How Digital Footprints Can Shape Business Strategy

Nitin Gupta, founder of QRCodeChimp. He’s a technology leader with over two decades of technology development and management experience.

Any online activity leaves at least some traces of data or information, collectively known as digital footprints. Businesses often analyze and use this data to learn about users’ online activities and behavior; digital footprints are a great tool to help make marketing decisions and improve strategies.

But as the legal and regulatory landscape strengthens, it’s become mandatory for organizations to implement some form of data protection measures as regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Processing Agreement (DPA) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Therefore, as valuable as this data can be, businesses should be mindful of preventing the misuse of users’ personal information. I’ll share some practical tips on effectively tracking and analyzing digital footprints without infringing on user privacy.

Keeping Personal Information Private

In understanding the different types of digital footprints, it’s important to recognize how online users can leave traceable footprints intentionally or unintentionally. Posting a comment on a social media site is an intentional footprint, but collecting data based on the users’ browsing history or used device is an unintentional footprint.

This may not be news to you: Only 7% of respondents in one survey believe that their personal information is kept private and not shared without their consent. Online users leave their data intentionally and unintentionally, but it’s the sole responsibility of businesses to set a limit when searching for more information about users.

Effective Methods To Track Online Behavior Compliantly

Here are some insights into what I have found are the most effective methods for tracking online behavior while also ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations:

Cookies

Cookies are widely used to track user activities on a particular website, such as page views, clicks and user sessions. They are typically used to improve user experience by remembering browsing history and login details. This enables businesses to offer personalized content based on actions during a session.

I recommend you use session cookies for short-term data (e.g., shopping cart contents) and persistent cookies for long-term data tracking (e.g., user preferences). However, make sure to implement a cookie consent banner that aligns with GDPR, DPA and CCPA privacy laws.

IP Address Tracking

An internet protocol (IP) address is a unique identifier for devices connected to the internet. This tracking method identifies users’ geographic locations when interacting with any digital platform. It is useful for location-based services and target audiences based on a particular region.

Tracking should be limited to geolocation purposes to maintain user privacy. IP anonymization can make website visitors’ IP addresses anonymous. Identify suspicious activities like multiple logins from different locations.

Browser Fingerprinting

Also known as device fingerprinting, browser fingerprinting allows websites and apps to collect information about users’ devices, which helps identify user’s behavior. It’s widely used for security purposes, such as fraud prevention by detecting unusual logins.

Similar to cookie consent banners, make sure to provide opt-out options wherever possible and clearly communicate with users about the use of fingerprinting to ensure compliance.

Social Media Tracking

Social media activities can also be monitored. This includes logging in, posting comments, liking content and sharing content, all of which can help reveal users’ interests and social interactions. Social networking sites often use the information for personalized ads and help businesses analyze user engagements and preferences.

You can use tools like Twitter Analytics and Facebook Insights to track user demographics, interactions and impressions. Retarget ads and use hashtags in social media posts to attract users.

As can be seen, you can employ a range of sophisticated tools throughout your websites, apps and social media to gain a deeper understanding of user behavior.

Marketing Strategies Using Digital Footprints

When it comes to marketing, you can use many of these strategies to help bolster your tracking and analysis. Here are some marketing strategies that a business can take advantage of using digital footprints.

Targeted Advertising

Once you understand users’ preferences and needs, targeted advertising can be an effective way to capture the attention of the intended audience.

For instance, hotel or airline companies can use targeted advertising by sending booking ads based on customer searches. Using ad networking sites, including Google and Facebook, companies can share booking information with users who visited a travel website some time ago. This ensures better engagement and conversion.

Product Recommendations

E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Walmart offer product recommendations based on user search history and purchases. Promoting similar products these days is straightforward because retailers can easily get insights into users’ preferences.

Small e-commerce stores can implement similar marketing strategies for product recommendations. Built-in recommendation engines use information on customers’ browsing history and previous purchases to suggest similar products.

Content Personalization

Personalized content creates a unique experience and improves user engagement by piquing their interests. For instance, entertainment platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime or YouTube use personalized content for each user based on their search habits for movies, music or series.

Like with product recommendations, small businesses can take lessons from larger companies that have perfected theses systems to create a personalized content strategy by segmenting users into different profiles based on their watch history, use frequency and engagement patterns.

Dynamic Pricing

Some companies use the data to set different user pricing based on search frequency and interests. For instance, Uber can change its cab fare drastically depending on demand and frequency of use.

Businesses should use customer engagement data to test and adjust their pricing strategy depending on user behavior. For small businesses, implementing a dynamic pricing strategy requires considering key factors like perceived values, purchasing patterns, competitor pricing, price sensitivity, psychological pricing, etc.

Conclusion

Digital footprints present crucial information for businesses to understand user behavior and requirements. While respecting users’ rights, when it comes to privacy, businesses can use these digital footprints to learn more about customers’ online behavior and implement marketing strategies to enhance the experience with their services/products.

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