It’s a relatively new challenge for marketers, and one that will become increasingly pertinent – having to second guess the customer using personal data while simultaneously honouring their privacy. The niggling paradox is that demand for hyper-personalisation comes at the same time as a heightened alertness to the misuse of data. (Take Citizenfour’s success at the box office, for example. Or this recent scoop on how household brands are bankrolling all manner of untoward organisations.)
When everything from the food we eat to the films we watch are recommended to us through personal data, marketers, like Icarus, mustn’t fly too high and invade their prospects’ privacy; or too low and appear a stranger.
When it’s too personal
At one time or another, every thinking person has questioned how their data is being used. Search for a product on company A’s website one day, and company C’s – or even D’s – adverts will surface on your desktop the next. These pause-for-thought scenarios are the product of slenderly understood yet ubiquitous web cookies.
In essence, cookies are pieces of browsing history data that are collected when you visit a website. They contain information about your movements online, which enables the algorithmic tracking of predictive logins, theme selection, preferences, and other customisation functions for future visits.
When using these capsules of browsing history, Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate at Comparitech.com, says there are dos and don’ts: “Marketers should refrain from using remarketing ad-tech and tracking cookies that build advertising profiles around individuals without their knowledge or consent.”
"I understand the need for reliable advertising to power free content, but if ad tech becomes too invasive and content is tailored too much, it could reach a point that requires regulation and sets the industry back"
He continues: “Unfortunately, tracking cookies, browser fingerprints, and other remarketing tools used by ad networks have become par for the course, and they’re getting more pervasive. I understand the need for reliable advertising to power free content, but if ad-tech becomes too invasive and content is tailored too much, it could reach a point that requires regulation and sets the industry back.”
In short, customers and prospects should have full control with the option to opt out of tracking without the need for any third-party software, such as ad blockers. This isn’t always the case.
With great insight comes great responsibility
To avoid Paul’s forewarned setbacks – and ensure a mutually beneficial level of personalisation is delivered – marketers first need to understand what their customers want to receive. Jane Cooper, social media consultant at Inferno Media, believes this means a simplified user journey through the delivery of relevant content in logical ways. “When used correctly personalisation allows this to happen and it doesn’t have to be intrusive,” she says.
Indeed, marketers today are advantaged in having access to enormous amounts of customer data. If a marketer is missing their prospect’s name, for example, they can infer what he or she is interested in and understand their behaviour based on their browsing activity. This can then be consolidated by third-party data, which will uncover a highly detailed demographic.
“Harnessing this data in a legally compliant way is crucial,” says Sophie Wooller, consultancy lead at iProspect. “The advent of new legislation next summer – which Brexit is unlikely to stop in the short term – makes this even more important. We need to be clear about what we are collecting and how it will be used.”
Earning trust
It’s largely a question of trust – a commodity that’s earned over time by consistently meeting and exceeding customer expectations in terms of what they’re offered and where they’re receiving it. But if opt in is necessary and opt out is available, marketers needn’t trudge through legislation to strike the balance.
Simply ask yourself whether you’d feel uncomfortable being targeted in the way you’re targeting, or you’d expect the brand to know this much about you at a given stage. After all, personalisation could mean receiving relevant content based on purchase history, or simply a first name-addressed email. “The depth of the relationship with the customer should define what end of this spectrum you target,” says Sophie.
Remember that marketers are accustomed to being around data and are, by and large, more knowledgeable about it than the rest of the population. Try explaining to a non-marketing friend what data can be collected and what you can do with it, and the chances are they’ll be surprised. Sophie adds: “To maintain the trust of your customers transparency is critical, but using data responsibly is even more important if we don’t want to cross the ‘creepy line’.”
“The depth of the relationship with the customer should define what end of this spectrum you target”
Beyond [first name] terms
The power of personalisation has risen in line with the number of digital channels and devices used – and that’s no coincidence: every touch presents a new opportunity for marketers. So when customers are bouncing around these channels and devices, the experience must be seamless, with incentives offered according to behaviour signals intent.
Mike Kulakov, marketing and PR at REES46, says there’s a new technique for allowing customer behaviour to instruct tailored interactions in a timely fashion. “’Progressive personalisation’ is based on dynamic changes throughout the whole customer journey. From the first clicks, this technology starts to determine minute details individual to each customer. First rearranging search results, then continuously tailoring product recommendations in real time.”
But providing personalised customer experience isn’t a luxury only afforded to those with the latest technology. Clint Poole, SVP and CMO at Lionbridge, outlines five steps every brand can take to get personal without invading on privacy:
- Listen to and understand your audiences. Align yourself with your customers’ and prospects’ requirements with web and social media monitoring tools.
- Derive insights from social listening and offline channels. Pick a market and buyer persona you want to profile and plan data-driven, actionable communications you can deliver quickly.
- Plan globally to guarantee branding consistency and cost efficiency. Ask yourself what channels you should invest in based on the buyer persona for each stage of the customer journey. What technologies and tools do you need? What KPIs are most valuable?
- Deploy locally to ensure cultural relevance in your customer experiences. Local campaigns executed by in-market resources are essential to ensuring you deliver a remarkable experience to your local customers.
- Never stop listening to buyer personas. Keep track of your audiences’ desires and needs – pick up on changes and shifts, and adapt to them quickly.
An open book approach
The advent of these techniques and technologies makes the tracking of online behaviours and personal data both more achievable and more necessary. By and by marketers will see legislation and attitudes toward privacy become germane to their day-to-day activates. The simplest way to strike the balance, it seems, is to adopt an open book approach: communicate to customers and prospects exactly what you’re doing with their data and why they will in turn receive the experience they’ve come to expect.
