All brands want to have as much data as possible about their customers and use it as a communication and promotion tool. There are several ways in which brands obtain information from users.
About 20 to 25 years ago, customers would give their contact information without much question to brands that asked for it. Today, this is different. The current consumer questions himself and often doubts whether or not to deliver his personal data. The reason? The trust.
In those past years, where customers gave their information without hesitation, brands abused the misuse of data.
Mail spam without control or discipline; the data was shared with other brands without the customer’s consent using it as a commercial exchange or irrelevant promotions were delivered among many other forms of misuse, which in the end ended up wearing the customer down, leading him to question the value of his data and what these represent for the brand strategy.
This was also changing from the legal point of view. The laws, especially in Europe, with the GDPR standard that has the purpose of regulating the protection of personal data and how this information is used by the brands that collect it.
Mexico, in this sense, is still some years behind European regulations; however, Mexican legislation has changed a lot in recent years protecting the consumer and the personal information that is provided, how it is used and how it is shared.
Despite the above, any brand that wants to be relevant to its customers, that has a business model focused on the consumer (customer centricity) must have deep knowledge of what customers do with the brand within its strategy.
This means obtaining personal and behavioral data and using the information assertively to return value to the consumer.
Brands must build a bond of trust with the customer so that the latter delivers their personal data and grants consent on their consumption behavior. How to do it by generating trust and delivering value in return? There are a few ways to achieve this:
1.- Capture data strategically: It is advisable to obtain little information from the client at the beginning and build bonds of trust as value is delivered in return. When the customer receives value in return for giving up their data, they will be willing to share more personal information.
2.- Creation of a data government: Within the organization there must be a data management model. From ingest sources to output sources, processes must be in place to ensure data is clean and trusted to be usable. Technology is an important factor in establishing data governance.
3.- Transparency, above all: Brands must be completely transparent and communicate to the client, through privacy notices, for what purposes and with whom the personal information will be shared.
4. High security standards: Brands that choose to collect data from their customers must invest resources (talent, processes and technology) to protect their consumers’ information safely, avoiding any vulnerability that represents personal data that could end up in the wrong hands through cybersecurity attacks. .
5.- Deliver return value: Today, customers are willing to give up their personal information so that brands can deliver value in return. The foregoing can be expressed in offers, promotions, unique experiences and recognition, all of this in a personalized way. For this reason, the client provides his information, so that what he receives is relevant. And what is relevant can be measured to the extent that it is personalized.