In this era of constant digital transformation, the success of brands hinges on their deep understanding of their prospects and customers. They need to show up, and be ready to help, at every stage of the customer journey, even before a prospect has any conscious commercial intent. Such understanding requires data, the cornerstone of effective marketing and brand strategy.
The Ethical Compass
Our first consideration when putting in place a data collection strategy should be our ethical compass. It must always be done with respect for privacy and transparency.
– Collect with Consent: Trust is established when you are transparent about what data you collect and how you will use it.
– Limit Data Collection: Refrain from collecting more data than you actually need, “just in case” it proves useful later.
– Secure and Respect Data: Implement robust security measures to protect collected data and respect the privacy of individuals by handling their data responsibly.
– Avoid Invasive Tracking: Shun overly intrusive tracking methods that infringe on privacy.
– Stay Compliant: Adhere to data protection regulations like GDPR to avoid legal and reputational risks.
By collecting and using data transparently, and focusing on the customer journey, we believe you can build lasting relationships and trust with your audience, paving the way for sustainable success. But respecting privacy, security and ethical use is crucial for brand success.
Value Exchange in Data Collection
We find that whilst brands increasingly understand the need to collect data, they don’t believe that consumers are willing to provide it. It’s a belief that may have stemmed from clumsy attempts to collect data in the past, such as from a pop up requesting a visitor’s email address that appears seconds after they land on your website.
In reality, consumers are ready and willing to offer up their data, as long as four simple principles are followed:
1. Fair Value Exchange: Offer tangible benefits in return for data, like content access in exchange for an email address.
2. Necessity and Relevance: Limit requests to essential data, ensuring its use is relevant and enhances consumer trust. For example, collecting an email address and first name to send out a newsletter, without requesting their date of birth.
3. Responsible Data Use: Treat collected data as a privilege, and maintain trust by avoiding misuse. Abuse the trust they have put in you, and you will lose them.
4. Transparency and Respect: Be clear about how you will use and store the data you collect. Uphold privacy, establishing a trust-based brand-consumer relationship.
What data to collect
But what data do you need to collect? When, and how, should you collect it?
When we work with brands, we find it can help to align data collection strategies with the four key stages of the customer journey: attraction, engagement, conversion, and retention.
Attracting Your Audience: Initially, we recommend collecting third party data that keeps you updated concerning market trends, audience demographics, and content preferences. Attempting to collect any kind of personal data at the attraction stage will be difficult, but also ill advised. You run the risk of putting prospects off choosing your brand at a later stage. You might collect data on how prospects interact with your ads, to assess what works and what doesn’t, and to tell you what prospects are most interested in. At this stage you are laying the groundwork for creating relevant and inspiring content that resonates with your audience.
Engaging Your Audience: When consumers engage with you or your content, they are already demonstrating some interest in what you offer, so will likely provide certain indicators of their intent. They might choose to sign up to your newsletter, or request your free download on a relevant subject. At this stage it’s absolutely essential to get the value-exchange between you and the consumer absolutely right. Request too much data, and they may walk away from your brand for good. So having established that they want your content, what is it reasonable to request from them in return? Email address is normally the minimum, but does the value of what you are offering here justify asking for a little more?
If you want to see the value exchange delivered well, check out Harry’s razors. When you sign up for their emails, they ask you if you’re bald or full of hair, or what type of beard you maintain, so they can send you more relevant content. It seems like a perfectly reasonable ask but for Harry’s, of course, the collected data is gold dust.
Converting Your Audience: At this stage, understanding prospects’ buying behaviours, preferences, and decision-making processes becomes critical. Prioritise transparency and explicit consent, particularly with sensitive data, to build trust and facilitate conversion. Harry’s razors get this stage right as well. By providing a broad range of ‘how to’ videos demonstrating how to get the ebay from their products they can learn about a customer’s post-purchase needs by which, and how much of the content they engage with.
Caring for Your Audience: Post-conversion, aim to understand customer satisfaction and loyalty, using insights to tailor future offerings and maintain relationships. Even for those who don’t convert, understanding their perception and feedback is valuable. Collecting this data ethically, with respect and consent, reinforces the brand’s commitment to genuinely caring for its audience.
Can we help?
At Cognitive Union, we support brands of all sizes to establish a profitable and effective data strategy that places them at the heart of the customer journey. We do this through learning, training, consultancy, and coaching. For an informal discussion about your data strategy, with no obligation, please email me at lynsey@cognitiveunion.com