles, business cards, and other marketing materials.</p>
<p>If you run any Campaigns on your images, you can choose to use a clearly popular image as part of a promotional banner on several SmartFrames, or, alternatively, target SmartFrames that contain popular images with separate promotional messages.</p>
<p>This is where you may want to experiment with additional features you may not have used before. Let&#8217;s say you have an image that has been particularly popular in some way – perhaps people would like to buy a print of this image? You can experiment with a Call-to-action button, with an icon and wording of your choice, such as in the example below.</p>
<p><script src="https://embed.smartframe.io/7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d.js" data-image-id="landscape_1599646852805" data-width="100%" data-max-width="1200px" data-theme="buy-it-now"></script></p>
<p>Some images will always tend to attract more attention than others. Landscapes, for example, are always popular. Images with plenty of fine detail will likely attract the use of Hyper Zoom, while portraits, or other images containing people, are also more likely to attract attention.</p>
<p>Knowledge of how an image is being viewed and interacted with can also be used to inform what you publish in the future. If, for example, you’re selling prints or other products, you may find people using tools such as Hyper Zoom and Full-screen viewing to scrutinize details prior to a purchase being made. This not only underlines the importance of including these in future SmartFrames, but also of uploading images in a sufficiently high resolution to allow these features to work well, something that will only grow in importance as display technology improves and displays with higher-resolution panels become more common.</p>
<div class="note">
<h4 class="note-heading">What if I have the same image embedded in many different places online?</h4>
<div class="note-body">
<p>SmartFrame allows you to view interactions in two ways: by image and by SmartFrame. The same image, after all, can be transformed into many SmartFrames, so having this choice allows to you view only the most relevant information.</p>
<p>Let’s say you upload an image to SmartFrame and embed it on your website, your blog and perhaps your online store too. Data for this particular image would collate all views, shares, and other interactions to give you the fullest picture of its performance. Viewing these per SmartFrame, however, gives you a clearer idea of the performance of a specific SmartFrame, which means you can also compare results between different SmartFrames.</p>
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<p>Tip: make sure to take into account all possible reasons as to why one image may be getting more attention than others. Perhaps it’s been used repeatedly, or shared more widely on social media than others. Or it may be that you’ve enabled certain features for one Theme and not another. Here, data on specific SmartFrames rather than images may be more useful to take into consideration.</p>
<h3>Combating image-theft attempts</h3>
<p>Anyone who cares about the appearance of their website will wonder to what extent they need to protect their images. Traditional methods of protecting images online, such as only posting low-resolution images and using permanently embedded watermarks, have generally resulted in a less-than-ideal appearance.</p>
<p>SmartFrame is far more flexible here, and its default settings provide strong protection over various forms of image theft, but many image owners still find it useful to know whether people are attempting to steal their images.</p>
<p>SmartFrame notices and records right-click and screenshot attempts on embedded SmartFrames. While right-clicks are not always theft attempts, a high number of right-click actions and screenshot attempts on a particular SmartFrame certainly suggests this may be the case. If you notice certain images attracting this kind of attention, you can reinforce the default protection with further deterrents:</p>
<h4>Dynamic Watermark</h4>
<p>This method of watermarking allows you to apply watermarks to existing SmartFrames and amend them at any point, without you having to re-upload your images. So, if you decide on a new watermark, or feel the need to make an existing watermark larger or smaller, or more or less opaque, you can do this directly through the Admin Panel. To access this, just head to the<strong> Theme</strong> you are currently using and scroll down to <strong>Watermark</strong> on the left-hand-side panel.</p>
<h4>Out-of-focus protection</h4>
<p>SmartFrame provides instant protection over common screenshot attempts using the default methods, such as Shift+Cmd+3 on a Mac, but screenshots can also be captured using third-party tools. For this reason, you can augment the default protection with an Out-of-focus protection option, which places a fine pattern over the image as soon as the user’s mouse cursor leaves the browser viewport. To access this, just head to the<strong> Theme</strong> you are currently using and scroll down to <strong>Advanced</strong> on the left-hand-side panel.</p>
<p><script src="https://embed.smartframe.io/7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d.js" data-image-id="bird_1599559460962" data-width="100%" data-max-width="5184px" data-theme="dynamic-watermark-oof-protection-and-caption"><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span></script></p>
<p>If you’re a Standard or Professional user, you can even customize the screenshot-deterrent message, perhaps to highlight legitimate sharing options, or even to draw attention to licensing or purchasing information for that specific image. You’ll find this option in the same<strong> Advanced</strong> panel as Out-of-focus protection.</p>
<h3>Further ideas</h3>
<p>If you notice your SmartFrames are performing well on a particular domain that&#8217;s not your own, you may want to explore a partnership with this channel, perhaps with a promotion that specifically targets this domain&#8217;s audience. To view this information, simply click on the box that shows the<strong> total number of domains</strong> on which your SmartFrames are found when you first enter the Insights panel, before clicking on <strong>Domains</strong>.</p>
<p><script src="https://embed.smartframe.io/7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d.js" data-image-id="sharing_1599661392984" data-width="100%" data-max-width="2358px" data-theme="default-blog-theme"></script></p>
<p>If you want to see trends and how well your SmartFrames have done over a longer period of time, you can view your data graphically. In the Insights panel, in the box titled <strong>Latest SmartFrames</strong>, click on <strong>See More</strong> before clicking on <strong>Graphs</strong>. Now just specify the time period you would like to check from the <strong>date drop-down menu</strong> and your results will be displayed below. This is also a good way to check spikes in views, clicks or shares that may have previously been missed.</p>
<p><script src="https://embed.smartframe.io/7d0b78d6f830c45ae5fcb6734143ff0d.js" data-image-id="screenshot_2020_09_09_at_16_07_18_1599664146571" data-width="100%" data-max-width="2151px" data-theme="default-blog-theme"></script></p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s always a good idea to periodically check SmartFrames for missing images, particularly if you use an account to which a number of people have access. SmartFrames whose images are missing will remain embedded as SmartFrames, but they will indicate that the image itself is missing. Understanding where these are will allow you to remove inactive SmartFrames and replace these with new ones, which should help to keep your site looking professional and any other representation you have online as expected. In the Insights panel, in the box titled <strong>Latest SmartFrames</strong>, click on <strong>See More </strong>before checking the <strong>Missing Image</strong> option from the <strong>Status drop-down menu</strong>, making sure your date range is sufficiently broad to capture all missing images.</p>								</div>
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		<p>The post <a href="https://smartframe.io/blog/smartframe-insights-how-to-use-your-data-to-make-better-decisions/">SmartFrame Insights: How to use your data to make better decisions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://smartframe.io">SmartFrame</a>.</p>
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