November 28, 2021
How to navigate between personalization and privacy in your marketing?
Today’s buyers want both personalization and privacy; they expect accurate personalization, relevant content, tailor-made product recommendations, and, of course, full control over their personal data.
Buyers looking for convenience and a continuous relationship with the brands they love are open to sharing their personal data in exchange for personalized communication experiences.
To personalize the consumer experiences, all you need is data. The data enables personalization, which guarantees relevant content delivered to customers is relevant and interesting to them. As data abuse grows, along with more stringent data control policies like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), users expect their privacy to be kept. Still, at the same time, they’d like to receive a personal digital experience.
Personalization and privacy: The buyer aspect
“Buyers expect to be recognized and want their digital experiences personalized” – Online users’ expectations are higher than before, especially when it comes to their favorite brands.
However, a recent study shows that users’ expectations are outpacing efforts to deliver personal experiences, with 91% of users being more likely to buy with brands who truly recognize, remember, individualize and provide relevant offers and product recommendations. On the contrary, the same study unveiled that 83% of users are ready to share personal data to allow a high level of personalization ONLY if the brand is clear in how the data is being used and how much control they have over the usage. It’s very easy to “over personalize” users’ experience; for example, users found the below tactics the most disturbing: 41% of users admit that when receiving a text message or a push notification from a brand or retailer when walking near a store.
How to navigate between personalization privacy
As buyers become more sensitive to their privacy, brands striving for personalization need to find new ways to navigate the complexity while gaining users’ trust. As we progress, the call to balance the competing demands will require brands to re-think their data policies and work harder to establish trustful relationships with buyers.
Collect data much as you can directly from your customers across online and offline sources – to be able to segment the data based on user’s unique preferences, needs, and behaviors by connecting. Collecting and utilizing data that individuals intentionally and proactively share with your brand reinforces transparency, control, and, most importantly, trust.
End of the day, the goal of personalization is to enhance the user experience, but, in fact, only a few brands actually deliver. According to Gartner’s research, only 12% of buyers state they get a customized feeling from brands.
Ways to approach the privacy paradox
- Understand privacy regulations and requirements.
- Transform the correlation between personalization and privacy by establishing requirements and using zero and first-party data.
- Focus on the customers.
- Enhance generic communication to personalization with personal data.
It may seem counterintuitive at first, but real personalization is not about the people; It’s sure not about the first name or location. Personalization arises from a deep understanding of the individual, behavior and not from demographic data.
In conclusion, we need to understand personalization and commit to providing value to buyers without compromising privacy. The important understanding is that personalization is not only knowing the first name but whether we truly understand what buyers like even better than they do.
