The new data hierarchy

Gerry Murray

  • Research director, marketing and sales technology services, IDC
Gerry provides best practice guidance to senior marketing executives at many of the world’s largest high-tech companies. He gives inspiring and thought-provoking presentations to help modern marketers perform better in the present and more effectively prepare for the future.

We are all digital lab rats spewing treasure troves of personal data wherever we go.

At first, this appears to be an extraordinary windfall for marketers. But imagine the protests if every store required you to agree everything you look at or purchase, your footsteps, facial expressions and heart rate, interactions with family, friends and staff became property of the store.

It would be an affront to an age-old social contract. Yet somehow, we’ve allowed online services to capture all of this and more.

But the jig is up. There is a global awakening going on about the amount, persistence and personal nature of the data brands have about all of us. Customers want control over it and assurances it will be used for specific purposes for their benefit.

Brands should be careful not to get so caught up in the compliance struggle they miss the seismic shift in cultural zeitgeist that new regulations such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act represent. Because how you treat customer data is ultimately the litmus test for how you’re treating your customers.

Perhaps the greatest change required of marketers is a philosophical one. It’s been said data is the new oil and currency. If you believe your personal data is nothing more than a natural resource for corporations to own, extract and exploit for profit, then, by all means, stop reading.

Taking such an approach is the first step towards delivering poor customer experiences. Mishandling personal data is an emotional trigger. If you believe brand preferences are at their root emotional, you get what’s at stake.

Consent is the new currency

Treat consent as the new currency, something to be exchanged for value. Without opt-in, customer data is worthless. This makes consent one of the most valuable commodities in the digital economy.

Customers are beginning to know this and thanks to advances in consumer AI, controlling and even automating consent will be increasingly convenient for them. As such control becomes automated, two things will separate dominant brands from the pack:

1. Top brands will develop new approaches and competencies for using data as a customer service;

2. Top brands will ensure consumers get more than they give.

Next-generation trust

Consent is the floor on which brands can start to build much more trusted and influential relationships with customers. Moving up the hierarchy of customer expectations requires both an enterprise platform and a community to manage data and consent.

The community should include all customer-facing functions and nurture a culture of customer-centric service. Key values include: The way you treat your customer data is the way you treat your customers; and data is the thread that weaves and facilitates customer-centric culture.

Marketers will distinguish their brands by how they leverage data and consent across channels. The ad team can A/B test faster than the email team, for example. The social team can track sentiment at events in real time. Communications can drive segmentation based on article consumption.

As marketers strive to move up the hierarchy, this must be extended across functions. Contact centres can inform marketing about complaints before upsell emails go out. Marketing can help finance forecast renewals by running 30/60/90-day advance campaigns. Services can help product marketers better monetise underused features.

The key is to enable and educate teams that serve your customers about how exchanging data between them can elevate their ability to deliver outstanding customer experiences.

The days of opt-in being a ‘won and done’ transaction are over. The way marketers manage customer data and consent will be an increasingly important factor in brand preference.

Brands that use customer data for the customer’s benefit will find themselves in a virtuous cycle where the buyer is willing to share more and more because they trust the brand and because they get more back than they give. This will translate into deeper, longer and more beneficial relationships for both parties. 

Tags: IDC, data analytics, data-driven marketing

Show Comments

Latest Whitepapers

More whitepapers

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in