Trusting Automation: Feeling Secure in your Software

Even though automation software is a proven essential for strong marketing, some companies are still wary about its practices. Oftentimes, marketers are hesitant to apply automation to sales because they have difficulty trusting technology – especially when automation plays a large role in marketing.

We’ve heard that some marketers are uneasy trusting the accuracy of data collected, messages sent, and customer privacy. Because automation is more “machine” than “man,” implementing it into marketing may require a little more faith.

And we get it.

Letting go of your marketing reigns to let software play a large role in your marketing strategy can be unnerving. However, companies should cast their fears aside because – all things considered – automation is a tool that can be trusted. To help marketers feel more at ease with this technology, we are addressing three common trust issues that marketers have with automation.

Trusting data in automation

For the most part, data gathered and implemented in your automation software is reliable. This data comes in two forms.

Even a silly typo (like .con instead of .com) can result in a data mistake!
Even a silly typo (like .con instead of .com) can result in a data mistake!

Companies can directly ask customers to share personal information with them. For example, retailers often ask for a consumer’s name and email address for sending newsletters or special offers. Since this information comes directly from the customer, companies should feel comfortable trusting and using it to tailor messages. Typically, any mistakes in customer-relayed information come as results of a spelling mistake or typo when sharing information.

Companies can also gather information from clickstream data and analytics. First party data reflects information gathered by one’s own company. To gain more trust in a company’s first party data, companies should grasp a complete understanding of how the process works.

Third party data reflects information gathered by another source. This is typically where companies falter in the trust department. To put your mind at ease, perform thorough research about the quality of third party – rather than blindly accepting data. Determining the strength and reliability of the third party can prevent dirty data from being thrown into the automation’s data pool.

Trusting automation to deliver messages properly

Some marketers may not trust automation to send relevant messages to its consumers. However, by creating a checklist with basic criterion, marketers can ensure that the right messages are sent to the appropriate customers.

This checklist operates on the basis of the simple logic format, because X happens, Y will likely follow. The logic behind a checklist ensures that messages with a personalized element are sent to specific users.

Shoppers that frequent online sales, or adjust settings from low to high...
Shoppers that frequently online sales, or adjust settings from low to high…
May be more likely to utilize special offers, sales and discounts. Be sure to adjust marketing strategies accordingly.
…may be more likely to utilize special offers, sales and discounts. Be sure to adjust marketing strategies accordingly.

For example, a customer who regularly sorts products by “prices: low to high” may be categorized as a bargain shopper. In a preprogrammed checklist, this criteria might look like, Because this customer shops sales, he or she will positively respond to information about discounts. Based off this assumption, the automation software may send the consumer emails with special offers and sales.

Companies should trust that these messages are sent to the right people because they, themselves, are designing which customers receive which messages. Because companies are responsible for developing their checklists, marketers should trust that the checklist reflects accurate assumptions. If the assumptions are not relevant or correct, marketers should look to the checklist developers. The automation’s job here is easy – simply send out the messages that fit basic criteria at a designated time.

Trusting automation to keep information safe

Another common trust issue marketers have concerns the privacy of their customers. With recent hacks in the datasphere, some companies are hesitant to trust the cloud to store customer data.

With that in mind, companies should take the necessary steps to ensure customer data remains safe. Familiarizing oneself with customer data can alert marketers when usual inconsistencies come up. Companies should also perform thorough background checks before they hire – as employees have the most access to customer data. An untrustworthy employee may be the cause of a data breach. Companies can implement security testing, or penetration testing, to evaluate the strength of their data protection measures.

And let’s not forget…

Marketing should not completely rely on technology. A team of data analysts and marketers should regularly confirm that data analysis is accurate, messages are relevant, and that information stored is safe. Although automation is trustworthy, double checking its accuracy can prevent the unlikely rough patch in a marketing campaign.

Feeling a little better about implementing automation to your marketing? Learn why we’re saying automation is a long-term investment, or get the scoop on our very own NectarSuite automation.

Top Trends in Data

It’s 2015, and companies are finally getting the hang of data.

Big data has been around for years so it’s about time! More and more companies are using data to profile their customers to generate relevant products and marketing strategies. A study by Forbes and Teradata found that 78% of marketers are incorporating data into their marketing.

As companies explore the possibilities behind data analytics, we have noticed a few trends in the datasphere. Companies that choose to incorporate these trends in their marketing strategies may notice an increase in ROI and an edge over their competitors.

Unsiloing data

Companies are beginning to break down barriers in data sharing. Un-siloing data allows different departments to combine different data sets. A company’s entire stock of customer information may be stored in one simple Data Management Platform. This storage system makes finding, organizing and sharing information an easier, more efficient process.

For example, a company’s IT department may have an impressive set of internal customer information. That same company’s marketing department may have a large collection of CRM data. Companies that unsilo data pool together both sets of information, creating a single in-depth consolidation of data.

The larger data pool is beneficial to both IT and marketers, as the departments will have access to a more complete profile of their customers. This will help both departments provide a more accurate understanding of their customers, generating a more personalized, relevant shopping experience.

Privacy

Over the past year, information security and privacy has been a growing concern amongst the public. With big security breaches like the Sony hack and the iCloud celebrity photo scandal, privacy is a growing concern for many.

In response to public concern about security, companies must employ data protection and safeguarding into their data management. Companies that cannot confidently ensure that a person’s private information will stay private, the likelihood of data sharing will decrease.

Nordstrom clearly outlines its privacy policy to build trust between buyers and itself.
Nordstrom clearly outlines its privacy policy to build trust between buyers and itself.

Additionally, easy-to-access privacy policies can increase trust between customers and a company. Provide an in-depth statement informing customers of their privacy rights can increase likelihood of sharing personal information.

Other than putting the public at ease, companies with protective measures in data management will have less risk at security breaches. Data encryption, multiple passwords and security audits may take a little extra and effort. But investing time into safeguarding customer information is vital to prevent big scandals and data breaches.

Data in Real-Time

Companies are beginning to use data in real-time to engage and connect with consumers. In the past, data has been used to create content for consumers, and is set to be viewed at a certain point in time.

Today’s marketers are integrating data and marketing strategies in real-time, to offer content that is even more current and relevant. This real-time marketing is commonly seen across social media platforms.

Nissan UK creates relevant messages by integrating real-time events into its social media marketing
Nissan UK also creates relevant messages by integrating real-time events into its social media marketing.

Google’s Fifa World Cup campaign is a prime example of real-time data integration. By analyzing Google’s search engine, data experts curated sharable images and facts for its users. This later fueled more discussion about relevant topics for Google users. This real-time analysis helps businesses understand why their target audiences share, engage and spread content.

As data analytics becomes increasingly popular, we expect that companies will employ a real-time data/marketing strategy similar to Google’s. Companies will begin to utilize social media more often, allowing their customers to share, engage and spread content easier.

More Personalization

Personalization has been a hot topic since data was first introduced to the marketing world. And, as more companies grow friendlier with data, feelings toward personalization are sure to follow suit.

Personalization increase also directly correlates with the shift of millennials as the largest purchasing power. As millennials are generally more open to sharing personal information, companies can adjust marketing to incorporate a more personalized, 1:1 marketing feel. A global study by SDL found that 46% of millennials are willing to provide personal information to businesses, in order to get rid of irrelevant marketing.

Netflix personalizes content by providing recommendations based off past interests.
Netflix – a millennial favorite – personalizes content by providing recommendations based off past interests.

As data continues to evolve, understanding where data is headed can be a big asset to companies. Anticipating changes in data and adjusting strategies accordingly can help your company stand out amongst competitors and remain a consumer favorite.

4 Marketing Personalization Mistakes to Avoid

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We’ve posted quite a few articles on marketing personalization best practices and ways to increase value with personalization, but what we haven’t touched on are things to avoid when it comes to building momentum with marketing personalization and automation.

Here are four marketing personalization mistakes you absolutely have to avoid like the plague if you want a smooth ride(relatively) on your path to personalization.

1. Infringing on customer privacy and not protecting customer data

Don’t be manipulative when it comes to gather information from customers

All it takes is one screw up for a huge PR disaster and plenty of lost potential and current customers. Just don’t do it.

This applies to email opt ins on retailer websites, to mobile app permissions, to social log ins on websites. Be clear, respect your customers by letting them know exactly what you will be using information for, and you’ll earn their respect.

Since one of the first steps of true hyper-personalization is building an integrated data management system that can bring in multiple external and internal data sets, the inherent risk is quite clear. With all your data in one location, there must be significant care in protecting the customer gold harvested because one data breach can mean multiple streams of data are vulnerable.

Be honest with your customers about what you are taking from them, and once you have their trust, protect what you have. It’s that simple.

2. Relying on one set of data

To build a 360 degree view of your customers, you need to draw insights from various data sources. While one data source may constitute a large majority of your data analysis into your personalization platform, the more diversified your data collection points are, the more accurate your predictive analytics will be.

For instance, a big box retailer with may point to POS data and their eCommerce data as their main data feeds into a marketing personalization tool, but forgetting to integrate social media data for crucial life event data would be simply be a waste. There will be sources of data that will be more relevant than others, but finding out where to piece in and weigh each data channel is too important to ignore.

3. Neglecting testing

Testing is a pain. Multivariate testing can get very messy with hyper-segmentation, but always remember to test while executing. The closer you get to hyper-personalization, the more marketers will be tempted to skip various parts of the testing process.

Don’t fall into that trap. Just because the testing process will become more complicated doesn’t mean you should take your foot off the testing pedal. It will become even more important to your personalization journey that all your data sources, creative pieces, and messages are carefully tested to optimize your personalization efforts. Remember that a marketing personalization tool is exactly that…a tool that needs constant recalibration to make the high, consistent returns that you expect.

4. Thinking you’ve reached true hyper-personalization

Thinking that hyper-personalization is a place where you will someday reach and lay claim to is unreasonable and dangerous to long-term marketing personalization efforts.

Algorithms can be update and tweaked, new sources of data can be added, execution points can be refined and tested.

Knowing your customer 100% and predicting their needs exactly won’t happen without having Jedi mind reading powers, but you can always keep moving in the right direction.

Nobody said personalization was easy, which is why very few have figured out the right path towards marketing personalization. With these tips in mind, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and money while consistently moving and accelerating in the right direction.