[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"cms-page:\u002Fabout\u002Four-team\u002Faaron-dicks":3},{"name":4,"url":5,"description":6,"avatar_urls":7,"acf":9,"social":221,"head_links":224,"breadcrumbs":209,"posts":228,"pages":204,"head":1582},"Aaron Dicks","","Chief Technology Officer of Impression. Previously a developer and SEO, I now oversee our technology- and data-driven services, as well as some of our innovation and software development. Technical problem solver.",{"24":8,"48":8,"96":8},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2023\u002F10\u002FAaron-Dicks2.png?auto=compress&fit=fit&fm=jpg&h=96&q=90&w=96",{"job_title":10,"full_bio":11,"specialist_service_links":12,"photo":71,"page_content_modules":127,"hero":205},"Chief Technology Officer","\u003Cp>Chief Technology Officer. Co-founded Impression in 2012.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m a self-taught web developer who stumbled into digital marketing through a part time job at University. I went on to work with a number of digital agencies when I was in an in-house marketing manager role which led me to identify an opportunity to start Impression to offer a better service and product.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having been here from day one, I’ve held many roles at Impression, but have since settled back into a technology role. I lead our technology and data service design and delivery and also look after some of our internal media software development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Something that I’m proud of:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr \u002F>\nBuilding a business that can have so many positive impacts across our team, clients and – in time – a more positive impact on the community and environment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Outside of work:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr \u002F>\nYou’ll find me walking my Giant Schnoodle, Otto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[13,30,42,52,62],{"page":14,"link_text":18},{"ID":15,"post_author":16,"post_date":17,"post_date_gmt":17,"post_content":5,"post_title":18,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":21,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":22,"post_modified_gmt":22,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":23,"guid":24,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":29},108,"98","2020-12-16 14:36:55","Digital Marketing Strategy","publish","closed","strategy","2025-10-29 17:34:16",33,"\u002F?page_id=108",0,"page","0","raw","\u002Fdigital-marketing\u002Fstrategy\u002F",{"page":31,"link_text":41},{"ID":32,"post_author":33,"post_date":34,"post_date_gmt":34,"post_content":5,"post_title":35,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":36,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":37,"post_modified_gmt":37,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":38,"guid":39,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":40},24830,"1","2023-09-09 12:14:08","Media Measurement","measurement","2026-09-25 10:45:33",17552,"\u002F?page_id=24830","\u002Fmedia-solutions\u002Fmeasurement\u002F","Media Effectiveness & 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10:27:20",24873,"\u002F?page_id=244","\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fcro\u002F",{"page":53,"link_text":61},{"ID":54,"post_author":16,"post_date":55,"post_date_gmt":55,"post_content":5,"post_title":56,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":57,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":58,"post_modified_gmt":58,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":25,"guid":59,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":60},374,"2021-01-11 16:25:32","Analytics","analytics","2026-09-28 11:36:16","\u002F?page_id=374","\u002Fanalytics\u002F","Enterprise 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14:52:45","\u002F?page_id=20655","\u002Fcrm\u002F",{"ID":72,"id":72,"title":73,"filename":74,"filesize":75,"url":76,"link":77,"alt":5,"author":78,"description":5,"caption":5,"name":79,"status":80,"uploaded_to":25,"date":81,"modified":81,"menu_order":25,"mime_type":82,"type":83,"subtype":84,"icon":85,"width":86,"height":87,"sizes":88},25129,"Aaron-Dicks2","Aaron-Dicks2.png",305948,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2023\u002F10\u002FAaron-Dicks2.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90","\u002Faaron-dicks2\u002F","12","aaron-dicks2","inherit","2023-10-03 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Dicks’ posts",{"data":133,"pages":204},[134,148,158,173,183,192],{"type_key":135,"title":136,"excerpt":137,"to":138,"postedAt":139,"readingTime":140,"image":141,"authors":142,"category":145},"post","A guide to WebMCP for marketing leaders","\u003Cp>The structure of web traffic is undergoing a fundamental structural transition. We’re certainly seeing the impacts of these changes en masse. Whilst SEO visibility is driving, in part, Generative Engine Optimisation (“GEO”) visibility, clicks in traditional SEO rankings are harder to come by, and customer behaviour is fragmented as users are using new places to […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fa-guide-to-webmcp-for-marketing-leaders\u002F","2026-08-27T13:51:35",13,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fyasa-design-studio-Ot2wQ8jF43s-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[143],{"name":4,"image":144},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2023\u002F10\u002FAaron-Dicks2.png?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=150&q=80&w=150&bg=CFE6F9",{"to":146,"name":147},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcategory\u002Fdigital-marketing\u002F","Digital Marketing",{"type_key":135,"title":149,"excerpt":150,"to":151,"postedAt":152,"readingTime":153,"image":154,"authors":155,"category":157},"Navigating Agentic Commerce with Universal Commerce Protocol","\u003Cp>As artificial intelligence transitions from information retrieval to autonomous task execution, the underlying infrastructure supporting ecommerce is undergoing a fundamental architectural shift.  The Universal Commerce Protocol (“UCP”) provides the unified communication layer required for AI agents to browse, negotiate, and execute transactions directly across merchant back-ends such as payment gateways. It’s an open-source standard co-developed […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fnavigating-agentic-commerce-with-universal-commerce-protocol\u002F","2026-08-27T13:51:17",9,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[156],{"name":4,"image":144},{"to":146,"name":147},{"type_key":135,"title":159,"excerpt":160,"to":161,"postedAt":162,"readingTime":163,"image":164,"authors":165,"category":170},"Beyond Tomorrow: Navigating an AI-First Future [Video]","\u003Cp>Explore the future of marketing in an AI-first world with Mike Wickham and Aaron Dicks. This video tackles the big questions facing brands today: How to generate high-quality content, where to invest for the best results, and what the role of a marketer will be in the age of AI agents. In this video, you’ll […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fbeyond-tomorrow-navigating-an-ai-first-future-video\u002F","2026-04-28T13:09:26",5,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F08\u002F07_beyond-tomorrow-navigating-an-AI-first-future-min.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[166,167],{"name":4,"image":144},{"name":168,"image":169},"Mike Wickham","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F06\u002FMike-Wickham.png?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=150&q=80&w=150&bg=CFE6F9",{"to":171,"name":172},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcategory\u002Fai\u002F","AI",{"type_key":135,"title":174,"excerpt":175,"to":176,"postedAt":177,"readingTime":178,"image":179,"authors":180,"category":182},"Mastering Media Planning and Budget Optimisation: Strategies for Marketers","\u003Cp>In a recent study by Impression, research showed that 61% of marketers expected to increase their marketing budget in the next 12 months, but out of 915 marketers surveyed there was a split on where they thought it would be best to invest their budget, including a surprising near 30% who were allocating “equally” or […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fmastering-media-planning-and-budget-optimisation\u002F","2025-06-19T12:22:13",17,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002Fkatelyn-perry-bgkG5PF1zUM-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[181],{"name":4,"image":144},{"to":146,"name":147},{"type_key":135,"title":184,"excerpt":185,"to":186,"postedAt":187,"readingTime":178,"image":188,"authors":189,"category":191},"GDPR & Marketing: The Definitive Guide to General Data Protection Regulations in 2025","\u003Cp>Do you feel like GDPR compliance is stifling your creativity as a marketer? It doesn’t have to if you understand the regulations and know how to work with them. As marketers, we must be aware of how the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) affect our marketing activities and what we need to do to stay […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fgetting-ready-for-gdpr\u002F","2024-12-02T16:01:22","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[190],{"name":4,"image":144},{"to":146,"name":147},{"type_key":135,"title":193,"excerpt":194,"to":195,"postedAt":196,"readingTime":197,"image":198,"authors":199,"category":201},"Marketing Automation: Definition, Tools and Strategies","\u003Cp>Marketing automation is a powerful tool for businesses. By utilising software to automate key marketing tasks, it can streamline both your marketing operations and your customer journey, driving efficiency gains and delivering highly personalised experiences for your users. At its best, digital marketing automation extends way beyond the remit of email campaigns. From social media […]\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u002Fblog\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F","2025-02-24T16:53:22",29,"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=640&q=90&w=640",[200],{"name":4,"image":144},{"to":202,"name":203},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcategory\u002Fdata-engineering\u002F","Data Engineering","15",{"type":206,"style":207,"title":208,"heading":4,"intro":11,"services":12,"breadcrumbs":209,"photo":89,"social":221},"author","dark","Meet the Team",[210,213,216,219],{"path":211,"name":212},"\u002F","Home",{"path":214,"name":215},"\u002Fabout\u002F","About Us",{"path":217,"name":218},"\u002Fabout\u002Four-team\u002F","Meet the team",{"path":220,"name":4},null,{"twitter":222,"linkedin":223},"https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Faarondicks","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.linkedin.com\u002Fin\u002Faarondicks\u002F",[225],{"rel":226,"href":227},"canonical","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.impressiondigital.com\u002Fabout\u002Four-team\u002Faaron-dicks\u002F",[229,556,750,995,1192,1385],{"id":230,"date":231,"date_gmt":231,"guid":232,"modified":139,"modified_gmt":139,"slug":234,"status":19,"type":135,"link":138,"title":235,"content":236,"excerpt":239,"author":240,"featured_media":241,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"sticky":238,"template":5,"format":242,"meta":243,"categories":244,"collections":247,"coauthors":248,"class_list":249,"acf":258,"head_links":259,"breadcrumbs":260,"url_path":138,"search_description":267,"featured_image_urls":268,"authors":303,"type_nicename":320,"reading_minutes":140,"category":321,"yoast_title":326,"yoast_meta":327,"yoast_json_ld":384,"_links":510},39683,"2026-08-27T13:51:30",{"rendered":233},"\u002F?p=39683","a-guide-to-webmcp-for-marketing-leaders",{"rendered":136},{"rendered":237,"protected":238},"\n\u003Cp>The structure of web traffic is undergoing a fundamental structural transition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We’re certainly seeing the impacts of these changes en masse. Whilst SEO visibility is driving, in part, \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fgenerative-engine-optimisation-agency\u002F\">Generative Engine Optimisation\u003C\u002Fa> (“GEO”) visibility, clicks in traditional SEO rankings are harder to come by, and customer behaviour is fragmented as users are using new places to find answers, namely AI modes and LLM chat interfaces. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Bot traffic has always been persistent, but it is reaching \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.forbes.com\u002Fsites\u002Fjosipamajic\u002F2026\u002F06\u002F04\u002Fbots-now-outnumber-humans-online-and-the-internet-was-never-built-for-this\u002F\">new highs\u003C\u002Fa>, and, due to its sophistication, it’s showing up more frequently and feeling like a new issue all over again:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>AI Overviews appear in up to \u003Cstrong>30%\u003C\u002Fstrong> of all Google search queries, up from ~13% in early 2025 (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fseranking.com\u002Fblog\u002Fai-statistics\u002F\">SE Ranking\u003C\u002Fa>).\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>When an AI Overview appears on a search page, organic click-through rates for the top-ranking page drop up to \u003Cstrong>58%\u003C\u002Fstrong> (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fahrefs.com\u002Fblog\u002Fai-overviews-reduce-clicks-update\u002F\">Ahrefs\u003C\u002Fa>).\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Around \u003Cstrong>93%\u003C\u002Fstrong> of dedicated AI search sessions (conversational interfaces) end without a click-through to an external web page (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.semrush.com\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ai-mode-seo-impact\u002F\">Semrush\u003C\u002Fa>).\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Nearly \u003Cstrong>60%\u003C\u002Fstrong> of web traffic is driven by bots (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nbcnews.com\u002Ftech\u002Ftech-news\u002Fbot-web-traffic-overtaken-human-web-traffic-data-shows-rcna348522\">Cloudflare Radar\u003C\u002Fa>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Generative AI referral traffic to online retail sites grew \u003Cstrong>138%\u003C\u002Fstrong> year-over-year (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbusiness.adobe.com\u002Fresources\u002Fsdk\u002F.q3-ai-traffic-trends-report\u002Fq3-2026-ai-sourced-traffic-insights.pdf\">Adobe Analytics\u003C\u002Fa>) \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>AI referral traffic accounts for \u003Cstrong>1.08%\u003C\u002Fstrong> of all website traffic (\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.conductor.com\u002Facademy\u002Faeo-geo-benchmarks-report\u002F\">Conductor\u003C\u002Fa>)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With Agentic browsing on the rise and here to stay, it is a clear sign of the future direction of travel; bot browser sessions can replace some human ones. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing leadership has focused heavily on GEO visibility to ensure brand visibility within Large Language Model (“LLM”) ‘answers’. However, GEO only solves the “read side” of the consumer journey. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When an autonomous agent attempts to complete an action on behalf of a user (such as calculating custom SaaS pricing, checking inventory, or submitting a qualified enterprise lead form), it must navigate the challenges of web page rendering and scraping. Certainly easily passable for reading text but far more brittle when navigating form structures and other interaction requirements. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Web Model Context Protocol (“WebMCP”) addresses this challenge. Backed by Google, Microsoft, and web standards bodies, WebMCP is an emerging browser standard that lets websites give AI assistants direct, structured access to their online features.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-of-contents\">\u003Cul>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#%f0%9f%92%a1-key-points-for-technical-marketers\">💡 Key points for technical marketers\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-webmcp-and-how-does-it-work\">What is WebMCP and how does it work?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#1-the-declarative-model\">1. The Declarative Model\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#2-the-imperative-model\">2. The Imperative Model\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#webmcp-vs-schema-org-vs-server-side-mcp\">WebMCP vs. Schema.org vs. Server-Side MCP\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#strategic-channel-considerations\">Strategic channel considerations\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#1-organic-visibility\">1. Organic visibility\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#2-paid-media\">2. Paid Media\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#3-web-analytics-and-measurement\">3. Web Analytics and Measurement\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#evaluating-benefits-and-tradeoffs\">Evaluating benefits and tradeoffs\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#strategic-benefits\">Strategic benefits\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#strategic-tradeoffs-risks\">Strategic tradeoffs & risks\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#preserving-ux-and-digital-experience\">Preserving UX and Digital Experience\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#bridging-webmcp-to-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp\">Bridging WebMCP to Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#the-future-of-webmcp-in-the-tech-stack\">The Future of WebMCP in the Tech Stack\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#frequently-asked-questions-faqs\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-the-primary-technical-difference-between-webmcp-and-standard-mcp\">What is the primary technical difference between WebMCP and standard MCP?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-does-webmcp-impact-user-privacy-and-regulatory-compliance-gdpr-ccpa\">How does WebMCP impact user privacy and regulatory compliance (GDPR\u002FCCPA)?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#can-webmcp-be-implemented-without-deploying-new-backend-infrastructure\">Can WebMCP be implemented without deploying new backend infrastructure?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-do-we-prevent-malicious-agents-from-abusing-webmcp-endpoints\">How do we prevent malicious agents from abusing WebMCP endpoints?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-the-estimated-timeline-for-implementing-a-basic-webmcp-pilot\">What is the estimated timeline for implementing a basic WebMCP pilot?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FGeneric_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27527\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"%f0%9f%92%a1-key-points-for-technical-marketers\">💡 Key points for technical marketers\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>GA4 tracking breaks on agent executions, requiring custom event dispatchers piped directly into your CDP.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Google PageSpeed Insights now evaluates 4 agentic metrics, shifting organic search optimisation to ‘Agentic Actionability’.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Paid ads can bypass landing pages by using WebMCP to generate direct-to-checkout links with pre-embedded tracking parameters.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Zero back-end deployment is required as WebMCP executes client-side using simple HTML annotations or JavaScript wrappers.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>WebMCP tools must connect to your martech stack, storing definitions in design systems whilst piping live execution data into your CRM.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-webmcp-and-how-does-it-work\">\u003Cstrong>What is WebMCP and how does it work?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>WebMCP brings the core principles of the \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmodelcontextprotocol.io\u002Fdocs\u002F2026-07-28\u002Fgetting-started\u002Fintro\">Model Context Protocol \u003C\u002Fa>(“MCP”), an open standard that lets AI applications safely connect to external data sources and tools, directly into the user’s web browser. Rather than requiring an agent to parse complex visual layouts or execute computer-vision click actions, WebMCP allows web apps to give AI assistants a built-in control panel, enabling the AI to perform specific tasks on the site automatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"2150\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002FWebMCP-User-Browser.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"Diagram of the Agentic Commerce Stack illustrating WebMCP at the Browser\u002FClient Layer exposing local site capabilities, forms, and calculators, pointing down to UCP at the Protocol\u002FTransaction Layer which standardises cross-merchant identity, cart states, and payment rails.\" class=\"wp-image-39696\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>When it comes to adding WebMCP to a site, you’ll typically take one of two approaches:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-the-declarative-model\">\u003Cstrong>1. The Declarative Model\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The declarative approach allows marketing and engineering teams to enhance existing web forms with standardised semantic attributes. By adding structured metadata directly to standard web page fields, your web application signals to the browser’s agent engine that an existing form accepts structured data inputs directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This model requires minimal engineering overhead because it leverages existing frontend form submissions. When an agent visits the page, it reads the form attributes, identifies the required parameters (such as company size or work email), and populates the request without simulating visual keyboard or mouse actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-the-imperative-model\">\u003Cstrong>2. The Imperative Model\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The imperative approach is designed for dynamic interactive workflows, such as real-time pricing configurators, eligibility checkers, or multi-tiered subscription estimators. Rather than relying on simple static forms, developers expose client-side JavaScript tools directly to the browser context engine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When an AI agent queries the web page, the browser presents a structured list of available actions along with definitions of required parameters and data types. Instead of forcing users to navigate forms and menus, the AI works behind the scenes in real time to retrieve custom pricing, apply discounts, and generate direct links.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"webmcp-vs-schema-org-vs-server-side-mcp\">\u003Cstrong>WebMCP vs. Schema.org vs. Server-Side MCP\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Understanding where WebMCP sits within your architecture requires evaluating it alongside existing structured data paradigms and backend integration protocols.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-table\">\u003Ctable class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\u003Cthead>\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>Capability \u002F Attribute\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>Schema.org Structured Data\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>Server-Side MCP\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>WebMCP (Client-Side)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Fthead>\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>\u003Cstrong>Primary Purpose\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Descriptive indexing and semantic metadata parsing\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Direct server-to-server tool invocation and raw data retrieval\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Interactive, browser-level tool execution during active user web sessions\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>\u003Cstrong>Execution Layer\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Passive markup parsed by search crawlers\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Server-side APIs requiring backend infrastructure deployment\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Client-side JavaScript DOM\u002FBrowser Context (navigator.modelContext).\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>\u003Cstrong>Primary Persona\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>SEO Specialists & Indexers\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Backend Data Engineers & Solutions Architects\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Frontend Web Developers & Digital Growth Marketers\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>\u003Cstrong>Marketing Function\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Improves search eligibility, rich snippets, and GEO citation\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Power backend AI agent workflows and headless pipeline queries\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Enables direct lead conversion, quote generation, and interactive workflows\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>\u003Cstrong>User Context\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Offline \u002F Async Crawling\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Direct API-to-API calls outside browser session state\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Live, human-in-the-loop web browsing session with active local cookies\u002Fstate\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"strategic-channel-considerations\">\u003Cstrong>Strategic channel considerations\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>WebMCP challenges traditional ideas about how we attract customers and measure success online. We’re making a few educated predictions here, but it’s a grounded look at where things are going.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-organic-visibility\">\u003Cstrong>1. Organic visibility\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Traditional SEO focuses on visibility and page indexability, while GEO focuses on citation rates inside generative answers. WebMCP introduces a third layer: Agentic\u003Cstrong> \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>Actionability\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fstrong>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Ranking high in an AI search result is insufficient if a competitor’s site allows the user’s agent to complete a transaction directly from their chat interface. WebMCP is the technology that makes your conversion funnels transactional for agents.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Technical SEO teams must maintain alignment between human-readable page copy and WebMCP tool descriptions. Misleading parameter descriptions may lead to hallucinated inputs or direct failure in agent validation passes.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Google has recently included agentic browsing scoring in Lighthouse, so this is now reflected in PageSpeed Insights. It currently consists of four metrics, with WebMCP being ‘hidden’:\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Accessibility tree\u003C\u002Fstrong> – A well-formed accessibility tree helps AI agents navigate and interact with the page. Having your forms marked up with clear labels helps agents know what they are for.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Cumulative layout shift\u003C\u002Fstrong> – This is an older metric from Core Web Vitals that measures the movement of visible elements within the viewport. It makes sense that this is measured, as agents don’t want to see a page moving around a lot when they are trying to understand it while it loads.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>LLMs.txt\u003C\u002Fstrong> – Checks whether or not the site has an llms.txt file and if it follows the standards.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>WebMCP\u003C\u002Fstrong> – This metric is currently hidden as it’s still proposed, but it’s very common for these to eventually be fully integrated into the tool.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With WebMCP being part of this scoring system, it’s clear that it’s something SEO teams will need to focus on as the shift to agentic browsing occurs. We’re no longer just optimising for a crawler, but also for these agents which will be accessing the site.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-paid-media\">\u003Cstrong>2. Paid Media\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Paid media strategies must adapt to traffic driven by automated agents operating on behalf of high-intent buyers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Ad platforms will still most likely be built for human consumption and choice; however, post-click experiences may begin to look very different over time. We’d also expect to see potentially some labelling or preferences of ads\u002Fwebsites which support agentic browsing or capabilities in some ad experiences.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Instead of bidding purely on top-of-funnel keywords to drive ad clicks to landing pages, performance teams can have WebMCP generate links that send users straight to checkout, while automatically embedding tracking parameters right into the link.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-web-analytics-and-measurement\">\u003Cstrong>3. Web Analytics and Measurement\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As WebMCP adoption grows, it disrupts traditional tracking setups in major tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Adobe Analytics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"2150\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fwebjournies1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"A diagram comparing two types of web user journeys. The top row shows the 'Traditional Web Journey' with a flow from 'AD CLICK' to 'Landing Page Render (GA4 Pageview)', then 'Form Interaction', a 'Thank You Page', and finally a 'Conversion Event'. The bottom row shows the 'Agent-Mediated Journey via WebMCP' with a flow from 'AGENT QUERY' to a 'WebMCP Tool Call (No DOM Render)', then a 'Direct API Checkout Return', leading to a 'Purchase Event'. Both flows end in distinct success events marked with a green checkmark icon.\" class=\"wp-image-39664\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>When an agent interacts with a page via WebMCP APIs, it may not trigger standard Document Object Model (“DOM”) interaction events or route navigation triggers. Traditional pageview-based session tracking underestimates user intent and volume.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Data engineering teams can (\u003Cstrong>and should!\u003C\u002Fstrong>) attach custom event dispatchers inside WebMCP tool execution handlers. Every tool call must explicitly log execution metrics, parameter validation status, and completion states directly into your Customer Data Platform (“CDP”). This may also give technical marketers flashbacks to ‘\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.google.com\u002Fanalytics\u002Fdevguides\u002Fcollection\u002Fprotocol\u002Fga4\">measurement protocol\u003C\u002Fa>’ style measurement, too. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Attribution models really should distinguish between human-executed conversions and agent-assisted transactions. Without proper event tagging, Return on Ad Spend (“ROAS”) calculation models risk misallocating credit to organic channels when an agent leverages WebMCP tools during a paid campaign interaction, and therefore ongoing optimisation will become more confused. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"evaluating-benefits-and-tradeoffs\">\u003Cstrong>Evaluating benefits and tradeoffs\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While WebMCP offers significant operational advantages for progressive, technical marketing teams, implementation carries distinct operational and brand tradeoffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"strategic-benefits\">\u003Cstrong>Strategic benefits\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>By eliminating multi-step form fills and manual UI navigation, WebMCP reduces friction in high-intent sales funnels, \u003Cem>potentially\u003C\u002Fem> resulting in lower conversion drop-off.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Structured tool definitions strictly enforce parameter data types (such as validated email formats or numeric range bounds), eliminating unstructured input errors and friction commonly experienced in traditional lead forms.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Early adopters establish structural presence inside emerging AI browsers\u002Fsurfaces, ensuring their products are recommended and actionable before competitors adapt.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"strategic-tradeoffs-risks\">\u003Cstrong>Strategic tradeoffs & risks\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Bypassing standard web pages reduces user exposure to rich visual branding, promotional banners, product messaging, and cross-sell design patterns. This also may skip or dilute some of the effects of your digital experience investments if not considered thoroughly. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>As of July 2026, WebMCP support is largely concentrated in Chromium-based implementations via origin \u003Cstrong>trials\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Safari (WebKit) and Firefox (Gecko) exhibit varying adoption timelines, requiring fallbacks to standard progressive enhancement patterns.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Giving AI assistants direct access to your site’s internal tools opens up incredible possibilities, and a few serious security headaches. When you expose site capabilities to an automated agent, you’re also handing bad actors a potential new backdoor. Without strict guardrails, malicious users can trick the AI into leaking sensitive customer data or running commands behind the scenes. Engineering teams need to rigorously stress-test these integrations before pushing them live. But because this technology feels so easy to “plug and play,” many brands will be tempted to rush it out. Mark my words: it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing news headlines about companies learning this lesson the hard way.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"preserving-ux-and-digital-experience\">\u003Cstrong>Preserving UX and Digital Experience\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Transitioning to an agent-ready web architecture requires balancing conversion efficiency with long-term brand equity building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In a world of agentic browsing, we must adopt an ‘Intentional Friction’ model. Just as a physical store uses layouts to guide a shopper, your WebMCP implementation should intentionally introduce ‘friction moments’, places where the agent hands the transaction back to the human to allow for emotional engagement, brand education, or upselling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We don’t necessarily expect all product types to attract consumers who want to buy entirely agentically, so this really does push Agentic\u002FLLM experiences back towards discovery and research-only (which is arguably where we are already at). But for smaller purchase values, over-indexing on frictionless, machine-mediated transactions risks commoditising your offering if buyers never experience your brand narrative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To maintain brand experience and equity when designing WebMCP interactions, implement these three operational guidelines:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>When returning data structures from an imperative tool call, include key brand differentiators alongside raw numbers. For instance, return structured parameters for value proposition summaries or support tier details alongside baseline pricing metrics.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Do not push the entire buyer journey into headlessly executed agent scripts. Force a visual browser handoff for high-value agreement steps, bringing the user back into your core web experience for contract finalisation or custom onboarding displays.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Ensure that system prompts, tool description parameters, and fallback error strings match your corporate tone of voice guidelines, avoiding overly sterile technical jargon when returning messages to user-facing agents.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>WebMCP allows you to provide \u003Cem>just enough\u003C\u002Fem> information for an agent to make a decision, while holding back the complex brand story for the landing page, ensuring the full web experience can still be maintained in part, and users still experience the full customer offer. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bridging-webmcp-to-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp\">\u003Cstrong>Bridging WebMCP to Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While WebMCP operates at the \u003Cstrong>browser layer\u003C\u002Fstrong> to manage interactive tool calls within a live web session, it does not handle standard payment rails, cross-merchant identity negotiation, or global inventory synchronisation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This is where the Universal Commerce Protocol (“UCP”) becomes relevant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"2150\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fagentic-commerce-stack-UCP.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"Add WebMCP title ‘Browsing layer’ and for UCP ‘Transaction Layer’)\n(Alt text: Diagram titled Agentic Commerce Stack showing WebMCP at the Browser Layer exposing local site capabilities, forms, and calculators, with a downward arrow pointing to UCP at the Transaction Layer, which standardises cross-merchant identity, cart states, and payment rails.\n\" class=\"wp-image-39699\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To build a complete AI commerce strategy, you need two pieces working in tandem: WebMCP and UCP.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Where WebMCP acts as the client-side bridge, letting an AI agent talk directly to your site in the browser, UCP provides the standardised transaction language behind the scenes. The ultimate setup combines both: WebMCP handles the front-end experience on your site, then passes secure transaction data downstream to finish the sale on a UCP-compliant checkout system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-future-of-webmcp-in-the-tech-stack\">\u003Cstrong>The Future of WebMCP in the Tech Stack\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As WebMCP moves from preview trials toward full W3C web standard status, technical marketing leaders must incorporate agent-readiness into their core martech roadmaps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Integrating WebMCP into enterprise martech requires aligning client-side execution with core data orchestration workflows:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Maintain WebMCP tool definitions inside your design system repository alongside your UI component library, ensuring updates to business logic are deployed consistently across web properties.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Pipeline every executed WebMCP tool call directly into your CDP (such as Bloomreach, Segment, Tealium, Klaviyo or Treasure Data) to enrich customer profiles with intent signals captured during agent interactions.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Connect lead generation tools directly to enterprise CRM engines (such as Salesforce or HubSpot) to enable real-time sales team notification and automated email nurture activation.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions-faqs\">\u003Cstrong>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-the-primary-technical-difference-between-webmcp-and-standard-mcp\">\u003Cstrong>What is the primary technical difference between WebMCP and standard MCP?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Model Context Protocol (“MCP”) is primarily a server-side framework designed to connect backend databases and cloud APIs to LLM services. WebMCP is a client-side web standard implemented in the browser, allowing live web pages to expose tools directly to browser-based AI agents while leveraging active user session cookies and local DOM state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-does-webmcp-impact-user-privacy-and-regulatory-compliance-gdpr-ccpa\">\u003Cstrong>How does WebMCP impact user privacy and regulatory compliance (GDPR\u002FCCPA)?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>WebMCP executes within the user’s browser sandbox, adhering to standard web security boundaries. Tools registered via WebMCP only expose the data and actions explicitly defined by the site developer. However, collecting personal data through agent tool inputs still requires explicit consent mechanisms, transparent privacy disclosures, and proper data processing agreements under regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"can-webmcp-be-implemented-without-deploying-new-backend-infrastructure\">\u003Cstrong>Can WebMCP be implemented without deploying new backend infrastructure?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Yes. Using the Declarative API pattern, engineering teams can annotate existing HTML forms with simple semantic attributes in minutes. For the Imperative API pattern, JavaScript handlers can wrap existing client-side API calls, allowing organisations to deploy WebMCP capabilities over their current backend architecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-do-we-prevent-malicious-agents-from-abusing-webmcp-endpoints\">\u003Cstrong>How do we prevent malicious agents from abusing WebMCP endpoints?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>WebMCP implementations must incorporate standard security practices, including client-side rate limiting, input parameter validation against strict JSON schemas, and backend authentication tokens. Engineering teams should conduct red-teaming passes to verify that tool descriptions cannot be manipulated through prompt injection attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-the-estimated-timeline-for-implementing-a-basic-webmcp-pilot\">\u003Cstrong>What is the estimated timeline for implementing a basic WebMCP pilot?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A typical initial pilot (covering an action inventory audit, schema design, and registering two to three core tools, e.g., pricing calculator and enterprise contact form) might take between two and four weeks of combined frontend engineering and technical martech effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FGeneric_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27527\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>",false,{"rendered":137,"protected":238},1,39705,"standard",{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[245,246],39,59,[],[15],[250,135,251,252,253,254,255,256,257],"post-39683","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing","category-ecommerce",[],[],[261,262,265,266],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},"\u002Fblog\u002F","Blog",{"path":146,"name":147},{"path":220,"name":136},"Prepare your brand for the future of AI search with WebMCP. Explore strategic benefits, technical setups, and how to protect user experience. 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It’s an open-source standard co-developed by Google alongside enterprise retail, technology, and payment providers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For performance and search marketers, WebMCP and UCP completely redefine how people browse and buy online. WebMCP helps AI navigate your web pages, while UCP completes the conversion. Below, we break down how the technology functions, current rollout timelines, key trade-offs, and what enterprise brands need to do to prepare their marketing data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-of-contents\">\u003Cul>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#the-shift-to-agentic-commerce-geo\">The shift to Agentic Commerce & GEO\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp\">What is Universal Commerce Protocol (\"UCP\")?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#global-rollout-geographic-landscape-july-2026-status\">Global rollout & Geographic landscape (July 2026 status)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#united-states-market-maturity\">United States Market Maturity\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#united-kingdom-market-expansion\">United Kingdom Market Expansion\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#european-union-eu-landscape\">European Union (\"EU\") Landscape\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#technical-architecture-how-ucp-operates-behind-the-scenes\">Technical Architecture: How UCP operates behind the scenes\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-to-register-ucp-capabilities-on-your-website\">How to register UCP capabilities on your website\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#trading-off-brand-experience-for-conversion-velocity\">Trading off brand experience for conversion velocity\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Frequently Asked Questions\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#is-ucp-exclusive-to-google-search-and-gemini\">Is UCP exclusive to Google Search and Gemini?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-the-current-rollout-timeline-for-uk-and-european-merchants\">What is the current rollout timeline for UK and European merchants?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-do-we-offset-the-loss-of-on-site-brand-experience-when-adopting-ucp\">How do we offset the loss of on-site brand experience when adopting UCP?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#who-acts-as-the-merchant-of-record-mor-during-a-ucp-transaction\">Who acts as the Merchant of Record (\"MoR\") during a UCP transaction?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-do-performance-marketers-measure-roas-on-agentic-zero-click-conversions\">How do performance marketers measure ROAS on agentic zero-click conversions?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FGeneric_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27527\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-shift-to-agentic-commerce-geo\">\u003Cstrong>The shift to Agentic Commerce & GEO\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Over \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.capgemini.com\u002Fnews\u002Fpress-releases\u002F71-of-consumers-want-generative-ai-integrated-into-their-shopping-experiences\u002F\">58%\u003C\u002Fa> of digital shopping journeys now start inside conversational AI tools, yet actual purchases within these interfaces regularly stall. The issue isn’t interest; it’s friction. Today, when shoppers ask an AI to find or compare products, traditional websites force them out of the chat and onto an external browser tab to finish buying, a jarring transition that kills momentum right at checkout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>MCP eliminates this drop-off. By connecting AI agents directly to a website’s underlying tools, MCP allows shoppers to research, configure, and purchase complex product bundles without ever leaving the conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This evolution of LLM discovery has given rise to Generative Engine Optimisation (“GEO”). Where traditional Search Engine Optimisation (“SEO”) focused on indexing keywords, acquiring backlinks, and driving web traffic to owned landing pages, GEO focuses on structured data accessibility, algorithmic trust, and (soon, we expect) transactional readiness within AI synthesis engines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"2150\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fwebjournies1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"A diagram comparing two types of web user journeys. The top row shows the 'Traditional Web Journey' with a flow from 'AD CLICK' to 'Landing Page Render (GA4 Pageview)', then 'Form Interaction', a 'Thank You Page', and finally a 'Conversion Event'. The bottom row shows the 'Agent-Mediated Journey via WebMCP' with a flow from 'AGENT QUERY' to a 'WebMCP Tool Call (No DOM Render)', then a 'Direct API Checkout Return', leading to a 'Purchase Event'. Both flows end in distinct success events marked with a green checkmark icon.\" class=\"wp-image-39664\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>UCP acts as the structural bridge between brand discovery inside conversational environments and the actual possibility of sales transactions. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp\">\u003Cstrong>What is Universal Commerce Protocol (“UCP”)?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Universal Commerce Protocol (“UCP”) is an open-source, vendor-agnostic communication standard designed to establish a shared digital language between consumer-facing AI surfaces (such as Google Search AI Mode, the Gemini app, or third-party assistants) and merchant commerce platforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Co-developed by Google in partnership with major enterprise retailers (including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart) and governed by an expanded Tech Council including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Stripe, UCP provides a universal digital standard for transactions across competing platforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This eliminates the need for bespoke, one-to-one Application Programming Interface (“API”) integrations between every AI model and every individual merchant platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"1760\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002FUCPjourney.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"Diagram showing the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) architecture, mapping the Shopping service vertical down to core e-commerce capabilities: Catalogue, Cart, Checkout, and Order processing\" class=\"wp-image-39668\"\u002F>\u003Cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Original source: \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fucp.dev\u002Fdocumentation\u002Fcore-concepts\u002F\">https:\u002F\u002Fucp.dev\u002Fdocumentation\u002Fcore-concepts\u002F\u003C\u002Fa>)\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>Key features of the protocol include:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Retailers own the data:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Retailers retain direct ownership of the customer relationship, pricing rules, and fulfilment. UCP provides the universal rules for how systems connect, without taking a cut of the transaction or acting as a store itself. The shopper talks to the AI, but the merchant stays in complete control. Every transaction, order detail, and data point still flows straight through the retailer’s backend tools.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Payments direct to merchant gateways:\u003C\u002Fstrong> UCP handles the data, allowing merchants to plug in existing payment processors via payment handlers without exposing raw financial credentials to AI agents. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Capabilities are modular (and growing):\u003C\u002Fstrong> The protocol structures interactions into modular capabilities that merchants can enable incrementally depending on their infrastructure maturity.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>UCP was initially set to expand to cover: \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Identity recognition and loyalty modules\u002Fsupport\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Expansion beyond retail towards hospitality (menus, delivery notes, tipping, etc) \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Expansion towards accommodation (bookings, scheduling, etc)\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Wider agentic capabilities, and more \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"global-rollout-geographic-landscape-july-2026-status\">\u003Cstrong>Global rollout & Geographic landscape (July 2026 status)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As of July 2026, the rollout of UCP has transitioned from initial pilot testing to active multi-region deployment across distinct global markets:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"united-states-market-maturity\">\u003Cstrong>United States Market Maturity\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In the US market, UCP-powered agentic checkout is operating live across major enterprise retailers including Walmart, Target, Etsy, Wayfair, and Shopify merchants. Search users on Google Search AI Mode, and the Gemini app can evaluate product bundles and execute transactions without leaving the AI conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"united-kingdom-market-expansion\">\u003Cstrong>United Kingdom Market Expansion\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Following announcements at Google Marketing Live 2026, the UK rollout is progressing through a phased release across mid-2026. Performance marketers in the UK are currently optimising Google Merchant Centre feeds with native_commerce tags and publishing domain manifest files (\u002F.well-known\u002Fucp) to capture early-adopter inventory signals ahead of full public rollout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"european-union-eu-landscape\">\u003Cstrong>European Union (“EU”) Landscape\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In Europe, adoption is governed by localised privacy and regulatory frameworks. Compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), ePrivacy Directive, and Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) requires explicit consent verification before user identity tokens or purchase histories are exchanged between AI surfaces and merchant backends. European commerce leaders are prioritising UCP’s Embedded Checkout primitive, which renders merchant-controlled web components inside AI interfaces, maintaining strict regulatory compliance and consent logging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"technical-architecture-how-ucp-operates-behind-the-scenes\">\u003Cstrong>Technical Architecture: How UCP operates behind the scenes\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To understand UCP execution, systems engineers and performance marketers must evaluate its core functional capabilities. The protocol divides the commerce lifecycle into (currently) five discrete topics:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Product Discovery:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Exposes real-time stock levels, dynamic pricing, localised availability, and product attributes directly to the AI agent. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Cart Management:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Standardises multi-item orchestration. The AI agent can append items, apply promotional codes, calculate local taxes, and evaluate delivery rules within a single conversational session.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Identity & Loyalty linking:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Enables secure profile binding between the AI environment and the merchant’s Customer Data Platform (“CDP”) or Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) system. This ensures member-only pricing, targeted rewards, and personalised delivery preferences apply automatically.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Checkout Orchestration:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Provides two distinct integration paths:\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cem>Native Checkout:\u003C\u002Fem> The consumer UI surface presents a native, streamlined payment component while passing tokenised credentials back to the merchant for execution.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cem>Embedded Checkout:\u003C\u002Fem> Allows the merchant to render a custom, secure web component inside the agent UI, ensuring strict brand control over the final confirmation stage.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Order Management & Post-Purchase:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Exposes structured endpoints for status retrieval, shipment tracking, and self-service returns processing through the agent conversation.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>UCP product discovery could overlap with WebMCP depending on your configuration, but UCP should be your priority here if you’re adopting UCP through checkout experiences. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-register-ucp-capabilities-on-your-website\">\u003Cstrong>How to register UCP capabilities on your website\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For an AI agent to interact with a retail backend, it must first discover what UCP endpoints and capabilities the merchant supports via a standardised manifest file hosted at: ‘https:\u002F\u002Fexample-merchant.com\u002F.well-known\u002Fucp’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This JSON payload declares supported capabilities, protocol versions, authentication requirements, and payment handler definitions, allowing AI crawlers and agents to map system capabilities dynamically. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trading-off-brand-experience-for-conversion-velocity\">\u003Cstrong>Trading off brand experience for conversion velocity\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Adopting UCP represents a deliberate commercial trade-off. By allowing AI agents to complete purchases directly within search and conversational surfaces, merchants willingly surrender direct control over on-site experience: visual merchandising, interactive landing pages, and cross-sell messaging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For performance-minded marketing and technology leaders, evaluating this trade-off requires balancing brand experience losses against measurable conversion efficiencies:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-table\">\u003Ctable class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\u003Cthead>\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>What you surrender\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>\u003Cstrong>What you gain\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Fthead>\u003Ctbody>\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Custom landing page visual storytelling\u003Cbr>On-site pop-up banners & upsell widgets \u003Cbr>Direct control over traditional UI UX\u003Cbr>Session duration & site pageviews\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Zero-friction, zero-click conversion \u003Cbr>Priority recommendation in AI Search \u003Cbr>Lower Customer Acquisition Cost (“CAC”)\u003Cbr>Real-time inventory & price trust\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When a business makes the strategic choice to adopt UCP, there must be alignment on three core realities:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Off-site commerce:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Transactional execution shifts away from your website and your direct control, towards multiple destinations which you can only influence.  \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Data feed as the storefront:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Conversion Rate Optimisation (“CRO”) shifts from testing button colours and hero banners to optimising data feed richness, attribute completeness, GTIN accuracy, and stock reliability. This isn’t actually a million miles away from where we also see some elements of PPC shifting, too, with the advent of more automated campaign types. Managing inputs is key. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Building brand equity via UCP features:\u003C\u002Fstrong> To offset lost storefront interactions, merchants must leverage UCP’s Identity Linking and Embedded Checkout capabilities to pass brand rewards, custom packaging choices, and loyalty benefits directly into the AI agent’s checkout confirmation screen, and to also follow up with customers afterwards. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Fol>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">\u003Cstrong>Frequently Asked Questions\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"is-ucp-exclusive-to-google-search-and-gemini\">\u003Cstrong>Is UCP exclusive to Google Search and Gemini?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>No. While Google authored the initial reference implementation, UCP is an open-source, vendor-agnostic specification governed by a Tech Council that includes Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Stripe. Any AI platform, assistant, or e-commerce vendor can build natively against the standard, alongside complementary AI standards\u002Fprotocols you may have already heard of, like WebMCP and A2A.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-the-current-rollout-timeline-for-uk-and-european-merchants\">\u003Cstrong>What is the current rollout timeline for UK and European merchants?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As of July 2026, UCP agentic checkout is actively deployed across major US retailers. The UK rollout is progressing through phased commercial deployments in mid-2026, while European Union integration is following a technical readiness path centred around GDPR and DMA compliance. However, our opinion on this is that this is the direction of travel, and even with some regulatory amends if necessary, this type of experience is coming, and so feature adoption should really be on your roadmap now. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-do-we-offset-the-loss-of-on-site-brand-experience-when-adopting-ucp\">\u003Cstrong>How do we offset the loss of on-site brand experience when adopting UCP?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Merchants can maintain brand differentiation by using UCP’s Embedded Checkout primitive to render custom web components inside the AI interface, and by configuring Identity Linking to deliver personalised loyalty rewards, member pricing, and tailored packaging options during agent interactions. Outside of the browsing and checkout experience, regular customers will still be exposed to email, mobile\u002Fpush, and ads, so these need to be working extra hard as some elements of the customer journey become somewhat commoditised. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"who-acts-as-the-merchant-of-record-mor-during-a-ucp-transaction\">\u003Cstrong>Who acts as the Merchant of Record (“MoR”) during a UCP transaction?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The participating retailer remains the Merchant of Record (“MoR”) for all purchases processed through UCP. The merchant collects payment through their chosen payment gateway, handles fulfilment, issues legal invoices, manages tax calculations, and maintains the direct customer relationship and all of the data generated throughout the transactions. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-do-performance-marketers-measure-roas-on-agentic-zero-click-conversions\">\u003Cstrong>How do performance marketers measure ROAS on agentic zero-click conversions?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Because traditional browser sessions and client-side pixels do not trigger during native agent checkouts, performance teams must implement Server-Side Conversion APIs (“CAPI”) linked directly to UCP transaction IDs, using matched first-party CRM data and geo-holdout tests to verify incrementality. This allows identity resolution against known customers, click IDs and other identifiers after the fact once a purchase has happened via UCP in an agentic\u002FLLM setting. One thing is for sure: attribution will continue to get murky, and incrementality will continue to grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FGeneric_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27527\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>",{"rendered":150,"protected":238},39679,{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[245,246],[],[15],[572,135,251,252,253,254,255,256,257],"post-39662",[],[],[576,577,578,579],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},{"path":146,"name":147},{"path":220,"name":149},"Unlock agentic commerce using the Universal Commerce Protocol. Discover how AI agents execute transactions and impact retail brands. Learn more.",{"thumbnail":582,"medium":583,"medium_large":585,"large":587,"1536x1536":589,"2048x2048":591,"post-thumbnail":593,"12_col":595,"default_landscape":597,"default_portrait":599,"6_col_and_margin_short":601,"11_col_and_margin":603,"9_col_rectangle":605,"11_col":607,"staff_image_696_600":609,"rectangular_thumbnail":611},{"url":154,"width":270,"height":270},{"url":584,"width":92,"height":92},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=133&q=90&w=200",{"url":586,"width":95,"height":25},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=512&q=90&w=768",{"url":588,"width":277,"height":278},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1000&q=90&w=1892",{"url":590,"width":101,"height":101},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1024&q=90&w=1536",{"url":592,"width":104,"height":104},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1365&q=90&w=2048",{"url":594,"width":107,"height":108},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1180&q=90&w=1860",{"url":596,"width":110,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2880",{"url":598,"width":113,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=800",{"url":600,"width":87,"height":113},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=800&q=90&w=600",{"url":602,"width":107,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=1860",{"url":604,"width":117,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=3080",{"url":606,"width":119,"height":120},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1400&q=90&w=2150",{"url":608,"width":122,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2640",{"url":610,"width":86,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=696",{"url":612,"width":125,"height":126},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2026\u002F08\u002Fa-c-dqg4QeDNUi8-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=300&q=90&w=750",[614],{"id":240,"path":305,"display_name":4,"job_title":10,"description":6,"avatar_url":144,"acf":615},{"job_title":10,"full_bio":11,"specialist_service_links":616,"photo":627},[617,619,621,623,625],{"page":618,"link_text":18},{"ID":15,"post_author":16,"post_date":17,"post_date_gmt":17,"post_content":5,"post_title":18,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":21,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":22,"post_modified_gmt":22,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":23,"guid":24,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":29},{"page":620,"link_text":41},{"ID":32,"post_author":33,"post_date":34,"post_date_gmt":34,"post_content":5,"post_title":35,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":36,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":37,"post_modified_gmt":37,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":38,"guid":39,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":40},{"page":622,"link_text":46},{"ID":44,"post_author":16,"post_date":45,"post_date_gmt":45,"post_content":5,"post_title":46,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":47,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":48,"post_modified_gmt":48,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":49,"guid":50,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":51},{"page":624,"link_text":61},{"ID":54,"post_author":16,"post_date":55,"post_date_gmt":55,"post_content":5,"post_title":56,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":57,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":58,"post_modified_gmt":58,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":25,"guid":59,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mim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,{"href":740},"\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=39662",[742,744,746],{"taxonomy":545,"embeddable":130,"href":743},"\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=39662",{"taxonomy":548,"embeddable":130,"href":745},"\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcollections?post=39662",{"taxonomy":206,"embeddable":130,"href":747},"\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcoauthors?post=39662",[749],{"name":554,"href":555,"templated":130},{"id":751,"date":752,"date_gmt":752,"guid":753,"modified":162,"modified_gmt":162,"slug":755,"status":19,"type":135,"link":161,"title":756,"content":757,"excerpt":759,"author":240,"featured_media":760,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"sticky":238,"template":5,"format":242,"meta":761,"categories":762,"collections":765,"coauthors":766,"class_list":768,"acf":772,"head_links":773,"breadcrumbs":774,"url_path":161,"search_description":781,"featured_image_urls":782,"authors":814,"type_nicename":320,"reading_minutes":163,"category":872,"yoast_title":876,"yoast_meta":877,"yoast_json_ld":907,"_links":958},34314,"2025-08-22T12:40:19",{"rendered":754},"\u002F?p=34314","beyond-tomorrow-navigating-an-ai-first-future-video",{"rendered":159},{"rendered":758,"protected":238},"\n\u003Cp>Explore the future of marketing in an AI-first world with Mike Wickham and Aaron Dicks. This video tackles the big questions facing brands today: How to generate high-quality content, where to invest for the best results, and what the role of a marketer will be in the age of AI agents. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In this video, you’ll learn: \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>The Evolution of Content: Discover why the current reward system for AI-generated content may change and why a new model for compensating creators is on the horizon. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Beyond Human Behaviour: With the rise of AI agents that can do things like shopping for consumers, learn why marketers must now think about how to market to both human behaviour and artificial intelligence. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Investing in the Right Places: Find out how to make smart decisions about where to invest your resources—whether in new technology, skills, or people—in a market that’s changing at lightning speed.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>The Future of the Marketer: The experts highlight that while many jobs will change, new ones will emerge. The key is to focus on what AI can’t replicate: strategic oversight, creative curation, and shaping the way AI systems work.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002F@impressiondigital\">\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beyond Tomorrow: Navigating an AI-First Future with Mike Wickham & Aaron Dicks\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FrClQI5pw87k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Transcript\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Mike Wickham:\u003C\u002Fstrong> There are two angles to this, aren’t there, especially when it comes to content. I suppose you’re using or utilising AI to help generate that content, but then I guess you’re not necessarily getting rewarded for that content, as the systems are currently set up. How do you see that evolving? How might we be able to reward content creators? If it’s not traffic currently, what would it be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aaron Dicks:\u003C\u002Fstrong> I think \u003Cstrong>Cloudflare’s approach\u003C\u002Fstrong>, so some of those recent changes, is an interesting one. It’s now happened, and I think it’s the first of these big moves, so it’ll be interesting to see how that works. I think that really works for creators and publishers, and whether or not all of these big tech companies that have these models are willing to pay, and how that plays out, is yet to be seen. As I said, businesses are more than likely always going to be submitting their content for visibility because they want to be shown in these recommendations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I mean, on the other side of this coin as well, I think when we’re talking about \u003Cstrong>content generation\u003C\u002Fstrong>, that’s probably where it’s worth thinking about all of the creative outputs that are possible. Currently, they’ve been trained on a lot of this information, which is now sort of behind these large LLM firewalls. So how is that going to continue to evolve, and what role do marketers have in curating the inputs and sort of training their own models to generate something that is unique? Because the challenge with these models is that they’re essentially levelling the playing field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Mike Wickham:\u003C\u002Fstrong> So, in terms of how AI is going to evolve, outside of brands and agencies, what will the impact be on consumers? The example I often talk about is that in the future we’ll probably be utilising \u003Cstrong>AI agents\u003C\u002Fstrong> in our personal lives, potentially doing our shopping for us. So, it’s going to become even trickier for marketers to understand how to not only market to individual human behaviour but also potentially to a bot that is tasked with doing their shopping for them. So how do we navigate that? What do brands need to think about, and how do marketing strategies evolve to account for the fact that we’re now, in the future, potentially marketing to robots with completely different behaviour?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aaron Dicks:\u003C\u002Fstrong> I think there are still quite a few things that, as marketers, we can still actually have a lot of control over, and quite a lot of this is unwritten at the moment as well. So it’s a bit of a moving beast. Particularly when it comes to the data that’s going into these systems, we want these systems, as a consumer, to work flawlessly, right? And with full, complete trust and reliability. Perhaps we’re not quite there just yet, so as marketers and professionals in this space, we can really help shape how these systems work and how these experiences work. And there are still clearly quite a few jobs to be done there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Mike Wickham:\u003C\u002Fstrong> I guess the difficulty for brands at the moment is knowing when to invest and what tools to fully invest in, given that the market and the landscape are changing so rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Aaron Dicks: For every business, the timeline is going to be different. But everybody now could be experimenting with these tools and understanding what’s right for them. In the cloud, you can already play with image generation, copy generation, video generation, and even whole movie generation. I think testing and learning, and exploring, is probably the only way to answer that for every single business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Mike Wickham:\u003C\u002Fstrong> So, where do we need to invest in terms of development, skills, and people in the future to get the best out of AI?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aaron Dicks:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Jobs will change as a result of AI being brought into the workforce, particularly through more \u003Cstrong>agentic operations\u003C\u002Fstrong>. In every technological revolution to date, there’s always been new jobs that come off the back of it. But an opportunity really is for businesses to consider what it looks like after AI is already there, if it’s not already, and how do we augment it, work with it, and push the business forward through that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FGeneric_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27527\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":160,"protected":238},34315,{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[763,245,764],323,284,[],[15,767],235,[769,135,251,252,253,254,255,770,256,771],"post-34314","category-ai","category-digital-strategy",[],[],[775,776,777,780],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},{"path":778,"name":779},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcategory\u002Fdigital-strategy\u002F","Digital Strategy",{"path":220,"name":159},"Explore the future of marketing in an AI-first world with Mike Wickham and Aaron Dicks. This video tackles the big questions facing brands today: How to generate high-quality content, where to invest for the best results, and what the role of a marketer will be in the age of AI agents. In this video, you’ll 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Director, Paid Media","I have over ten years' experience in Paid Media, mostly working across international e-commerce businesses.",{"job_title":833,"full_bio":836,"specialist_service_links":837,"photo":847},"\u003Cp>Executive Director, Paid Media. Joined Impression in May 2021.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I have nearly ten years of experience in Paid Media, mostly working across international e-commerce businesses. I graduated from The University of Sussex with a Masters in Technology & Innovation Management before starting my career at a large London agency where I focused mostly on branding campaigns across Facebook. However, I decided that I wanted to specialise more in performance marketing and moved to a specialist agency where I spent nearly 7 years leading large Paid Search accounts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My role at Impression revolves around operations and processes within the department, striving to drive innovation and efficiency to help our clients grow faster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>Something that I’m really proud of:\u003Cbr \u002F>\n\u003C\u002Fb>I once did a cycle across Uganda for charity, and managed to not get eaten by a lion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>Outside of work:\u003Cbr \u002F>\n\u003C\u002Fb>I enjoy lots of sports and activities, with climbing being my most recent obsession.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[838],{"page":839,"link_text":842},{"ID":840,"post_author":16,"post_date":841,"post_date_gmt":841,"post_content":5,"post_title":842,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":843,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":844,"post_modified_gmt":844,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":25,"guid":845,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":846},169,"2020-12-17 10:02:30","Paid Media","paid-media","2026-06-15 15:58:53","\u002F?page_id=169","\u002Fpaid-media\u002F",{"ID":848,"id":848,"title":849,"filename":850,"filesize":25,"url":851,"link":852,"alt":5,"author":78,"description":5,"caption":5,"name":853,"status":80,"uploaded_to":25,"date":854,"modified":854,"menu_order":25,"mime_type":82,"type":83,"subtype":84,"icon":85,"width":86,"height":87,"sizes":855},7376,"Mike-Wickham","Mike-Wickham.png","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F06\u002FMike-Wickham.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90","\u002Fmike-wickham-3\u002F","mike-wickham-3","2021-06-24 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Tomorrow: Navigating an AI-First Future [Video] | 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ld":1103,"_links":1155},33461,"2025-06-16T11:44:49",{"rendered":999},"\u002F?p=33461","mastering-media-planning-and-budget-optimisation",{"rendered":174},{"rendered":1003,"protected":238},"\n\u003Cp>In a \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fresources\u002Fwhite-papers\u002Fthe-marketing-landscape-in-2025\u002F\">recent study\u003C\u002Fa> by Impression, research showed that 61% of marketers expected to increase their marketing budget in the next 12 months, but out of 915 marketers surveyed there was a split on where they thought it would be best to invest their budget, including a surprising near 30% who were allocating “equally” or just didn’t know. This is a real-world example of the challenges marketers face. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Sometimes the information needed to make a solid media plan just isn’t available because the measurement and insight just isn’t there. Or in other cases, insight exists, but marketers and their agencies lack the translation into actionable strategies for media planning budget optimisation. This is what we will tackle in this blog. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33467\" width=\"603\" height=\"452\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>Media budget optimisation and marketing channel selection are critical challenges for marketers. Achieving the perfect balance between long-term brand building and short-term performance marketing is increasingly complex, especially with the proliferation of digital and offline media channels. That’s not to bring into question the definitions and purposes of each type of activity. For the purposes of this blog, long-term activity should seek to build equity in a brand which increases baseline sales and sometimes increases performance marketing effectiveness, over time too, as seen below in Les Binet & Peter Field’s \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fipa.co.uk\u002Fknowledge\u002Fpublications-reports\u002Fthe-long-and-the-short-of-it-balancing-short-and-long-term-marketing-strategies\">\u003Cem>The Long and Short of It\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1050\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_02.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33468\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>There is no single ‘ideal’ ratio to aim for, as success lies in understanding what your audience needs and ensuring that your marketing efforts deliver both immediate impact and sustained future growth. While short-term activation drives sales in the moment, long-term brand building strengthens awareness, trust, and importantly, preference over time. The key is to find the right balance of investment for your brand while adapting to evolving market conditions and consumer behaviours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There are, however, long-established industry findings that can serve as benchmarks, depending on factors such as business maturity and industry sector. Striking the right balance in investment priorities will always be a shifting challenge. In the long-term, many brands will ideally invest more in brand equity and audience development, rather than focusing primarily on short-term, sales-led activity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This ensures that an audience is continually being primed beyond the immediately serviceable “in-market” segment, which performance marketing channels can efficiently capture at a strong rate of attributable efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But how do we find the right balance? This is where insights from audience research, Marketing Mix Modelling (“MMM”) (also generally referred to as ‘econometrics’) and \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fincrementality-testing\u002F\">incrementality testing \u003C\u002Fa>– techniques that together serve as the ‘gold standard’ of media measurement– come into play. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For example, techniques like Marketing Mix Modelling help you understand the longer-term correlations of business outcomes (revenue) and the variables which most likely drove them (marketing channels, price discounting or otherwise). A refined marketing mix model can ultimately help optimise budget allocation to meet your business objectives. MMM models and estimates the performance of each marketing channel, pinpointing the point of diminishing returns in each channel or objective in a mix of media investments, and then runs scenarios on differing investment levels and media mixes to establish the best overall outcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into both foundational and advanced strategies for effective media budget allocation. We’ll also explore how measurement and planning approaches, like \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fmedia-mix-modelling\u002F\">Marketing Mix Modelling\u003C\u002Fa>, can provide data-driven insights to help optimise media spend by analysing \u003Cem>true\u003C\u002Fem> performance across different channels, ensuring you get the maximum return on investment (ROI).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-of-contents\">\u003Cul>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-media-budget-optimisation\">What is Media Budget Optimisation?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#foundations-of-media-budget-optimisation\">Foundations of Media Budget Optimisation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#1-design-the-digital-strategy\">1. Design the Digital Strategy\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#audience-research\">Audience research\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#business-objectives\">Business objectives\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#2-defining-a-clear-kpi-framework\">2. Defining a clear KPI framework\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#3-establishing-a-measurement-plan\">3. Establishing a measurement plan\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#advanced-media-measurement-techniques\">Advanced Media Measurement Techniques\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#marketing-mix-modelling-mmm\">Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#incrementality-testing\">Incrementality Testing\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#4-channel-selection-planning-and-forecasting-with-data\">4. Channel selection, Planning and Forecasting with Data\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#forecasting-and-planning-with-attribution-data\">Forecasting and planning with attribution data\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h4\">\u003Ca href=\"#forecasting-and-planning-with-contribution-data\">Forecasting and planning with contribution data\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#the-media-planning-cycle\">The media planning cycle\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-media-budget-optimisation\">What is Media Budget Optimisation?\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The idea behind media planning and budget optimisation is the process of ensuring that your investment achieves the best possible results. Budget optimisation isn’t a static process; it’s a dynamic one, where allocating and adjusting marketing budgets across various channels and campaigns can be altered throughout their life cycle as new data arises and time passes. These \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fgranularity-marketing-mix-modelling\u002F\">data-driven insights\u003C\u002Fa> and measurement tools, as a result, should lead to increased reach, engagement, conversions, and ultimately ROI.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The overarching goal of this process is to minimise ineffective spending across several levels, including across and within each channel in the marketing mix, taking into account baseline sales and other non-media variables.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As online ad costs continue to rise and new competitors continually enter the market, ensuring your investment delivers maximum value is essential. Unoptimised channels lead to wasted resources and ineffective performance, ultimately impacting ROI and growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At the heart of \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fresources\u002Fwhite-papers\u002Fguide-to-media-effectiveness-measurement\u002F\">media effectiveness\u003C\u002Fa> is the need for high-quality, accurate and diverse data that includes key factors that influence performance, such as digital ad spend, broadcast and print media ads, promotions, events, pricing and other external influences. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the dynamic nature of budget optimisation, these methods give you the agility to quickly respond to market changes and emerging opportunities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"foundations-of-media-budget-optimisation\">Foundations of Media Budget Optimisation\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The foundations of great, effective advertising are rooted in research, marketing strategies,  media planning, ongoing optimisation, and more. Something we don’t touch on in this piece, but is equally important in \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fcreative-testing-and-experimentation\u002F\">effective marketing, is the creative execution\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Below, we’ve laid out a few of the more important steps in setting out a digital strategy and media plan, just as an indication, so that it’s clear how and where media planning and budget optimisation fits. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-design-the-digital-strategy\">1. Design the Digital Strategy\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"audience-research\">Audience research\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Audience definitions, segmentation and targeting have always been a fundamental part of marketing theory. To target audiences effectively, whether via digital media or traditional media, it’s important to understand their habits and media consumption, preferences and affinities. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>You need to rely on accurate audience data to inform your campaigns, whether it’s from social media platforms, general search interests, or data-driven from those who click on your ads. We have a \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Finsight-tools-to-supercharge-your-digital-marketing-strategy\u002F\">guide to digital marketing insight tools\u003C\u002Fa> to help you find out which may be best for your business as its current level of maturity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For example, younger demographics may spend more time on TikTok or Instagram, while older audiences may prefer Facebook or traditional TV. Taking time to understand what they are and what they are not is one of the basic first steps to budget optimisation. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Everyone is ultimately an individual, but based on grouped traits, it’s possible to create groupings. We typically do this with surveyed, observed and modelled data available to us in planning and buying platforms. Based on a taxonomy, individuals generally are over- or under-indexed in certain areas, and we can analyse these to understand how large an audience is. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002Fmastering-media-budgets-101.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33471\" width=\"488\" height=\"564\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"business-objectives\">Business objectives\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A broader question than the marketing objectives would be the business objectives, and sometimes these can appear to be conflicting or unclear at first. Taking a deeper look under the hood, and at the product positioning in the market landscape, is sometimes tempting to overlook when there’s a media plan and forecast to produce; however, this insight and awareness can shape the ‘jobs to be done’ by the plan itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This diagram by one of Mark Ritson’s students on the \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmba.marketingweek.com\u002F\">Mini Marketing MBA\u003C\u002Fa> highlights just how much strategy there is to consider, at least before the tangible marketing should begin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002Fmastering-media-budgets-102.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33472\" width=\"481\" height=\"679\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>To work out exactly what these ‘jobs to be done’ are, there are a variety of approaches and methodologies in the marketplace, including our own ‘\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fyoutu.be\u002Ff10ib9oz0vg?si=WF_Um5VNm5JqMmsT\">Growth Dynamics\u003C\u002Fa>’, which seeks to map or explain what good marketing investments look like and how to apply them. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Broadly speaking, all good marketing advice holds the same idea:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Only a minority of your addressable market will be ‘in market’ at any one point in time \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Advertising generally does one of a few things, broadly grouped into: taking action, or building awareness \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Brands that want to be around in the medium and long term should consider advertising to both in-market and out-of-market audiences, and give them appropriate messages, i.e. not everyone will take action immediately. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_03.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33478\" width=\"536\" height=\"402\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>‘\u003Cem>The Long and the Short of It’\u003C\u002Fem> by Les Binet and Peter Field recommends a roughly 60:40 split between long-term brand-building campaigns and short-term demand capture. This original study has since been revisited, offering more clarity by looking at more specific ‘ideal’ splits for businesses at different levels of maturity and industries, and a similar truth still holds true across the average. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Of course, this was only a recommendation, and your actual budget allocation must be backed by historical evidence to inform greater investment decisions or channel diversification, but there is strong evidence (from WARC) to suggest a \u003Cem>‘\u003C\u002Fem>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fpage.warc.com\u002Fthe-multiplier-effect-report\">\u003Cem>Multiplier Effect\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cem>’\u003C\u002Fem> of running both types of activity in the same audience simultaneously. This evidence-based approach ensures a balanced strategy that supports both immediate sales and sustainable growth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Longer-Term (60%)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003C\u002Fstrong>Invest in channels that deliver broad reach and emotional connection over time, such as OOH, broadcast media, and digital video (e.g., YouTube).\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Shorter-Term (40%)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003C\u002Fstrong>Focus on performance-driven channels like paid search, social media ads, and retargeting to drive immediate results at the bottom and middle of your marketing funnel.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We’ve also seen models published by industry effectiveness commentary Dr Grace Kite and Tom Roach, including \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fthetomroach.com\u002F2022\u002F11\u002F14\u002Fis-your-brand-stuck-on-the-performance-plateau\u002F\">‘The Performance Plateau’\u003C\u002Fa>, which seeks to explain the challenges of brands which are over-indexed in performance media, which naturally has a ceiling to its effectiveness and efficiency. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33481\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>The WARC Multiplier Effect whitepaper also explains its own model; the ‘Advertising Doom Loop’, which describes the same challenge of where businesses don’t invest outside of performance media.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_05.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33482\" width=\"518\" height=\"389\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>It’s easy to see how these situations come about, as digital performance advertising platforms are so good at providing their own attribution and the claim that the sales were because of, in part, them. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It’s for this reason that at Impression, we use our Growth Dynamics framework to clearly outline our plans. And from what follows are the relevant measurements and evaluations of each one. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Growth Dynamics: The path to genuine business performance via digital marketing - Claire Elsworth\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002Ff10ib9oz0vg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-defining-a-clear-kpi-framework\">2. Defining a clear KPI framework\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>KPIs that matter to a CFO will differ entirely from the CMO, trading team or those with hands-on access to advertising platforms. A hierarchical KPI framework tackles this and lays out the “what” of the question of KPIs to report on. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Check out our \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-a-marketing-plan-that-actually-works\u002F\">marketing plan blog\u003C\u002Fa> to see more of what this looks like in action. Plans with KPIs which lack vertical alignment won’t lead to the best results. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-establishing-a-measurement-plan\">3. Establishing a measurement plan\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We see KPI frameworks and measurement plans as different tasks, with different stakeholders. A measurement plan is the ‘how’ in the question of KPI measurement, as we explain in \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fmeasurement-plans-and-kpi-frameworks\u002F\">this linked video\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_06.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33491\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Measurement plans also consider how and when data is collected, cleansed and reported. To accommodate the KPI framework, which will absolutely include attribution and platform metrics. Digital attribution is still incredibly important because it’s tangible and available day to day. But, our measurement plans will also consider incrementality testing and econometrics marketing mix models, too, which support budgeting decisions at more macro levels. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Geographic regions are important when it comes to data-driven media planning, which requires incremental testing. We typically use regions, counties or states, depending on the market, the overall geographic distribution, and the best fit for the business. This consideration is to align measurement with the media buying, either being planned or already in flight so that we can measure its effects more simply. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Impression's Modern Measurement Series: The trio of attribution and contribution\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002Fk5lg7gpstpI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Concerns and challenges with digital attribution and the underlying data tracking include: Are we mitigating technology challenges as best we can, and are we ensuring compliant data capture? Are there multiple digital properties that also need considered separately, i.e. websites and apps for the same business units? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advanced-media-measurement-techniques\">Advanced Media Measurement Techniques\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing mix modelling and incrementality testing is a fundamentally different approaches to media measurement than attribution. These approaches use broader sets of data for additional context and are calculated in part with statistical models. It’s through this approach that rigour is introduced. These models also give statistical confidence intervals to demonstrate how likely the results shown are true. This ability to get a measured read on the level of uncertainty in media performance, which allows for effective media planning and ongoing testing recommendations.   \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"marketing-mix-modelling-mmm\">Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM)\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing Mix Modelling is a statistical approach that analyses historical revenue and channel cost, impressions, gross rating points and external control data to determine the effectiveness of different media channels. It looks at how various marketing efforts contribute to business outcomes. MMMs help marketers understand channel effectiveness by using advanced \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fbayesian-statistics-in-media-mix-modelling-a-real-world-analogy\u002F\">statistical analysis and modelling\u003C\u002Fa> techniques, quantifying the impact of various marketing activities on KPIs. Once you have a solid understanding of how channels perform at different media investments, and in relation to one another, data scientists and marketers can then produce scenario plans based on different budget allocations and these can be taken forward into new media experiments and forecasting work. MMMs are long term correlative studies, and work best where different channels have differing levels of investments over time, to assist with drawing better correlation analysis outcomes. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"incrementality-testing\">Incrementality Testing\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Measuring the true impact of a marketing channel or campaign on your business is a common challenge in digital marketing. Every form of advertising, including long-term brand-building efforts, should drive incremental sales, but quantifying its exact contribution remains difficult. If you’re looking for ways to accurately assess and attribute media performance, incorporating \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fincrementality-testing\u002F\">incrementality testing\u003C\u002Fa> into your strategy is essential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Incrementality testing differs in its approach to media effectiveness measurement from that of Marketing Mix Modelling because incrementality testing is a causal approach; it measures the cause and effect of advertising exposures on KPIs. Incrementality testing can reduce the uncertainty associated with running an MMM programme, feeding in incrementality test results as ‘prior’ information for improving the accuracy of the model. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4-channel-selection-planning-and-forecasting-with-data\">4. Channel selection, Planning and Forecasting with Data\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Channel selection by this point of the research will be shaping up nicely. But ultimately, we need to be present where the audience is present. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>We also may want to consider externalities, such as competitor activity, but this will very much depend on the situation. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Do we also have a good mixture of platforms and formats available to us in the plan, so that we can achieve all of the jobs to be done? That is – both driving awareness and action. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Producing a forecast isn’t always the simplest of requests, and much of this will come down to the data you have available to you and the number of unknown variables. There’s also a variety of options available to you, and not necessarily one best answer. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, there are broadly two approaches depending on whether you are limited only to digital attribution (analytics and ad platform) data, or whether you have more insight from MMMs. Having just a couple of incrementality test results to hand can also improve attribution-based forecasts, allowing you to moderate platform projections in line with hard facts. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"forecasting-and-planning-with-attribution-data\">Forecasting and planning with attribution data\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Simpler regression methods, such as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), a moving average calculation, or Meta’s open-source \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ffacebook.github.io\u002Fprophet\u002F\">Prophet\u003C\u002Fa> library, can help extrapolate historical data and project it into the future. This simplistic approach can help give a broad indication of where data is likely to trend in the future, and these methods account for seasonality and holiday effects quite well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This approach could be useful as many ad platforms will also show modelled return on investment curves to show marginal ROI growing, and then tailing off at higher investment levels, depending on your target audience. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The challenge here is that attribution is always generous in its claims for supporting sales growth. The baseline of sales it captures isn’t easily replicated, and so projections into the future can be misleading. They will always need to be moderated downwards so that this baseline sales error isn’t carried forward. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Previous incrementality tests can begin to improve your attribution-based forecasts and laydowns, because with these test result,s you can moderate your projections appropriately. We sometimes see the use of coefficients from data-driven attributed ROAS to incremental ROAS (iROAS) used in these forecasts, which can help bridge the gap before MMMs are conducted. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"forecasting-and-planning-with-contribution-data\">Forecasting and planning with contribution data\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Laying down a media plan and forecasting are significantly easier once the more challenging work of adopting an experimentation-backed approach is done. By measuring the contribution of each channel, exclusive of one another and baseline sales, you will gain clarity and confidence in which investment is driving tangible return on investment, and as such, using this in the future is simpler. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This approach to planning and measurement, incorporating incrementality testing and marketing mix modelling, is the \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fhbr.org\u002F2023\u002F03\u002Fa-new-gold-standard-for-digital-ad-measurement\">‘gold standard’ approach\u003C\u002Fa>. It’s one we feel all mature businesses should be aiming for. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing mix modelling uses regression analysis that determines the long-term correlations between several variables (channels + context), all on one outcome, usually sales. It handles all seasonality, holidays, and so much more, such as pricing variables and seeks to understand the relationships between them all over time. For this reason, it can be seen as a significantly more complex approach to modelling media, generating insights and providing a platform for forecasting. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From an MMM, you receive channel-level insights including;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Response (or saturation) curves, which show the likely ROI at every investment level, and \u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Adstock curves showing the delay between investment and return on investment per channel, \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Response or saturation curves (see below) can take a reading from these for increased or reduced investment on an individual insight level.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_07.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33487\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, you can take these insights further and then use the model to forecast and scenario plan holistically. These forecasts typically seek to do one of two things, and for each, the balance of media investment may be different. Such as; \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Maximising the revenue\u002Fkey KPI, or\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Driving the best efficiency with fixed costs. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When forecasting, the numbers on face value will be optimised to the forecast objective, so additional context and constraints should be considered and added by experienced media strategists so that the jobs to be done – get done. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In practice, this means refining the numbers to inform how investment is allocated across media channels. These will be shown in tabular formats in your monthly laydowns, but lots of MMM platforms also illustrate them (see below), which allows for quick interpretation of the media investment movements over time. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_09.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33489\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2025\u002F06\u002FMastering-Media-Planning_08.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33488\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But remember, marketing mix modelling only looks backwards. For activities not previously run, consider referring to benchmarks and platform reports, but always consider designing tests into your platform and channel launches so that you can establish their value sooner rather than later. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For brands that don’t have a wide amount of data on hand, incrementality testing is always a great idea, where it’s possible, as it’s something that can be designed to be run in the short-term. MMMs aren’t great for early-stage startups, but best for businesses with only stable media investments over long periods, or for those with low complexity in their media investments. All of these situations leave the data without patterns nor signals to build correlations from, or simply lack sufficient data to capture annual patterns.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>A long-standing challenge with attribution is that the combined contribution of all channels often exceeds 100% of revenue. However, as media planning evolves to focus more on contribution rather than strict attribution, it becomes easier to justify results and communicate forecasts with greater confidence to stakeholders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-media-planning-cycle\">The media planning cycle\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Media planning and budget optimisation should evolve, over time, from annual planning and guesswork to incremental revisions in an ongoing process. This is all because of a few reasons, including:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Quality data capture on the attribution platforms for channel decisions\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>The experimentation-led approach across media as a whole\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>The movement towards MMMs – which can be refreshed\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>Budget optimisation and scenario planning, which adjust for new learnings as they’re incorporated in the MMM. \u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This journey isn’t an instant one, and serves mostly as a north star, something for you to aim for. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Any progress towards this goal is a positive one, and it’s something we’d love to support you on if you’ve for this far and you’re interested in maturing your media planning and measurement. \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">Get in touch\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fmedia-solutions\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F04\u002Ff0sKYLsk-Measurement_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27925\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n",{"rendered":175,"protected":238},33494,{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[245,764,1008],41,[],[15],[1012,135,251,252,253,254,255,256,771,1013],"post-33461","category-measurement",[],[],[1017,1018,1019,1020],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},{"path":146,"name":147},{"path":220,"name":174},"In a recent study by Impression, research showed that 61% of marketers expected to increase their marketing budget in the next 12 months, but out of 915 marketers surveyed there was a split on where they thought it would be best to invest their budget, including a surprising near 30% who were allocating “equally” or 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style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you feel like GDPR compliance is stifling your creativity as a marketer? It doesn’t have to if you understand the regulations and know how to work with them. As marketers, we must be aware of how the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) affect our marketing activities and what we need to do to stay on the right side of the law whilst balancing our creativity and client briefs. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>This blog does not constitute legal advice \u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">but you’ll still find helpful information to explain the fundamentals that reinforce what you might already know or help you move towards a deeper understanding of the topic. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a lot of ground to cover here, and you may be looking for the answer to just one question – if so, use the links below to navigate straight to it.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking for \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-marketing\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">digital marketing services\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from an agency that’s clued up on the latest in data protection compliance? \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact our team today\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a lot of ground to cover here, and you may be looking for the answer to just one question such as:\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-of-contents\">\u003Cul>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-gdpr\">What is GDPR?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#is-gdpr-the-same-as-the-data-protection-act-in-the-uk\">Is GDPR the same as the Data Protection Act in the UK?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-brexit\">Does GDPR still apply after Brexit?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#how-does-gdpr-work\">How does GDPR work?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#regulation-penalties\">What are the penalties for not abiding by the regulations?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-breaches\">Do businesses actually receive penalties for GDPR breaches?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-benefits\">How GDPR benefits consumers\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-marketers\">What are consumers’ rights within GDPR?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-marketers\">How is GDPR great for marketers?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-means-we-have-better-quality-data\">GDPR means we have better-quality data \u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-means-potential-customers-are-more-likely-to-want-to-hear-from-us\">GDPR means potential customers are more likely to want to hear from us\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-compliance-builds-trust-between-businesses-and-their-customers\">GDPR compliance builds trust between businesses and their customers \u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#privacy-policy\">What you need to include in your website’s privacy policy\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#helpful-resources-from-the-information-commissioners-office-ico\">Helpful resources from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#experience-data-breach\">What to do if you experience a data breach\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#storing-data\">Storing data on your website or CRM\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-if-i-do-business-through-email\">What if I do business through email?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#cookies-and-gdpr\">Cookies and GDPR\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#google-analytics\">GDPR and Google Analytics\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#do-not-track-on-apple-devices\">Do not track on Apple devices\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#do-not-track-on-chrome\">Do not track on Chrome\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#remarketing-ads\">GDPR and remarketing ads\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#meta\">GDPR and Facebook\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gdpr-and-tiktok\">GDPR and TikTok\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#email-marketing\">GDPR and email marketing\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#not-sure-about-gdpr\">What to do if you’re not sure about GDPR\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-gdpr\">\u003Cstrong>What is GDPR?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GDPR came into force on 25th May 2018 and has been an important topic of discussion for businesses and marketers since the EU announced the new regulation in April 2016. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You’ll have heard a lot about it if you were working in marketing before May 2018 and you may have different thoughts and perspectives if you have started working in marketing after this date so you may find a little recap or brief introduction helpful. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations and is an EU regulation that affects the way businesses can collect, store and manage data\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The announcement of the new regulations sparked long discussions in the business, legal and marketing communities because failing to comply would mean huge financial and reputational consequences. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were countless webinars on the topic, training sessions and LinkedIn posts but as May 2018 came and went, we’ve settled into a new world where data is legally required to be treated with the care, attention and respect it deserves. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn’t matter if you’re running simple email marketing campaigns, postal campaigns or SMS campaigns, everyone has to follow the same rules as someone else who is running a more complex social media ads campaign using \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002Fpaid-social\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Metasearch\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002Fppc\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Ads\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002Fppc\u002Fmicrosoft-ads\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft Ads\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to reach people on their Xbox. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are reminded that we are talking to real people who aren’t just anonymous figures in our measurement tools, they have real problems to solve and they need to consciously opt-in and consent to sharing their data.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"is-gdpr-the-same-as-the-data-protection-act-in-the-uk\">\u003Cstrong>Is GDPR the same as the Data Protection Act in the UK?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be confusing but whilst very similar, no, they are not the same. UK-GDPR and EU-GDPR are very similar but let’s give ourselves a very brief reminder of how we got here: Before GDPR in the UK, we had the Data Protection Act 1998 but the Act couldn’t keep up with the speed of the changing digital landscape in the early part of the new century. The world was becoming increasingly connected which led to the EU seeking to protect its citizens’ personal data thus introducing EU-GDPR in the mid-2010s. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EU-GDPR was more comprehensive than the UK’s 1998 Data Protection Act and had the benefit of being able to be applied consistently across all member countries and countries that carry EU data meaning that the UK could introduce mirror legislation with some variations. One difference is that in the UK children aged 13 and over are allowed to consent to their data being processed\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where as in Germany, Hungary and Poland, the age that a child can consent to data processing is 16. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simply put, the Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-brexit\">Does GDPR still apply after Brexit?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your business is processing EU data then you are required to comply with the EU’s GDPR but as we have just learned, the UK incorporated the same protections for its own citizens so for most marketers, the laws and their applications are, for the most part, the same. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the purpose of this blog, we will continue to refer to the Data Protection Act 2018 as the better-known GDPR.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-does-gdpr-work\">How does GDPR work?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses are required to take data protection seriously which means that data must: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be accurate and up-to-date\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permit the identification of data subjects for no longer than necessary\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be processed with appropriate security measures\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To make it easier to digest, there are three main areas of consideration for marketers when it comes to GDPR:\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>Operational\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – relating to security and how data is shared for legitimate business purposes\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>Strategic\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – relating to the decisions regarding how data is used, controlled or processed\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>Communications\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – you need to tell people how you are using, holding and processing their data and respond when requests for information are made. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marketers are always making decisions about who they are marketing to so it is important to understand some key terminology in GDPR legislation.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>Personal data\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is information that relates to any living identified or identifiable individual. Of course, it’s more complex than this but in its most simple form, this could be a name, an IP address or an identification number. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>The data controller\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> determines how personal data will be processed. Your business is likely to be both a data controller and a data processor.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>Data processing \u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">refers to almost any handling of personal data. A data processor carries out the processing. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any business that holds data will need to document what personal data it holds, where it came from and who it is\u002Fhas been shared with. The main way to do this is through your business’ privacy policy. In this, you must state everything you’re doing and how you’re using this data. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means you need to let subjects (people!) know:\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lawful bases upon which the data is being processed\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your data retention periods\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The person’s right to complain to the ICO if they feel their information is misused\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep reading to learn how this benefits both consumers and marketers.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"regulation-penalties\">What are the penalties for not abiding by the regulations?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your business fails to comply with EU data, GDPR could result in your business being fined up to €20 million or 4% of your business’ global annual revenue, whichever is greater. In the UK, the maximum fine is £17.5m.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compliance with GDPR is enforced by each country’s own Data Protection Authority.  This is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Germany, the German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Bundesbeauftragter für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit – “BfDI”) enforces the regulations.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (abbreviated “AEPD”) is the national Data Protection Authority for Spain. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Dutch DPA (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) is the independent regulator in the Netherlands. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-breaches\">Do businesses actually receive penalties for GDPR breaches?\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, businesses, governments and organisations have all received penalties for GDPR breaches. Look through the \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Faction-weve-taken\u002Fenforcement\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ICO website’s ‘Enforcement’ section\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and you’ll see that often, data breaches are a result of a genuine mistake, where someone hasn’t had data compliance in mind when they were organising their data or using it. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By educating your team, you can help to improve data protection in your business across all areas, it’s not just Marketing and Legal who need to pay attention. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-benefits\">How GDPR benefits consumers\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GDPR benefits consumers by providing businesses with clear guidelines for data protection. This helps protect consumers from fraud and cybercrime, which is something we can all support and celebrate. GDPR puts people first and gives people a set of rights that aren’t centred on how technology works, it’s ‘technology neutral’ meaning personal data should be protected no matter what technology is used. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-marketers\">\u003Cstrong>What are consumers’ rights within GDPR?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to access\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: People have the right to request what data is held about them and how it is used. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to be informed\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Consumers should explicitly consent to be contacted – organisations need to explain in plain English so that people understand what they are agreeing to. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to be forgotten\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Anyone can ask for personal data to be removed or deleted in certain circumstances.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to object\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The UK GDPR allows people to object to their personal data being processed in certain circumstances. Consumers being able to stop their data being used for direct marketing is covered under this right. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to change data (rectification)\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: As consumers we can demand that organisations change or update inaccurate details.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>The right to move your data (portability)\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Consumers have the right to receive the data held about them in a structured and commonly used machine readable format. They can also request that the data controller at an organisation transmits this data securely to another controller e.g. asking one organisation to send data to another organisation for a legitimate purpose.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cb>Consumers have rights relating to automated decision making\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: GDPR restricts organisations from making solely automated decisions, including those based on profiling, that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals and there is guidance for organisations in place to protect consumers. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Fol>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-marketers\">\u003Cb>How is GDPR great for marketers?\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s been a long road to truly entrenching GDPR into business operations and marketing strategies. Instead of thinking about GDPR as only beneficial to customers or as an inconvenience, GDPR brings benefits to marketers too. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-means-we-have-better-quality-data\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>GDPR means we have better-quality data \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ever heard the phrase ‘throw some jelly at the wall and see what sticks’? That was the old world before GDPR. We might have fewer emails in our database or a smaller number of people to reach but thanks to all of the work that’s been done to move towards first-party\u003C\u002Fspan> data, we’re now working with cleaner data and are \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">likely to be marketing to people who are in the market to buy soon.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-means-potential-customers-are-more-likely-to-want-to-hear-from-us\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>GDPR means potential customers are more likely to want to hear from us\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As marketers, we need to push the boundaries with our campaigns and get creative with the messaging and how we get in front of the right audience. Whilst GDPR can be seen as restrictive, it really provides marketers with a valuable framework for ethical and responsible practices. Setting a high standard for data privacy and consent, campaigns can become far more meaningful and effective because we’re talking to people who are more likely to want to hear from us.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-compliance-builds-trust-between-businesses-and-their-customers\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>GDPR compliance builds trust between businesses and their customers \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As consumers, we’ve been giving our data away for years with many of us being unaware of its significance or value but there has been a change. With cybercrimes, fraud and well-publicised data breaches having implications for the average person, it is understandable that 64% of consumers say that their trust is enhanced in companies that provide clear information about their privacy policies.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The control that GDPR has put back into the hands of everyday users will only continue to help keep businesses working within their integrity and consumers empowered to exercise their rights to safeguard their personal data. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"privacy-policy\">\u003Cb>What you need to include in your website’s privacy policy\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cookie and privacy policies are sometimes intertwined, though the real requirement under the GDPR legislation is your privacy policy. Your privacy policy is one of the most important public facing documents you will need to achieve GDPR compliance as this is the most accessible document that details to your customers and users what data you store, how long you use it for and for what purpose. It should also include information about how they may perform a data access request.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"helpful-resources-from-the-information-commissioners-office-ico\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>Helpful resources from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Privacy policies may take a number of forms and be based on a number of templates, but the ICO has helpfully created a number of resources to help sole traders, small businesses, nonprofits and other organisations stay operational and compliant. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Ffor-organisations\u002Fadvice-for-small-organisations\u002Fcreate-your-own-privacy-notice\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Privacy policy generator\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for small businesses\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Ffor-organisations\u002Fadvice-for-small-organisations\u002Ffind-the-right-resource\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A resource bank with definitions, checklists and examples\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that are perfect for smaller entities who need support\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Ffor-the-public\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GDPR advice for the public\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about their rights\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Information about \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Faction-weve-taken\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">action the ICO has taken\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against organisations that have breached GDPR. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with most legal documents, it becomes more complex as your organisation grows so it is wise to seek legal advice as your business grows.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"experience-data-breach\">\u003Cb>What to do if you experience a data breach\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of your internal processes, you should have prepared on file two things which will ease the pressure on the communications side of things: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A draft ICO data breach report containing your risk assessment\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A draft data subject breach notification\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As soon as you become aware of a data breach and \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fico.org.uk\u002Ffor-organisations\u002Freport-a-breach\u002Fpersonal-data-breach-assessment\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">it meets the threshold for reporting\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the timer starts and you have 72 hours (without undue delay) to report the incident to the ICO. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will then need to find out what has happened and then try to contain the breach and minimise the impact on customers and the people whose data you hold.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"storing-data\">\u003Cb>Storing data on your website or CRM\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If personal data is to be stored, then you need to consider what the average customer might expect you to do with it.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of the GDPR regulations, you can’t store this information indefinitely so you need to decide upon an expiry date. If it is to be stored, then this should also be clearly explained in your privacy policy, along with instructions on how a person (a data subject) may perform a data access request and\u002For request its permanent deletion. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If at present you are not storing information in a secure CRM (customer relationship management) system, then this should be a priority to address going forward, even if GDPR \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ci>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">weren’t\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fi>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a consideration, a CRM system has so many benefits and is affordable for even the smallest of businesses such as:\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Centralised lead storage,\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Controlled lead access,\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Availability and simplicity of website integrations,\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ease of appending marketing source\u002Fmedium information,\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall improved data quality, and\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\n\n\n\u003Cli>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easier GDPR compliance and it’s easy to service subject access requests.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-if-i-do-business-through-email\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>What if I do business through email?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you receive website leads via email only, it’s best practice to permanently delete these once you have dealt with them or moved them to a more secure service, like a CRM system. If you cannot change this process, detail it in your privacy policy under a legitimate interest or gain consent at the point of data creation – and keep a record of this consent date. It still may be worth considering an entry-level CRM system for the other benefits mentioned above. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"cookies-and-gdpr\">\u003Cb>Cookies and GDPR\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the launch of the GDPR, technology has surged further ahead and as marketers we’ve had to contemplate the idea of working without third-party cookies. Back in 2020, Google announced that they would phase third-party cookies out within two years and replace them with the \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.google.com\u002Fprivacy-sandbox\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Privacy Sandbox\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Their deadline came and went and Google suggested that this would roll out by the end of 2024. In July 2024, Google announced that the Privacy Sandbox would be optional and third-party cookies would not be phased out by the end of 2024. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does all of this mean when we look at some of the most important platforms we use?\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"google-analytics\">GDPR and Google Analytics\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we mentioned previously, whilst you might think ‘personal data’ only relates to anything personally identifiable, such as a name or email address, unfortunately, this is incorrect.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cookies and tracking codes fall into the scope of GDPR. The vast majority of websites use some form of cookies. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Necessary cookies are essential for a good user experience and make it possible to display content in a way that gives them what they want such as showing the correct currency based on their location. Another example of strictly necessary cookies is for holding items in your basket as you shop on an e-commerce website. As far as GDPR is concerned, these cookies don’t require permission or consent from users but this should still be explained in your privacy policy. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are other cookies that are used for marketing purposes. For example, Google Analytics uses cookies to track user information that informs marketing strategies, such as demographics, device information, and information on which pages are being visited and where conversions are being made. Google Ads uses cookies to track the effects of campaigns. Google’s data can be used to create adverts such as those known as ‘remarketing’ which ‘follow’ you around the web. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users can change their settings to not allow this tracking, by turning on ‘do not track’ on various devices and there are countless guides across the web on how to do this.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"do-not-track-on-apple-devices\">Do not track on Apple devices\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apple users have been able to switch off tracking since iOS 14.5 was released in April 2021. After a month, it was revealed only 5% of US users had agreed to third-party website & app tracking. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"do-not-track-on-chrome\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003Cstrong>Do not track on Chrome\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This feature has been present in Chrome since 2011 but it has been previously described as more of a signal than a directive.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a marketer, you aren’t responsible for the way Google manages its data but you do need to clearly explain what you are doing. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cb>Example in the wild\u003C\u002Fb>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Paypal’s \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.paypal.com\u002Fus\u002Fwebapps\u002Fmpp\u002Fua\u002Fcookie-full\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cookie policy page\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> doesn’t contain any jargon and keeps it simple. Note how they’d explicitly stated all the ways they intend to use cookies and tracking, and also the natural (not legal jargon) language they use – this is all essential within the new regulations.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"remarketing-ads\">GDPR and remarketing ads\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remarketing ads are those ads that follow you around the web and encourage you to convert. They work really well, and many of our clients use them very successfully. Whilst some people don’t love them, others find them a helpful reminder of where they originally saw ‘that thing’ before they got distracted by something else.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You’ll need to let your users know you may use their cookie data for this purpose, within your privacy policy.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"meta\">GDPR and Facebook\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meta (Facebook) has made it clear that it acts as a data processor and that businesses are responsible for ensuring that the data they share with Facebook complies with GDPR.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if you’re using email addresses for the purposes of creating Facebook lookalike audiences, or to target people whose details you have, under GDPR you need to tell users about this too – asking them to opt in, and giving them the option to opt-out.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you do upload an email address to Facebook to create new audiences, and you’ve got the consent of your users to do this, the onus is then on Facebook to protect that information once they have it.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gdpr-and-tiktok\">GDPR and TikTok\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok has faced fines and criticisms for multiple GDPR breaches, mostly around not protecting underaged users. Similar to the other social networks, TikTok requires a tracking pixel be added to websites that want to target users with ads. Again, just like the other social networks, businesses that use TikTok Pixel need to make sure they’re following GDPR regulations and give people the option and the opportunity to easily opt-out.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"email-marketing\">GDPR and email marketing\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have an email subscribe box on your website, you should make the user aware of the way their information will be used if they do sign up. It’s particularly helpful to give them descriptions of the types of content that you send and give them the chance to decide what they want to receive. For example, if I like crafting and I sign up for emails, I might decide I only want to hear about offers for wool and yarn but I’m not interested in embroidery or papercrafts. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small steps like these help to build a relationship with users, they are people and they are your customers who want to have an easy buying experience and to find the products that they need.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"not-sure-about-gdpr\">\u003Cb>What to do if you’re not sure about GDPR\u003C\u002Fb>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’re not sure about how your activities relate to GDPR and whether or not you’re compliant, it’s more important than ever that you do find out.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While we’re more than happy to talk to you about your \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-marketing\u002F\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">digital marketing\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it’s better if you can find a legal partner to advise more specifically on how you should comply with GDPR.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":185,"protected":238},8113,{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[245],[],[15],[1208,135,251,252,253,254,255,256],"post-3827",[],[],[1212,1213,1214,1215],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},{"path":146,"name":147},{"path":220,"name":1216},"GDPR & Marketing: The Definitive Guide to General Data Protection Regulations in 2025","Stay GDPR compliant with your marketing in 2025. Discover the latest GDPR information for marketers.",{"thumbnail":1219,"medium":1220,"medium_large":1222,"large":1224,"1536x1536":1226,"2048x2048":1228,"post-thumbnail":1230,"12_col":1232,"default_landscape":1234,"default_portrait":1236,"6_col_and_margin_short":1238,"11_col_and_margin":1240,"9_col_rectangle":1242,"11_col":1244,"staff_image_696_600":1246,"rectangular_thumbnail":1248},{"url":188,"width":270,"height":270},{"url":1221,"width":92,"height":92},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=133&q=90&w=200",{"url":1223,"width":95,"height":25},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=512&q=90&w=768",{"url":1225,"width":277,"height":278},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1000&q=90&w=1892",{"url":1227,"width":101,"height":101},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1024&q=90&w=1536",{"url":1229,"width":104,"height":104},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1365&q=90&w=2048",{"url":1231,"width":107,"height":108},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1180&q=90&w=1860",{"url":1233,"width":110,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2880",{"url":1235,"width":113,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=800",{"url":1237,"width":87,"height":113},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=800&q=90&w=600",{"url":1239,"width":107,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=1860",{"url":1241,"width":117,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=3080",{"url":1243,"width":119,"height":120},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1400&q=90&w=2150",{"url":1245,"width":122,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2640",{"url":1247,"width":86,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=696",{"url":1249,"width":125,"height":126},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2021\u002F07\u002FCZlnXSPe-050720211625519665_european-flag.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=300&q=90&w=750",[1251],{"id":240,"path":305,"display_name":4,"job_title":10,"description":6,"avatar_url":144,"acf":1252},{"job_title":10,"full_bio":11,"specialist_service_links":1253,"photo":1264},[1254,1256,1258,1260,1262],{"page":1255,"link_text":18},{"ID":15,"post_author":16,"post_date":17,"post_date_gmt":17,"post_content":5,"post_title":18,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":21,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":22,"post_modified_gmt":22,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":23,"guid":24,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":29},{"page":1257,"link_text":41},{"ID":32,"post_author":33,"post_date":34,"post_date_gmt":34,"post_content":5,"post_title":35,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":36,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":37,"post_modified_gmt":37,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":38,"guid":39,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":40},{"page":1259,"link_text":46},{"ID":44,"post_author":16,"post_date":45,"post_date_gmt":45,"post_content":5,"post_title":46,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":47,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":48,"post_modified_gmt":48,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":49,"guid":50,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":51},{"page":1261,"link_text":61},{"ID":54,"post_author":16,"post_date":55,"post_date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automation is a powerful tool for businesses. By utilising software to automate key marketing tasks, it can streamline both your marketing operations and your customer journey, driving efficiency gains and delivering highly personalised experiences for your users.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At its best, digital marketing automation extends way beyond the remit of email campaigns. From social media and mobile marketing to managing online advertising budgets, it can be used across your business to break down silos, maximise resources, and make the most of your customer data. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This comprehensive guide gives you a detailed look into the world of marketing automation, exploring the value it can offer, the different types of automation, tools you might want to consider, and effective strategies for automating tasks as part of your campaigns. Those who are new to the topic will benefit from a cover-to-cover reading. If you already have a base level of knowledge and need information on something in particular, use the links below to navigate to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"table-of-contents\">\u003Cul>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#what-is-marketing-automation\">What is marketing automation?\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#the-value-of-marketing-automation\">The value of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#streamlining-business-operations\">Streamlining business operations\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#enhancing-customer-engagement\">Enhancing customer engagement\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#implementing-effective-lead-scoring-and-nurturing-systems\">Implementing effective lead scoring and nurturing systems\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#upselling-and-cross-selling-via-behavioural-triggers\">Upselling and cross-selling via behavioural triggers\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#increasing-customer-retention\">Increasing customer retention\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#managing-data-more-effectively\">Managing data more effectively\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#types-of-marketing-automation\">Types of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#email-automation\">Email automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#social-media-marketing-automation\">Social media marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#sms-and-mobile-marketing\">SMS and mobile marketing\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#managing-cross-channel-campaign-messaging\">Managing cross-channel campaign messaging\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#marketing-automation-tools\">Marketing automation tools\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#effective-marketing-automation-strategies\">Effective marketing automation strategies\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#customer-segmentation\">Customer segmentation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#customer-journey-mapping\">Customer journey mapping\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#personalisation-and-localisation\">Personalisation and localisation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#gamification-and-customer-engagement\">Gamification and customer engagement\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#measuring-the-impact-of-marketing-automation\">Measuring the impact of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#challenges-in-marketing-automation\">Challenges in marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#deliverability-challenges\">Deliverability challenges\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#reporting\">Reporting\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#understanding-complex-tools\">Understanding complex tools\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#maintaining-data-quality\">Maintaining data quality\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#overcoming-resistance-to-change\">Overcoming resistance to change\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h3\">\u003Ca href=\"#addressing-ethical-concerns\">Addressing ethical concerns\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#looking-ahead-the-future-of-marketing-automation\">Looking ahead: The future of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli class=\"heading-h2\">\u003Ca href=\"#marketing-automation-by-impression\">Marketing automation by Impression\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Ful>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\u002F>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Impression isn’t just a \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">marketing automation agency\u003C\u002Fa>. Our service offering also spans a variety of connected areas like \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-marketing\u002Fstrategy\u002Fmedia-planning\u002F\">media planning services\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fmedia-solutions\u002Fmeasurement\u002F\">measurement\u003C\u002Fa> and \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002Fpaid-social\u002F\">paid social advertising\u003C\u002Fa> for an integrated approach. \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">Request a consultation from our team\u003C\u002Fa> to get a sense of what we can do for your business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>What is marketing automation?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing automation is the process of using software to automatically manage marketing tasks, without the need for human input. These tasks can include email and social media marketing, mobile messaging, and personalised advertising. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By enabling businesses to reach more customers, nurture leads and encourage future purchases, marketing automation is essential for fuelling growth. This growth can be broken down into two key methods: acquisition and loyalty. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When it comes to acquiring new customers, marketing automation can be used to capture real-time data across your customer touchpoints – whether that’s website visits, email sign-ups, social media interactions, location, weather condition and local TV schedule. This data then fuels highly personalised customer experiences, which can be triggered by a variety of predefined behaviours – such as viewing a specific page, abandoning a cart, entering a predefined geo location or signing up for marketing emails. Once this data has been captured, the relevant marketing consent given and the customer journey triggered, your marketing software can then automatically start to retarget these leads, helping to move them through your sales funnel. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Once you’ve converted your leads into customers, marketing automation can then be used to turn those customers into loyal brand advocates. Through techniques like \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fdemystifying-rfm-segmentation-analysis\u002F\">RFM segmentation\u003C\u002Fa> – which divides customers into groups based on the ‘Recency’ of their last interaction with a brand, the ‘Frequency’ of those interactions, and the ‘Monetary Value’ of their transactions – marketing automation can target and personalise content to your different customer groups, nurturing one-off purchasers into frequent visitors and rewarding your most loyal shoppers. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But all that automation still requires a human touch. To maximise the impact of your marketing automation, you’ll need to use clean, accurate and up-to-date data, along with an effective measurement strategy to help you track the results. In this guide, we’ll take you through these essential pillars of marketing automation – but for now, let’s dive deeper into the value marketing automation can add to your business. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-value-of-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>The value of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In a saturated market, the most effective way to engage customers is with content that’s highly relevant to them. But manually creating and managing that content is a mammoth, unending task – one that most businesses can’t feasibly undertake. That’s where marketing automation comes in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From automating campaigns to lead scoring and data management, here are some of the ways marketing automation can add value to your business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"streamlining-business-operations\">Streamlining business operations\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>One of the key benefits of marketing automation is the time and resources it frees up. By automating those day-to-day marketing tasks – such as sending follow-up emails to leads or generating reports – marketing teams can spend more time on creative thinking and strategic planning. It also means that they can be more reactive to world events and cultural moments, ensuring your brand is showing up wherever your customers are. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But it’s not just marketing teams that can benefit from this kind of automation. By automating tasks like gathering data, building customer profiles and prioritising leads, marketing automation makes it easier to identify ways to bring value to your business, allowing you to allocate budget and personnel more efficiently. For example, your customer profiles might indicate a preference for short video content, which could signal to invest more in TikTok and Instagram Reels. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"enhancing-customer-engagement\">Enhancing customer engagement\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing automation doesn’t just make your marketing efforts easier: it can also make them more effective. By analysing customers’ unique characteristics and behaviours, marketing automation gives you a better insight into who your customers are and the kind of content they prefer to engage with. These behaviours and preferences can then be used to automatically segment your customers into unified profiles, so that every customer is shown the right content – at the right time. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This kind of targeted content is essential for customer engagement. By receiving and viewing well-timed, personalised messages, customers will start to feel more connected to your brand, which makes them more likely to become repeat customers. It also makes them more likely to recommend your brand to others, which will ultimately boost your acquisition – and improve your bottom line. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"implementing-effective-lead-scoring-and-nurturing-systems\">Implementing effective lead scoring and nurturing systems\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Some advanced marketing automation systems include features like lead scoring capabilities, helping marketing and sales teams to identify those more promising leads. These scoring methodologies take into account a range of criteria, which can be customised according to your audience and specific business goals. For example, if you’re a B2C brand that only ships to certain countries, any leads outside those locations can be automatically assigned a low score. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Behavioural data is another element that impacts these overall lead scores. If a potential customer has visited multiple pages, they’ll be given a higher score than those who only visited a single landing page. Similarly, leads who added items to their shopping basket, saved items to a wishlist, filled in a marketing information form or downloaded a piece of content will all receive higher scores.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This AI-powered lead scoring makes it easier to prioritise and nurture the right leads, focusing efforts on those that are most likely to convert and drive revenue. Once they’ve been identified, you can then create workflows to automatically nurture those leads, drip-feeding them content that’s specific to where they are in the sales cycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Targeted drip campaigns can, over time, build recognition of your brand and keep you at the forefront of your customer’s mind. They can be used to guide leads through your sales funnel at minimal cost to the business. For example, leads who are coming to a brand for the first time may be met with a campaign educating them on the benefits of a product, whilst those further along could be presented with a personalised offer to incentivise purchase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Using knowledge of your prospect’s behaviours, you can ensure, using automated triggers, that these messages are delivered at the optimal moment to maximise customer interest and success rates, working to grow your bottom line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"upselling-and-cross-selling-via-behavioural-triggers\">Upselling and cross-selling via behavioural triggers\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As well as being handy for scoring leads, the behavioural data that your marketing automation platform gathers can also be invaluable for converting those leads into actual sales. By setting specific behavioural triggers, you can initiate different marketing actions based on a user’s interactions. For example, if a potential customer clicks through to view a product, but doesn’t purchase right away, the system can automatically send a follow-up email to stimulate the sale with an offer or personalised messaging. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This kind of timely and targeted engagement is key to increasing conversion rates, but it can also be a great tool for upselling and cross-selling. One example of this is through related or recommended products. When a customer purchases a product, rather than sending a generic follow-up email, you could create a workflow that automatically sends an email advertising a complementary product to ‘complete’ their new purchase. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Interested in discovering more about how Impression can help your organisation automate its marketing through behavioural triggers? \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">Get in touch today\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"increasing-customer-retention\">Increasing customer retention\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As any marketer knows, acquisition is only half the battle. The next step is turning those one-off sales into loyal customers. Fortunately, as with the acquisition process, this is something you can automate. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From resolving customer issues to lifecycle nurturing campaigns, marketing automation offers a wealth of tools to increase your customer retention. Through personalised deals, loyalty programmes and automated email drips, you can keep your brand at the top of your customers’ minds – delivering consistent, timely communication when they’re most primed to engage with it. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"managing-data-more-effectively\">Managing data more effectively\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Data is the beating heart of marketing automation – but in a world of constantly evolving privacy regulations, capturing and managing that data can be difficult. That’s why some advanced marketing automation platforms offer in-built functionalities for managing consent, handling data subject access requests, and ensuring that all marketing activities are compliant with the latest regulations. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As well as reducing the risk of costly legal complications, this automated data management also helps build trust with customers, giving them a safe and secure way to engage with your brand. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"types-of-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>Types of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing automation is often closely associated with email campaigns – and, indeed, email plays a huge role in any marketing automation strategy. But as a whole, it extends to any kind of marketing communications (or ‘marcomms’ for short). From social media and mobile marketing to cross-channel insights and reports, marketing automation can streamline and enhance a huge range of marketing tasks. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Here are some marketing automation examples you can utilise in your business. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"email-automation\">Email automation\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">Email marketing automation\u003C\u002Fa> uses predefined rules – also known as workflows – to trigger personalised emails to your customers. These emails are often based on a specific action, such as completing a purchase, or lack of action, such as adding items to a basket without checking out. They can cover a huge range of circumstances, including welcome emails, product recommendations, lead nurturing, personalised rewards, replenishment reminders, and hundreds more. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As well as automatically reaching out to customers in their moment of need, as in the case of abandoned basket campaigns, automated emails are a useful way to nurture new leads, build loyalty, and keep your brand on your customer’s radar. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And it’s not just your customer base who can benefit from automated emails – they can also be an invaluable tool for your business’s internal communications. From onboarding emails to newsletters and company updates, email automation can help businesses streamline their internal comms, keeping employees engaged and ensuring consistent messaging across the company. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>This is especially true of businesses operating remotely. By providing live updates and feedback, automated emails can be used to support the workflow of remote teams, helping employees feel connected to the business, regardless of their location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Looking for a deeper dive? Check out our \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Femail-marketing\u002F\">definitive guide to email marketing\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FMedia-Solutions_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27528\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"social-media-marketing-automation\">Social media marketing automation\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Social media marketing automation covers two distinct areas: organic social media marketing – such as scheduling posts and analysing metrics – and paid social advertising. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>On the organic side, as well as insights into how your posts are performing, some of the more advanced social media automation tools also allow for ‘social listening’, which refers to the analysis of online conversations relevant to your brand, competitors and industry, making it easier to spot trends, track influencers, and pinpoint any areas where competitors are falling short. These insights are then broken down further with sentiment analysis, with platforms using AI to automatically categorise brand or product mentions into positive and negative categories, allowing you to spot any spikes in negative sentiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With this data automatically collated into understandable, easy-to-action insights, you can tailor marketing and PR activities to specific themes and moments in your customers’ conversations. You can also hit these key moments the instant they happen, such as by scheduling various versions of Instagram posts or story updates, with rules to publish a specific version if a specific event happens – like a goal being scored in a football match, or changes in the stock market. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With paid social advertising, marketing automation tools can be used to automatically target potential or existing customers with specific content, such as promoting recommended products in their social feeds after they’ve visited a product page, or interacted with a competing brand. It also makes it simple to automate and manage the \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fcro\u002Fab-testing\u002F\">A\u002FB testing\u003C\u002Fa> of any paid social ads, so you can put more spend behind the highest-performing content. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Through features like dynamic audience segmentation, you can also refine this content further by continuously analysing user engagement data, allowing you to hone audience segments based on real-time interactions. Rather than targeting ads to fixed segments, this dynamic analysis allows you to adjust messaging to evolving customer profiles, so they’re always seeing the content that’s most relevant to them. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002Fpaid-social\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FPaid-Media_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27529\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sms-and-mobile-marketing\">SMS and mobile marketing\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Similarly to email marketing, SMS and mobile marketing automation involves the use of established workflows to trigger personalised messages through customers’ mobiles, tablets or wearables – whether that’s through SMS, in-app, push or location-based notifications. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Although email is an important part of any marketing campaign, many email platforms now segment promotional materials into separate folders – making them easy for customers to miss. So, with time-sensitive offers or content, automated mobile messaging is a great way to make sure customers don’t miss a thing. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another benefit of automated mobile marketing is the ability to localise content based on a customer’s exact location. By utilising geo-fencing technology, you can create automated campaigns that target potential customers based on their proximity to a store, event or service. This can be as general as letting them know that a service is available in their area, or as specific as offering discounts when they’re within a certain radius of a store. For physical shops or events, this kind of hyperlocal approach can significantly boost foot traffic. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"managing-cross-channel-campaign-messaging\">\u003Cstrong>Managing cross-channel campaign messaging\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By giving you the freedom to synchronise activities across your channels, marketing automation empowers businesses to deliver personalised, consistent messaging. Whether it’s Instagram or email, text or in-app, you can align your campaigns to create a seamless experience for your customers – which, in turn, fosters brand recognition. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For a cohesive cross-channel approach, it’s a good idea to synchronise your marcomms through a single content calendar, bringing together your social media, SMS, email and blog channels. Although this can be done through a shared spreadsheet, some marketing automation platforms include content calendar features, which not only allow you to see what tasks are coming up, but also which tasks have already been completed. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Keep reading for an overview of some of our preferred marketing automation tools.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"marketing-automation-tools\">\u003Cstrong>Marketing automation tools\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing automation software is an incredibly broad term, and can actually cover a whole host of different systems – some of which you might already be using. Email, content management and CRM platforms, for example, all include marketing automation capabilities. But when it comes to creating a synchronised, holistic strategy, you need a platform that integrates with all these different tools – or has them built in. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>One such platform you’ll probably already be familiar with is HubSpot. With a powerful workflow builder, advanced analytics and over 1700 native integrations, HubSpot’s Marketing Hub offers a great all-in-one solution, connecting seamlessly with HubSpot’s CRM, CMS, customer service software, and more. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Bloomreach is another platform that encompasses a range of different products, including marketing automation, ecommerce search and merchandising, and customer and data management. Utilising real-time data and AI, Bloomreach’s marketing automation covers SMS, email, web and mobile campaigns, making it perfect for an omnichannel approach. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For an easy-to-customise option, Klaviyo’s marketing automation is incredibly flexible. From workflows to dashboards, everything can be customised with ‘drag and drop’, making it easier to tailor your campaigns and insights to your specific business needs. With a free plan option, it’s also more affordable than some of the more complex systems, making it ideal for smaller businesses. Likewise, if you’re looking for an affordable all-in-one solution, Brevo’s marketing platform also includes a CRM suite. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Ultimately, the tools that will work best for your business will depend on your specific objectives, along with your existing software. For the best results, opt for a platform that can collate data and automate tasks across your tech stack, so you’ll never miss an opportunity to get your message in front of the right people. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"effective-marketing-automation-strategies\">\u003Cstrong>Effective marketing automation strategies\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The most effective marketing automation strategies are those that use clean, high-quality data to fuel personalised content for your customers, whether that’s segmenting them into groups based on their purchasing history, or delivering geotargeted ads directing them to a nearby store. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Here’s a closer look into some of the most effective strategies for your marketing automation. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"customer-segmentation\">Customer segmentation\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As we touched on earlier in the article, one of the most valuable uses of marketing automation is the ability to automatically segment customers. By collating data from across your channels, marketing automation software can automatically group your customers into different profiles, whether that’s through RFM segmentation, psychographic profiling or specific behavioural triggers. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These individual profiles can then fuel your marketing efforts, allowing you to tailor your messaging to your different customer groups. If you’re using RFM segmentation, an ‘at risk’ or ‘hybernating customer’ can be re-engaged with specific offers and incentives, while loyal customers and ‘champions’ can be directed to reward messaging, personalised product recommendations and new releases. Or, if you’re using behavioural triggers, you could identify a group that has viewed a certain product or range several times in the last few days, and trigger sponsored ads to remind them of what they’ve left behind. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By giving you a clearer idea of who each customer is, customer segmentation also makes it quicker and easier to show up for them when they need it most – ensuring you hit their ‘moment of need’. For example, when a shopper picks up their phone to look for a specific item, you can send them personalised messaging to guide them to relevant products or offers, right when they’re most primed to engage with them. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"customer-journey-mapping\">Customer journey mapping\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another useful strategy for marketing automation is customer journey mapping. Similarly to segmentation, marketing automation can integrate data from different areas of your business to create nuanced customer journey maps, giving you an overview of how customers interact with your brand – from that first impression right through to becoming a loyal customer. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Through behavioural analytics and propensity modelling, these customer journey maps can then be used to predict changes in your customers’ needs, and to anticipate their future purchasing habits. It also leaves scope for experimentation with your customer journey as a whole. For example, if customers regularly visit a specific landing page before making a purchase, you could A\u002FB test different messaging and analyse the effect these changes have on conversions. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FDigital-Experience_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27524\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"personalisation-and-localisation\">Personalisation and localisation\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From product recommendations to incentives for ‘at risk’ customers, the ability to personalise content is the cornerstone of marketing automation. As well as tailoring messaging to specific customer groups, you can also automate campaigns targeted to each individual person – such as rewards or offers for their birthday, or for the anniversary of their first purchase with a brand. By recognising real events in their day-to-day life, these kinds of well-timed messages can help customers build a connection with a brand, making them more likely to become loyal shoppers. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Marketing automation also gives you the freedom to customise products and offers based on your customer’s location. Even better, beyond delivering personalised content for a customer’s established location, some marketing automation tools also allow for geotargeting, enabling you to localise content as and when a customer’s location changes. This can be a great way to direct shoppers to nearby stores, or showcase content that’s specific to local weather or events. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gamification-and-customer-engagement\">Gamification and customer engagement\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When it comes to personalised content, gamification is a great way to take this one step further. Whether it’s tailored rewards and challenges or dynamic leaderboards and competitions, adding gamified elements to your marketing campaign can be incredibly effective for engagement, breaking up the everyday influx of ads with something more interactive. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To avoid overwhelming your audience, you can also use marketing automation to schedule campaigns that gradually introduce new gamified elements over time, depending on each customer’s engagement with those elements. That way, if a customer doesn’t respond to that kind of content, you won’t risk putting them off your brand as a whole. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"measuring-the-impact-of-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>Measuring the impact of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Whether it’s ad spend, video budget or platform fees, marketing automation can involve a significant investment. To make the most of that investment – and to help direct your future resources – it’s important to have a solid measurement strategy in place. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When establishing your measurement strategy, one of the first things to do is to decide which metrics and KPIs are going to be used. These metrics can be incredibly varied, given the range of marketing activities that can be automated, but they should always be agreed in advance before any activity is signed off. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For email and SMS marketing, open rates are a good place to start. But, particularly in the case of emails, open rates shouldn’t be given as much focus as they once were. Because of new privacy-preserving technologies, some email platforms now mask users’ IP addresses, meaning marketers often can’t see when an email has been opened. Because of this, click rates are a much more reliable metric to track the results of email and SMS campaigns, giving you an insight into not only how many users clicked a link within an email, but also – because those messages were opened – a clearer indication of open and deliverability rates. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Once those links have been clicked, link tagging is a useful way of understanding the subsequent behaviour of those users, such as whether they engage in a primary conversion event (like making a purchase). By adding specific parameters to the end of a URL, link tagging lets you see where different traffic on your website is coming from, giving you a clearer idea of how your various marketing campaigns are performing. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With paid media campaigns, one of the simplest KPIs to track is the amount of revenue generated. But beyond that overarching metric, it’s also important to identify the return on advertisement spend (ROAS). This figure can be calculated by taking the total revenue generated by the ads and dividing it by the total cost of the ad (factoring in both the ad spend and the resources used in creating and managing the ad). The most common expression of ROAS is in a ratio, showing the revenue against what you spent. For example, if you spent £1000 on an ad that generated £10,000 in revenue, the ROAS would be 10:1 (£10 revenue for every £1 spent). \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Once you’ve established and started tracking your KPIs, you can adjust and optimise any further campaigns to make the most out of your budget. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"challenges-in-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>Challenges in marketing automation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Along with its many benefits, marketing automation also introduces some key challenges. From navigating algorithmic biases to making sure emails actually land in your customers’ inboxes, here are a few things you need to be aware of when implementing your marketing automation strategies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"deliverability-challenges\">Deliverability challenges\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>An optimised, well-timed marketing campaign is a wonderful thing – but if large portions of your customer base never see it, it won’t have the impact it deserves. Unfortunately for marketers, new and ever-evolving privacy regulations make this an increasing challenge – particularly with email campaigns. Without the right preparations in place, there’s a good chance those carefully created emails will head straight to the spam folder. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These preparations come down to two key things: sender reputation and domain security. To develop a positive sender reputation, it’s essential to maintain warm domains and IP addresses with your customer base. That means, if you’re getting a new IP or email domain – for example, if you’re rebranding or switching to a new email service provider – you’ll need to warm up your new domain or IP by slowly sending emails from your new address, gradually increasing the volume over time. This allows internet service providers (like Google and Hotmail) to decide whether to deliver your emails to your customers’ inboxes or to their spam folder, based on how they engage with your emails.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In fact, even if you already have a warm IP or domain, it’s still a good idea to initiate a warm-up campaign before any significant change in your standard email marketing schedule, such as leading up to a big event. That way, you’ll avoid deliverability issues that could be triggered by a sudden influx of emails.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It’s also important to let email service providers know your domain is secure. To do this, you’ll need to make sure you have the relevant email authentication methods in place: primarily, Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC). These methods are best utilised together to ensure a high deliverability of your messages. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Once these core securities are in place, you can work to enhance your deliverability further with \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fimprove-your-email-marketing-by-becoming-a-bimi-verified-sender\u002F\">Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)\u003C\u002Fa>. As well as adding an extra layer of security to your emails, BIMI allows brands to attach their logo to any authenticated emails, which can help to improve brand trust. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Ideally, with these preparations in your place, your emails will land safely in your customers’ inboxes – but it’s still important to keep an eye on your deliverability performance. You can do this through the various ISPs’ postmaster tools (such as Google Postmaster Tools for Google inboxes), which allow you to check things like your domain and IP reputation, spam rates and any delivery errors. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"reporting\">Reporting\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Similarly to the deliverability of automated email campaigns, increased privacy regulations also raise challenges when it comes to reporting on those emails. As highlighted in our ‘Measuring the impact of marketing automation’ section, certain ISPs now mask their users’ IP addresses, which prevents the sender from seeing whether the email has been opened or not. As such, open rates are no longer a reliable metric to track the success of email campaigns. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, click rates and link tagging still offer an effective means of reporting on your email campaigns. By measuring both the engagement (click rates) and subsequent behaviour (link tagging) of your customers, these methods also give you a more detailed idea of how your message performs – as opposed to simply identifying whether it was opened.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"understanding-complex-tools\">Understanding complex tools\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Whether it’s through your email or ecommerce software or through an integrated marketing hub, marketing automation relies on various tools – some of which come with an incredibly steep learning curve. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Although a certain learning curve is expected when adopting any new software, some of the more advanced and complex marketing automation tools can take significant time and resources to master effectively. And without a thorough understanding of things like reporting, segmentation or creating workflows, campaigns are unlikely to reach their full potential. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To combat any skill gaps, it’s important to invest in dedicated training and development on your marketing automation tools. This might be through hands-on training sessions, certification programmes, or by encouraging the relevant teams to devote several hours a week to learning their way around your technology stack. Most marketing automation platforms have a host of resources to support this kind of training, such as e-books, how-tos and webinars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another way to navigate this is by partnering with a dedicated marketing automation agency like \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">Impression\u003C\u002Fa>. From consultation and implementation through to ongoing management and optimisation, we’ll act as an extension of your marketing department, helping you to achieve the best results for your business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3840\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F03\u002FDigital-Experience_Banner_01.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27524\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"maintaining-data-quality\">Maintaining data quality\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As we’ve discussed throughout this article, the way to utilise marketing automation effectively is to deliver highly personalised, carefully timed messages to your customers. And doing that requires a whole lot of data.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Maintaining the quality of that data is one of the biggest challenges marketing teams face when automating their campaigns. High-quality data is accurate, timely and complete – but even the most accurate datasets are subject to change and degradation over time. Addresses and circumstances change, interests evolve, and once-warm leads go cold. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Without relevant, up-to-date data, automated marketing can run into a host of issues – including inaccurate customer segments, misleading reports, and ineffective personalisation. Emails land in inboxes that no longer exist, duplicate entries skew databases and misinform strategies, and potential customers are shown irrelevant messages or offers. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To maintain the quality of your data, there are a few active steps you’ll need to take. Start by cleaning and validating your existing data, purging any incorrect, outdated or irrelevant information and implementing validation checks to ensure ongoing accuracy. Make sure to update your data to keep it relevant, and run regular tests to help spot any issues. Many of these tasks can be automated and managed by your CRM software or CDP, but it’s still important to keep an active role in this process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As with email marketing, changing privacy regulations create ongoing challenges with building and maintaining accurate data. Although most platforms include website pixels and JavaScript tracking features, which allow you to track customers’ web events against their profiles in your marketing, CRM or CDP software, relying on third-party data has become increasingly difficult. To combat this, one useful alternative is server-side tagging, which you can learn more about \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fblog\u002Fmodern-measurement-series-privacy-first-tracking-solutions\u002F\">here\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"overcoming-resistance-to-change\">Overcoming resistance to change\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>By automating many of the more repetitive, day-to-day marketing tasks, marketing automation can feel like a no-brainer. But as with any automation, it can also trigger fears around redundancies, creating a reluctance within an organisation to start automating those everyday processes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>To encourage people to adopt marketing automation, it’s useful to assuage those fears early on in the implementation. Rather than making marketing staff redundant, automation frees up time for higher-value activities, such as big-picture thinking, strategic planning, and creating those high-performing campaigns. It also brings with it the potential for new jobs, particularly around data processing and clean-up. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"addressing-ethical-concerns\">Addressing ethical concerns\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As with the broader world of AI, marketing automation raises some important ethical considerations. If, for example, campaigns utilise every scrap of data to achieve the best results, this could potentially lead to manipulative marketing techniques, working to exploit customers’ vulnerabilities. Moreover, a reduction in human oversight can leave issues like this unchecked. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Further to the previous section, where we touched on the fears of redundancies surrounding automation, this potential for exploitation is another reason why marketing automation still requires human input. By creating carefully targeted workflows and considered messaging, marketing teams can work to ensure their campaigns inform and inspire, rather than taking advantage of vulnerabilities.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another common concern with automation is the perpetuation of algorithmic bias. If the data your marketing platform analyses is biased, then these biases can be unintentionally amplified in your marketing, which can lead to certain demographics being unfairly targeted or excluded. This reinforces the need for human insight and intervention in marketing automation. To overcome these biases, encourage teams to critically evaluate the output of your marketing automation, and to speak up when something doesn’t seem right. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"looking-ahead-the-future-of-marketing-automation\">\u003Cstrong>Looking ahead: The future of marketing automation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Whether it’s streamlining operations, creating hyperlocal campaigns or scoring and nurturing leads, marketing automation can revolutionise your organisation’s marketing efforts. And it’s evolving all the time. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As we’ve covered in this article, privacy regulations and privacy-preserving technologies present several challenges for marketing automation. As such, marketing technology is evolving to meet these challenges head-on, giving marketers access to better, more reliable data, while also improving the privacy of the users involved. Examples of this include privacy-first tracking tools, such as Simple Analytics, as well as server-side tracking, which gives you full control of the data that’s passed on to third parties (such as your marketing partners). \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another tool we can expect to see more of is no-code marketing automation platforms. Most marketing teams will already be using some no-code tools, such as Mailchimp or Zapier, but the range and capacity of these tools will continue to grow as marketing teams strive to be more agile. Rather than relying on external IT departments and development teams, or trying to navigate what feels like an insurmountable learning curve, these tools give you the freedom to create workflows, build landing pages and gather more data – in just a few clicks. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Advancements in data analytics are fuelling the growth of new branches of data science, such as predictive analytics. Providing insights about both current and historical data, predictive analytics helps businesses forecast future outcomes, like when a potential customer might convert, or when an existing customer might be at risk of leaving a brand. AI and machine learning will continue to power this branch of analytics, becoming more mainstream as brands seek to keep their competitive edge. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And it’s not just the tech itself that’s evolving: the way we use marketing automation will continue to adapt as marketing trends change. Rather than focusing on conversions, marketers are increasingly turning towards lifecycle marketing – tracking customers way beyond their first purchase to turn them into loyal brand champions. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>With so much on the horizon, it’s an exciting time to think about marketing automation – whether you’re new to the practice or optimising your existing strategy. And we’re here to help you every step of the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"marketing-automation-by-impression\">\u003Cstrong>Marketing automation by Impression\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Impression is an independent, operator-owned \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002Fmarketing-automation\u002F\">marketing automation agency\u003C\u002Fa>. We also offer a broad suite of other services that can complement your automation efforts and support business growth, spanning areas such as \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fdigital-experience\u002F\">digital experience\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fpaid-media\u002F\">paid media\u003C\u002Fa> and \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fanalytics\u002F\">analytics\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Interested in learning what we can do for you? \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\u002Fget-in-touch\u002F\">Speak to our team for a free consultation\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":194,"protected":238},30870,{"inline_featured_image":238,"footnotes":5},[1398,245,764,1008],280,[],[15],[1402,135,251,252,253,254,255,1403,256,771,1013],"post-30856","category-data-engineering",[],[],[1407,1408,1409,1410],{"path":211,"name":212},{"path":263,"name":264},{"path":146,"name":147},{"path":220,"name":193},"Explore marketing automation in this guide, covering its benefits, types, key tools, and strategies for efficient campaign automation. Read more.",{"thumbnail":1413,"medium":1414,"medium_large":1416,"large":1418,"1536x1536":1420,"2048x2048":1422,"post-thumbnail":1424,"12_col":1426,"default_landscape":1428,"default_portrait":1430,"6_col_and_margin_short":1432,"11_col_and_margin":1434,"9_col_rectangle":1436,"11_col":1438,"staff_image_696_600":1440,"rectangular_thumbnail":1442},{"url":198,"width":270,"height":270},{"url":1415,"width":92,"height":92},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=200&q=90&w=133",{"url":1417,"width":95,"height":25},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1152&q=90&w=768",{"url":1419,"width":277,"height":278},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1000&q=90&w=1892",{"url":1421,"width":101,"height":101},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=1536&q=90&w=1024",{"url":1423,"width":104,"height":104},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=scale&h=2048&q=90&w=1365",{"url":1425,"width":107,"height":108},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1180&q=90&w=1860",{"url":1427,"width":110,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2880",{"url":1429,"width":113,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=800",{"url":1431,"width":87,"height":113},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=800&q=90&w=600",{"url":1433,"width":107,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=1860",{"url":1435,"width":117,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=3080",{"url":1437,"width":119,"height":120},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=1400&q=90&w=2150",{"url":1439,"width":122,"height":111},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=870&q=90&w=2640",{"url":1441,"width":86,"height":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=600&q=90&w=696",{"url":1443,"width":125,"height":126},"https:\u002F\u002Fimages.impression.co.uk\u002F2024\u002F10\u002Falmas-salakhov-duDbgis3f-Y-unsplash-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&h=300&q=90&w=750",[1445],{"id":240,"path":305,"display_name":4,"job_title":10,"description":6,"avatar_url":144,"acf":1446},{"job_title":10,"full_bio":11,"specialist_service_links":1447,"photo":1458},[1448,1450,1452,1454,1456],{"page":1449,"link_text":18},{"ID":15,"post_author":16,"post_date":17,"post_date_gmt":17,"post_content":5,"post_title":18,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":21,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":22,"post_modified_gmt":22,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":23,"guid":24,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":29},{"page":1451,"link_text":41},{"ID":32,"post_author":33,"post_date":34,"post_date_gmt":34,"post_content":5,"post_title":35,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":36,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":37,"post_modified_gmt":37,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":38,"guid":39,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":40},{"page":1453,"link_text":46},{"ID":44,"post_author":16,"post_date":45,"post_date_gmt":45,"post_content":5,"post_title":46,"post_excerpt":5,"post_status":19,"comment_status":20,"ping_status":20,"post_password":5,"post_name":47,"to_ping":5,"pinged":5,"post_modified":48,"post_modified_gmt":48,"post_content_filtered":5,"post_parent":49,"guid":50,"menu_order":25,"post_type":26,"post_mime_type":5,"comment_count":27,"filter":28,"url_path":51},{"page":1455,"link_text":61},{"ID":54,"post_author":16,"post_date":55,"post_date_gmt":55,"post_content":5,"post_title":56,"post_excerpt":5,"post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