4 Steps to Build the Ultimate Consent Management Platform

With expanding global privacy laws impacting how customer data is collected and used, organizations that proactively embrace consent requirements will be  well positioned to succeed. 

It’s estimated that privacy regulations will protect 65% of the world’s personal data by 2023. As a result, organizations must take action today to pursue compliance and build privacy-conscious consumer connections. 

A consent management platform (CMP) works across websites, mobile applications, and connected TV (CTV) applications to meet compliance standards. When designed well, CMPs also help create a positive user experience that builds brand trust. 

Organizations that invest in consent and preference management recognize a 40x return on investment — through reduced unsubscribes and increased engagement, customer database size, and opt-in rates. 

This guide will show you exactly how to increase consumer consent and safely monetize data, including best practices based on changing global regulatory requirements and cross-device management. You’ll learn how to build the ultimate CMP, which will empower your marketing and privacy teams to help your organization meet consent requirements.

Step 1: Move Beyond a Static Cookie Banner to Increase ROI

A significant portion of CMP returns comes from the ability to implement targeted privacy actions at scale, powered by automation, scanning, and cross-platform integration. 

CMPs that are equipped to meet the complexities of today’s privacy landscape should: 

• Provide regulatory overviews across jurisdictions
• Investigate and manage who’s tracking data on your digital properties 
• Enable cross-device consent 
• Deliver a positive, engaging user experience

Organizations investing in a CMP without access to these capabilities are leaving value on the table. 

In today’s privacy world, building regulations into a consent program is not a one-off activity. Creating a process that includes regular, systemic rescanning for updates is key. 

For example, a static CMP might apply the most restrictive requirements across all jurisdictions, regardless of applicability. A next-generation CMP facilitates a geolocation-based consent model, offering dynamic regional configurations that allow teams to adhere to current standards by location. 

A CMP 2.0 will not only help teams comply with laws but also streamline the user experience to bring transparency to consent decisions. By delivering a seamless user journey, organizations can generate improved opt-in rates, further contributing to the average 40x ROI recognized by peer organizations. 

Step 2: Improve Trust, Compliance, and Personalization 

Consumer trust is a pillar of growth and differentiation for this decade’s leading organizations. 

Moving beyond a reactive stance towards privacy laws — and transitioning into a proactive one — will yield significant dividends. Improving trust, compliance, and personalization for customers is where organizations receive the majority of ROI from a well-designed CMP. 

The approach to consent management should focus on three main goals: 

• Enhancing customer relationships: 97% of people worldwide are concerned about their organizationally-held data. The approach to consent management should seek to empower customers with the knowledge of the value exchange for their data. From improved products to relevant messaging, transparency enhances customer relationships.
  
• Automating compliance and governance: Automation makes it possible to achieve scale for compliance and governance activities. Tools that apply the latest guidance on privacy regulations, frameworks, and technology shifts enable organizations to keep pace with rapid change.
  
• Optimizing personalization and data activation: When consumers opt in to providing their data, it’s incumbent on organizations to then provide personalized experiences of value to them. Wherever possible, best practices call for organizations to activate consumer consent choices across all devices and marketing activities. 

Step 3: Expand Your Web CMP to Mobile and OTT 

Consumers use multiple devices to access similar types of content. 

In fact, 87% of US internet users get online using at least two devices. In 2020, app installs on mobile devices were up 26.1% year over year, and 82% of internet-connected households subscribed to an OTT video service.

Your CMP should integrate data, consent, and opt-in activities across web, mobile, and OTT — and centralize them. From there, marketing teams can develop known customer profiles that capture transactions and offer value, such as: 

• Providing audiences with preference centers to manage choices
• Syncing and updating preferences within other systems, devices, and applications to consistently implement consumer choices 
• Progressively profiling consumers across devices

In some cases, data can flow both ways. When a user makes a change, this can trigger an update to their centralized record, which flows to other linked internal systems. 

By enabling cross-device consent management, organizations can gather user consent in a central location and implement it whenever users interact with products, services, or content. This becomes even more important as organizations prepare for a cookieless environment by pivoting to a first-party data strategy. 

Step 4: Optimize the CMP User Experience 

Organizations face obstacles to delivering a user-friendly CMP. The interface must be regionally compliant, reflect a company’s brand, and protect the revenue stream generated by consent. 

Pre-built templates can help teams enhance the CMP user experience and meet requirements. By offering varying consent models, geolocation capabilities, and language options, organizations can deliver design and functionality that aligns with needs. 

Optimizing the user experience with A/B testing also protects revenue streams by helping teams gather data about which approach is most effective. Test variants could include placement on a screen, the content of the consent request, and calls to action. 

Conclusion: Prepare for the Future with a Universal CMP 

While 70% of customers report that trusting a brand is more important than it’s ever been, only 28% of customers know which brands to trust. 

Today’s organizations must prioritize building trust with their customers to be competitive long term. Implementing user-driven consent across devices helps maintain the promises made to consumers and can improve outcomes. 

To meet present and future compliance needs, organizations need a CMP that is responsive to regulatory changes, sustains engagement with customers, and powers organization-wide marketing, privacy, and information security activities.  

Equipped with these capabilities, a significant return on investment for your CMP is possible. Next steps? The impact of a CMP extends across an organization. Marketing, privacy, and information security teams are all stakeholders in consent management. Collaborating to identify CMP goals will help ensure overlapping efforts across these teams effectively align with each other. 

Jamie Molnar has joined the OneTrust team as Director of Product Marketing. She has spent her career in the digital space helping advertisers improve decision-making and reduce costs across key facets of the marketing lifecycle – from media planning through measurement. Her cumulative digital marketing knowledge and expertise is built on nearly 20 years of experience working for brands such as IBM Watson, The Weather Channel, CNN and Microsoft.