How to build trust with digital customers in an era where privacy is paramount

Advances in data integration technology have given brands an unprecedented ability to better connect with consumers. However, it comes as no surprise that consumers prioritize brands that can be engaged in a timely, relevant and meaningful way – while respecting their privacy preferences. About 75% of consumers feel uncomfortable buying from a brand with poor personal data ethics, according to a survey recent report.

Smarter and better informed about their privacy rights than ever before, consumers want to know their data is protected. At the same time, they are willing to participate for a better buying experience. This is the privacy paradoxa term coined by Gartnerreferring to the constant stream of consumer concerns about privacy and their actual online behavior and desires.

Transparency about how customers’ data will be used builds a stronger foundation of trust and will ultimately enable brands to have a greater competitive advantage now and in the future, according to recent In Data We To trust e-guide. With the disappearance of third-party cookies on the horizon, consent will be the determinant of how brands will engage with customers in the future.

Brands should start by defining a first-party data collection and management strategy that takes privacy preferences into account while preserving the highest quality insights. Using only high-quality data is essential to creating rich, real-time portraits of your customers for optimal activation. Brands that can best integrate their customer data into an accurate, personalized and trusted view of the customer, while acknowledging consent across all channels, deliver better customer experiences that build trust from the very beginning.

Get rid of third-party cookies, in with first-party data

Uncertainty about how a brand obtained your information can certainly raise eyebrows. Phasing out third-party cookies presents a great opportunity for companies to move to a first-party data strategy now and get opt-ins right from the start.

First-hand data comes directly from your customers, meaning it’s not only more accurate but also more reliable. To make this move, companies may need to transform their data collection processes and implement or update existing consent tools. At the same time, they must ensure that their own solutions comply with broader data privacy regulations.

With data unified into one comprehensive customer view and available to other systems, brands have a consent management solution that mirrors the entire customer relationship and enables compliant, personalized activation across all channels.

More data is not better data

Customer expectations for a personalized experience have driven brands to integrate more complex data into their customer experience channels. However, with an influx of data comes the challenge of refining and optimizing it for best use.

Having a clean, accurate, and high-quality data base is critical to creating conversions and achieving ROI. Your focus should be on bringing in only the right data to drive the customer experience. You don’t need it all the data, just the information that will be useful to your end goals.

By outlining what you need (also from a data management perspective), you can create clear customer profiles that you can target with activations and experiences that will make your audience stick.

The key to engagement starts with the ability to act. As customers update their privacy preferences, brands should be prepared to accommodate them where they are with a content management solution that reflects this in real time. This can help hold onto a valuable lead. Higher quality data profiles, achievable with a centralized data framework that can receive information from a large number of channels, make it easier to target an at-risk customer with “in-the-moment” marketing and can reduce customer churn.

To best connect with customers in the future, brands need an integrated, future-proof approach to respecting privacy preferences and regulations. Focusing on developing a robust first-party data strategy provides the best path forward to accurately and meaningfully personalize activations. These initiatives now build customer confidence and increase lifetime value and brand loyalty going forward.

Heidi Bullock is Tealium’s head of marketing.