Using Personal Data for Personalisation – Maintaining a Complete and Trusting Relationship

This article was written by Jed Mole, European Marketing Director at Acxiom, a data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.

Were all individuals. And while we all value different things, when things get personal, we care – we want relationships to suit our best interests. So shouldnt a trusted relationship extend to our interactions with brands to give us personalised, valued service; surely its only natural?

In order to provide that personalised relationship, marketers must use personal data to tailor consumer experiences. Theres plenty of data about – were interacting, socialising and buying more in the digital space than ever before. But maintaining our expectations of high standards of personalised service can be challenging. While securing consumer trust in personal data use is vital, its not always easy. A balance between personal data use and appropriate personalisation in marketing must be achieved. But misperceptions and extreme perspectives on data use easily challenge trust.

Privacy, security responsiveness and transparency

Data is neither good nor bad. Like raw energy, how you handle and use it determines whether its a benefit or a risk. Carefully managed and appropriately used, it can greatly enhance lives. Misuse however, is something to be avoided at all costs, for obvious reasons. Security should be the immediate concern in securing trust. The line of security must be set high for all uses of personal data. Data must stay safe, secure, and must operate within explicit legal parameters and regulations.

Transparency is fundamental to trust in a data relationship, and must always be maintained between consumers, marketers and any third parties involved, by showing how data is collected and used.

Responsiveness is also crucial, meaning that any queries raised by the public or regulators must be addressed swiftly. However, as well see, value is increasingly important to the consumer.

What are individuals attitudes towards personal data use?[1]

It is understandable that consumers may have suspicions or concerns regarding data use. We are increasingly active online (over 70% of people in the EU now use the internet), and increasingly aware of the levels of data we produce, though misperception and certain news stories may add unnecessary negativity to opinion.

Combined research by the DMA (Direct Marketing Association, UK) and the Future Foundation in 2012 wanted to know what consumers really thought of our relationships with data use, and found that generally, consumers fall into one of three mind-sets: The Pragmatists, The Fundamentalists and the Unconcerned.

Pragmatists (53% of those asked) were prepared to provide their data as long as it was well curated and returned value to them. These individuals tended to be females under 25.

Fundamentalists (typically older males with little or no online or social media experience) made 31%, were highly suspicious of personal data use and believe more limitation and regulation should be in force.

Those who were unconcerned with how their data was used were typically males under 25, and comprised 16% of the surveyed consumers.

65 % of people expect organisations to use data to improve service. And with 80 % believing that disclosing data is part of modern life, ensuring personal data use remains a trusted part of a personalisation relationship is crucial. As consumers increasingly consider personalisation to be a two way street with 65% of people expecting marketers to use the data they provide to improve services for them, this solidifies the fact that beyond keeping data secure, delivering value should be the primary goal of marketers.

Ensuring your personal data/personalisation relationship stays balanced

Addressing and understanding the perspectives, concerns and reasoning of those who are unsure of data use is key to maintaining trust in the eyes of consumers.

Data is not a one-use-fits-all solution. While many may think that the same parameters and restrictions are applied to marketing data as are to more sensitive healthcare or financial data, doing this in practice would be absurd and irresponsible. Data should always be applied uniquely for best, appropriate and responsible use.

Through transparency around the use of marketing data, i.e. to simply ensure the marketing consumers receive are more relevant than not, by providing opt-in-opt-out options and remaining responsive, secure, and privacy-concerned, the disconnects can be minimised and personal data can be used to enhance personalisation in the most appropriate, balanced ways. Remember, unless we are to give up all the free web tools such as search, comparison, email accounts and social sites, we must be willing to receive advertising. Given that, why wouldnt we want to see ads that mean something to us.

To practically drive consumer value/ maintain the personalisation relationship:

1. Put the customer first. Use customer interests to influence data collection, usage and protection. The more relevant you are to your segments interests the greater the value, trust and loyalty youll receive from them.
2. Keep data balanced. Marketing (and the organisation itself) should be consumercentric, focused on driving value for customers. Balanced use returns value and generates trust.
3. Consider the context. What context is the data to be used in? Examine all possible uses and balance appropriate implementation in light of this.
4. Protect data. Never take any chances with data collection, security or use. Legal regulation and guidelines must be adhered to and professional help sought if needed.
5. Be open and transparent. When possible, explain that data used in marketing is different to data used for other reasons.
6. Speed up with social. Social data reduces the gaps between brands and consumers, giving better more real-time responsiveness. Careful usage is critical here however to avoid being misinterpreted as intrusive.
7. Connect across all touch points. Personal data should be incorporated from all channels to ensure personalisation across all channels. All media, devices and channels must recognise the consumer uniquely for brands to be successful.
8. Deliver value to build trust. If you provide value to your consumers, theyll value your brand. Great personalisation though data use (remember this can be creative so long as it is transparent, trustworthy and balanced) is the ultimate goal.

[1] Information taken from Personalisation: Hanging in the balance’ whitepaper. Acxiom, 2013