In the age of data privacy, marketers must think of consent and value first

IN RECENT years, marketers have had access to big data, from which to create and deliver personalized experiences to consumers.

Through the delivery of this, businesses have been able to better engage their target audience and as a result, significantly boost sales.

In fact, a Forrester study found that 44 percent of B2C marketers are using big data and analytics to improve responsiveness, and 36 percent are actively using analytics to gain greater insights to plan more relationship-driven marketing strategies.

But regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have created the “Era of Consent”, where businesses are now required to protect the personal data and privacy of customers.

For marketers, this means that connecting with customers is made a lot more difficult. The new regulation requires them to first gather consent before being able to use their data to build a “marketing relationship”.

The answer to retaining customers is customized content

The challenge for many marketers now is to figure out how best to convince customers to willingly share their information.

It seems that the best answer to this is to be as transparent as possible about how their data is being used and maintained.

As a modern marketer, you should be delivering personalized content or service recommendations to your customers in order to ensure they are reaping the benefits of the new regulation.

Actively offer customers the chance to update their marketing preferences, being sure to highlight the benefits they will gain by sharing their information. with personalized offers being delivered to them, they are much more likely to stay engaged with the brand.

Use content to provide value

For both B2C and B2B marketers, in order to retain customer data, data privacy laws require them to truly harness individualized communication that is tailored to customers’ needs.

It seems that different methods of personalization are being adopted by brands to encourage consumers to opt-in to data sharing.

For instance, many businesses are offering customers the chance to sign up to receive an e-book containing information that addresses their unique industry challenges.

Further, brands are increasingly developing fun, personalized, and interactive marketing tools such as chatbots and videos. These can provide a great way to convey your business value while encouraging your audience to engage and opt-in.

Today’s consumers have a fear of missing out. And so as a business, you should be making sure that your consumers understand exactly what they are missing out on. This requires really knowing your audience and being thoughtful and proactive about meeting their needs.

In order to entice customers to opt-in, you must change the way you create and offer content to them- with the main intention of getting them to come back for more.

There is no doubt that data privacy laws have caused many headaches among professionals in the marketing world, completely changing how they must interact with their customers.

But those marketers who choose to embrace the change and use it to develop a much more tailored marketing approach will ultimately end up with more targeting and qualified leads.

So, perhaps the “era of consent” is not something to be disgruntled about. Rather, it offers businesses a valuable opportunity to develop stronger and smarter relationships with their customers.

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