Leverage Your Customer Data Without Infringing on Data Privacy
With so much of our lives being lived online these days, concerns over data privacy are growing. And we’re seeing this play out in all sorts of areas – from the legal to the social. This creates friction, as customer data for marketing is critical in today’s digital marketplace, but marketers have to become increasingly more conscious of protecting customer data privacy.
KPMG found that 70% of business leaders expanded their collection of customer data, and 95% said they have very strong data protection, but 86% of consumer respondents felt a growing concern about data privacy.
While this tension will always exist, if you are able to leverage consumer data effectively – without seeming creepy or intrusive – that can be a huge boon to your sales.
How to Use Customer Data for Marketing While Protecting Data Privacy
So how do we balance these two seemingly opposing needs?
Simple: be discerning in how you collect data and the ways you leverage it.
Source: KPMG
For instance, 68% of respondents in a McKinsey survey said they found it helpful when a brand they regularly shopped with provided them with sales alerts, and only 11% found it creepy. Compare that to a device listening to them – like when you’re chatting about needing new shoes and then your social media feed features advertisements for shoes – was considered “creepy” by 53% of respondents, and helpful by 26%.
Which isn’t to say it won’t work. Maybe it will, and you’ll make that sale, or get a consumer to enter your sales funnel. But you may turn off some customers in the future, and may even dissuade some if they feel you’re being intrusive with their data. Considering there are so many other ways to gather data and appeal to customers, it may be best to leave these ‘creepy’ data methods out of your arsenal.
Using Customer Data for Marketing the Right Way
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