Tag: GDPR

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Dealing with Piranha infested rivers of data

Data is the piranha-infested river for successful marketing automation initiatives and this includes those that have things like ABM [1] in mind. Customer account data is messy at the best of times and requires both Marketing Automation and customer data knowledge, both of which are hard to find in a single resource or team.

Forrester’s research of “The US Marketing Technology And Services Outlook, 2017 To 2022” from 2017 suggested that US marketers would increase their investment in marketing technology by 27% reaching $122 billion spent on marketing tech by 2022, so we were all cautioned to not expect the pain and suffering of getting solutions in place, to let-up any time soon. Revenue in the IT Services market alone is projected to reach US$440.20bn in 2023 in the US according to Statista.

Online media spending in the US totaled $277.3 billion in 2022, up 13.5% from 2021, according to data from Winterberry Group (membership required).

The growth is below the 16.6% year-over-year growth predicted for 2022, indicating a deceleration in digital media spend, but online marketing spending accounted for over half (57.7%) of the $480.8 billion in total. In 2023, online marketing spending is forecast to grow by 10.8%, with market share predicted to rise to 60.3% of the total $509.2b expected to be spent.

The data problem has existed for as long as people have been collecting it and has become even more acute since the use of CRM became more commonplace. The promise of CRM like that of ERP is to hold all your data in an integrated and unified way so that marketing, sales, logistics, and accounting all have the same unified view. That single source of truth was hard to achieve in the first place and for many companies is still not really the way their data management approaches work.

With a large enterprise, there may be multiple systems of record, CRM, ERP, CDP, and then potentially multiples of each of those. Collecting customer data has created a mess of overlap and duplication because these platforms weren’t designed to function across multiple organizations or business units in some cases! Logistics for example probably don’t need access to the CDP.

Sales and marketing, customer service, support, warranties, assets, accounting, and others all have their own distinctive and siloed unique way of adding data into isolated systems, which complicates things even further. Combine that with the fact that many systems of a record actually source their data from a mess of data sources and sourcing channels with manual and automated connectivity, and you have a world that is inherently predisposed to data quality issues.

In reality, organizations need and want some central repository of critical customer data that they can consider as the entrenched source of truth so that they can galvanize all their other knowledge and insight around that single customer record. This in turn will help them provide an optimized experience and service levels to customers which in turn helps with retention and upsell.

What we have in the current CRM, ERP, and CDP offerings, is fractured and fragmented solutions which are mostly very good at solving the problems that were designed to solve but which don’t answer the other challenge of organizations, what are the key characteristics of my customer and is all the information that I have unified, proper and correct?

Only a customer master data management system can provide the essential data hub that can firewall, gate-keep, and appropriately distribute an authenticated and complete identity for the customer.

We believe the Pretectum CMDM is the ideal customer master data management solution for all shapes of business in all industries. Whether you have 1 system or 100 systems, Pretectum’s CMDM can support and speak to all of them. Whether you have 100 customers or millions, the Pretectum CMDM will help you curate them all and better still, provide them with their own self-service curation options that ensure you have the latest and best information.

With ABM, marketing resources are dedicated to a specific set of target accounts and the contacts within them. This highly targeted account-based strategy requires marketing and sales teams to align to deliver an on-point consistent and coherent message to the right person in a given account.

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Harnessing Customer Data to Boost Monetization

person putting coin in a piggy bank

Businesses across the world are looking at future prospects of customer data to harness consumer preferences to boost sales. This will not only help individual businesses but large and small corporate houses as well.

This trend seems to be catching on fast! This is a positive move toward helping burgeoning economies in third-world nations boost their overall economic progress.

Let’s analyze how customer data management (CDM) will affect people from a business perspective and how being armed with the right laws, rules and regulations we can ensure overall growth, prosperity and harmony for both business owners and consumers.

How do businesses collect data?

The “Customer is King” and “customer satisfaction”, are mottos often used by large and small organizations. They collect, analyze, organize, report and share their data within business units and perhaps even with other organizations. This data is systematically maintained by accessible and cost-effective software, often stored in on-premise systems and “in the cloud”.

For big or small retail businesses to thrive, customer satisfaction must be their prime modus operandi. In order for this to occur, customer data must be obtained, reviewed, refined and verified or validated by the organization.

To understand the mental and psychological behaviours of the customer, and how they choose, buy and spend on goods and services of their choice the data under study has to be considered relative to where it comes from.

Enterprises have many mechanisms by which they collect data from customers. The varied sources may include the customer’s IP address and even device IDs.

Another way of harvesting data is through day-to-day engagements with customers and prospects on business websites and social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and many more.

The third type of data collection is through the movement of the ‘mouse’ or cursor on the computer screen. E-commerce sites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and much more use this method to gather insights. This may throw light on purchase histories and preferences.

Lastly, behavioural data such as actual purchases may be gathered and aggregated and sorted, to give valuable insight and information on consumer metrics such as retail purchasing and product satisfaction.

Effective use of customer data to boost monetization

Companies that capitalize on the data that they have can also profit from it. Data brokers harvest bulk data of consumers from e-commerce companies.

Data brokers then use that customer data to process the most important information required by banks, financial institutions and insurance companies to verify customer background and credit history. This helps them to sanction loans more easily.

This channel presents itself as data management companies, that generate their own cash flow from reselling the aggregated insights that they have regarding customer activity.

Advertising and marketing companies may use customer data to improve website functionality by creating customized promotions and special offers on products and services uniquely designed for individuals.

Such companies capitalize on their marketing competencies and behavioural intelligence derived from years of experience in handling and understanding customer behaviour, sentiments, needs and trends.

Staying compliant

According to Max Freedman, Contributing Writer at the Business News Daily, “So much consumer data has been captured and analyzed that governments are crafting strict data and consumer privacy regulations designed to give individuals a modicum of control over how their data is used.“

The European Union’s General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) lays out the rules of data capture, storage, usage, and sharing for companies, and GDPR regulation and compliance doesn’t just matter for European countries – it’s a law applicable to any business that targets or collects the personal data of EU citizens. Companies that ignore GDPR compliance and fail to abide by their legal obligation to uphold consumer privacy may face fines of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of annual revenue, whichever is higher. Business News Daily

Data privacy has made it to the U.S. in the form of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The CCPA is, in some ways, similar to Europe’s GDPR but differs in that it requires consumers to opt out of data collection rather than putting the onus on service providers to make sure that consumers “opt-in” or give their consent to data collection and use.

Privacy Acts in the US also require the individual states to develop applicable data law rather than a company’s internal decision-maker.

Doubtless, data collection by businesses is here to stay. However, as more and more consumers demand their privacy rights be protected, businesses will need to accept that will need to adopt new regulations and laws to clear the miasma surrounding their customer data management.

Customer Data Management (CDM) is a potentially powerful tool for businesses. It can be an added advantage to monetize customer data and protect customer accounts.

This valuable information and all the associated privacy considerations need to be well thought out to avoid data mismanagement. Businesses will need to think through their data handling ethic, their business practices and data management policies while avoiding falling foul of any legal requirements.

As consumers, we should be able to look forward to a world where the ethical and legal use of our data ushers in a new era of positive progress and prosperity across the globe.

SR

Pretectum’s cloud-based Customer Master Data Management platform is designed with policy and regulatory compliance and suitable data governance and control in mind. Curated, accurate and appropriate customer master data support business in the best possible customer interactions. To find out more contact us.

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Getting consent with your Customer Master Data Management Platform (CMDM)

brown wooden i love you letter

If you’re thinking about your first-party data strategy then you are in the right place. The upcoming changes to third-party (3PD) cookie handling accompanied by ever-evolving privacy regulations mean that your organization needs to be privacy-ready!

The debate between your technology provider and your brand about the ethical use of data that is harvested from behaviour on their platforms and currently presented as second-party data (2PD) for you to use, is also under threat as ad platforms like Google and Facebook start talking about no longer making this available.

Marketers need to start thinking about practical strategies and marketing opportunities and first-party (1PD) data likely need to be where you will want to start.

New regulations and new device and platform developments now afford consumers the power to choose who can use their data and which data is available for use. When it comes to collecting data, we’ve definitely entered a more customer-focused era. What’s important now, is making it clear how your customers will actively benefit from sharing their data with your brand.

It is generally acknowledged that user-shared data and burgeoning privacy policies aimed at providing consumer clarity, give consumers control and transparency over their data and its use, in the hands of organizations that they interact with.

First-party data is the information that is collected from your customers and prospects during direct interactions with your business. This could be coming from websites, apps, and even in-store, it can also come over the phone or via paper form transcription.

We’re not talking transactional data here (though that could be a focus), we’re talking about the master data that relates to the identifiable characteristics of the customer.

Every touchpoint your customer has with your business presents itself as an opportunity for you to learn more about them so you can build a stronger relationship and personalize the next experience that the customer has with your brand.

Pretectum feels that’s why it’s important that you consider a CMDM as part of the arsenal of tools that you could use to manage the customer master data, and the consent to manage the customer’s master data.

Some history

It’s worth considering how we landed where we are today. One key milestone in this wresting of the power from faceless and anonymous data providers was the European implementation of the GDPR back in 2018.

In different markets, it has had different implications, but most importantly, if you’re a business doing business in Europe with European customer data, you have to comply or risk penalties.

When combined with the CAN-SPAM Act in relation to unwanted Commercial Electronic Mail – it requires the FCC to issue rules with regard to commercial e-mail and some text messages sent to wireless devices such as cell phones—not email in general; and the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is targeted at protecting consumers and businesses from the misuse of digital technology, including spam and other electronic threats.

Canadian and US retailers specifically, need to adopt transparency over how they gather and compile customer and prospect data for North Americans.

Alternative ways to think

At face value, all this regulation, the crumbling of the cookie, and the potential disappearance of third and second-party data providers altogether look bad for marketing teams. In fact, it looks bad for all business areas and organizations that depended on these sources to sell, upsell and cross-sell. A full analysis of the yield from spray and pray 2PD and 3PD providers though, might show that the returns of leveraging this data were marginal despite the promises of the data providers.

Where the real treasure lies, is most likely in the data that you already have; and the data that your customers are willingly prepared to give you. Moving to a different model where you make use of first-party and zero-party data (0PD)

Clean and compliant 1PD and 0PD have many benefits for your organization, although it does come with the burden of setting up ways to gather the data and manage it. This is where we think the Pretectum CMDM can be of help.

Some of the benefits include improved customer and prospect targeting. A better understanding of the customer lifetime value (CLV); a stronger understanding of the prospective customer’s intentions and their relative position in the prospecting and opportunity funnel; an overall better tuned and optimizable customer experience with personalization and of course a better understanding of marketing ROI and campaign effectiveness.

Organizations have been trying to forge closer and stronger relationships with customers since the commercialization of the Internet and general availability of CRM, ERP, CDP and POS systems began and these changes to how we collect and leverage audience, prospect, and customer data may be just what the data doctor ordered!.

Moving customer data quality to the front of the line

Before these regulations were introduced, buying 2PD and 3PD was cheap enough and seemingly cost-effective but the downside was the questionable quality of the data.

Bad data would not only result in sales and marketing campaign failure, it potentially also ruined brand reputation with people receiving unwanted messaging and communication.

Implementing a CMDM like Pretectum’s together with your 1PD and 0PD strategy means you always have your pulse on the quality of the data that you gather, and you’re gathering it with a legitimate and approved reason.

Data Quality
Data Quality Overview in the Platform

Driving towards minimally viable data

Although data storage costs are minuscule these days, even at scale, the reality is that many businesses have more data than they know what to do with and a great deal of data is held that will never be leveraged for any meaningful business purpose.

This data duplication, proliferation and burden are improved with platforms like the Pretectum CMDM as it identifies the duplicative data and drives your business operations towards the consolidation of all the data that you have about customers, into a single reference repository that will drive efficiency and effectiveness.

When you have a data governance component that manages the mastery of the customer data record you can now apply more thoughtfulness to that very data’s collection, evolution and distribution. Your customer master data, with the 0PD approach, reveal to your audiences, what you know and what they have shared and empowers your associates to elevate the depth and quality of the customer-partner conversation.

Maintaining just the right amount of data without duplicates, with completeness, currency and consent, moves your business to a model where you have viable data for engaging with the customer but just the right amount without leaving the customer feeling their privacy has been violated.

Keeping it real

When you have an active approach to 0PD you can start providing customers with provable benefits. you’ve given them that essential control over what they share and what you can do with it. You’re allowing them to adjust their privacy settings as their relationship with your business flexes.

You’re doing customer master data management in an intuitive, transparent and straightforward way with your Prectectum CMDM maintaining the change history in the background as you adjust the preferences via APIs using your mobile apps, websites and in-store or POS applications.

All this drives the promotion of consumer privacy and demonstrates robust customer master data stewardship. Internally, this motivates your own people, assisting them in having the confidence to build longer, more meaningful relationships with customers and your customers with your brand.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help