Data Privacy and Authenticity Lessons From Europe for US B2B Marketers

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After years of hearing about the GDPR regulations in Europe, many US B2B marketers I speak with assume that marketing is more difficult across the Atlantic and that regulation has been a barrier to customer engagement and success.

And because of the proliferation of tech companies that have gotten their start in the US, there is also the perception that other markets are behind and the US leads in the realm of digital-first marketing.

Interestingly, our recent studies show that far from hurting European marketers, their differences have helped them.

They are finding success with an approach that features high-quality regulated data and a focus on authenticity, which builds trust and engagement:

Data privacy is more important than ever and is top-of-mind.
Trust is at the heart of keeping prospects and customers happy.

US marketers stand to gain some valuable insights from their European peers if they want to create a positive user experience for their own companies and brands.

Leaning Into Authenticity

The 2024 B2B Marketing Outlook report from Anteriad, conducted with Ascend2, finds that more European B2B marketers are expecting budget increases compared with North America and APAC—which means they are doing something right.

One reason for the European marketers' success is likely their focus on authenticity as a major component of their branding and marketing. Fully 72% of European B2B marketers are "Authenticity Acrobats," rating authenticity as very important in their branding—a higher proportion than any other region's marketers.

That Authenticity Acrobat group has better outcomes than its European peers and has higher confidence and higher expectations of growth. What's more, 56% of them are extremely confident in their data strategy and their top priority is data quality.

"Authenticity" describes the various elements that can build trust between buyers and sellers. It refers to the marketing approach of presenting a transparent, consistent view of a company or solution to buyers, which helps them better understand what they'll get if they buy.

Authentic communication reduces buyer skepticism and builds the trust that is so critical to a positive relationship.

Puffing up a message by claiming a new product is revolutionizing an industry might get a click, but a message that instead describes how it creates efficiencies or improves outcomes using real examples is much more authentic—and helps the buyer make a case for actually buying it.

Delivering the Right Message

Authenticity alone, however, isn't enough to get in front of the right buyer with the right message. People are in different stages of the buyer journey and so have different needs and challenges. European marketers lean into authenticity to build trust, but they still tailor their message to different audiences.

In a region where data privacy is taken very seriously, quality data matters—and supports a focus on authenticity because it helps with more accurate and relevant messaging, which drives more engagement.

European marketers have spent the last decade using data privacy best-practices, and rather than limiting their efforts the investment is paying off.

Europe may not have the scale that the US enjoys, so it is inherently a "quality over quantity" approach. Mass cheap clicks have been replaced by a more deterministic vs. probabilistic approach, which means that marketing messages are more likely to be reaching a qualified prospect. In turn, that means messaging needs to be carefully created.

Independent case studies have proven that data collected with respect for privacy and compliance performs better in campaigns. (For example, in our test executed with Causal IQ, our Neutronian Certified data performed significantly better than noncertified data segments across several advertiser verticals. Neutronian certifies data that has met certain standards for privacy best-practices.)

Two Takeaways for US Marketers

One lesson for the US marketer is that scale matters only as long as it still reaches a strict quality benchmark. Going below that mark can mean wasted budget and low response rates. Working with partners who respect that quality benchmark can help US marketers reduce waste in their pursuit of cheap scale.

Another thing for US marketers to consider is that if they increase their focus on data quality and prioritize authenticity more, their ratio of positive outcomes improves. Once they focus on quality, treating each interaction as an opportunity to have an authentic connection is a positive cycle that can get US marketers out of bad habits.