• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 28, 2023

Brands are having trouble keeping up with privacy regulations and the need to follow them.  

For instance, 53% say their team doesn’t have the technical resources needed for compliance, although those working on marketing teams with 21 employees were 13% less likely to say this, according to Privacy Pain Points for marketers, a study by Cassie.  

In addition, 51% feel unprepared to meet the compliance requirements of new privacy regulations.

But senior marketers were 17% more likely than junior colleagues to say this. Moreover, 50% say they do not have the legal resources needed for compliance. Yet 85% are concerned about data privacy changes ending third-party cookies.  

But older hands are more serene — junior-level marketers are 43% more likely than senior-level ones to say that changing data privacy legislation will have a negative impact on the financial outlook at their company.  

And 70% of those who are concerned to any extent fear that the deprecation of cookies will hamper their ability to do their job effectively. Marketers with less than four of years experience are 15% are more likely than those with more years of experience to say this.

Yet, of all those who are worried, 81% are concerned about their ability to target ads effectively without cookies, and Gen Zers are more likely than Gen Xers to say so.  

In general, 51% are not sure what to do to prepare for the loss of third-party cookies.  

And 71% of those who are troubled say changes in data privacy legislation have drastically changed the way they market to customers, although those with 10+ years are 14% less likely to say this.

In addition, 69% fear data privacy legislation will affect their ability to do their job. 

In the end, 88% of companies are taking steps to prepare for a cookieless future. Of those, 36% are investing in privacy-sensitive advertising methods.  

Meanwhile, 84% of marketers say they keep up with current privacy legislation. Junior marketers were 50% more likely than those with 10+ years of experience to say they are compliant. 

The three most-understood data privacy laws are CCPA, GDPR and HIPPA. The three least understood regulations are: 

• Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act 
• Local/regional regulations 
• The Utah Consumer Privacy Act
  

Cassie surveyed 602 marketers.