Editorial Articles

In an age when consumers are becoming increasingly worried about consumer privacy this article looks at what marketers can do to ensure they can still successfully collect data online.

Collecting data online for lead generation in an age of consumer concern over privacy
At least once a week it seems there is a story in the media about the misuse of data or a data breach by a brand.

This is not surprising. The media love to report these leaks; well aware of the shock value to consumers of big brands misusing their data.

This issue for marketers is that the drip drip of such stories will make consumers more wary about providing organisations with access to their personal information. And as we know this could lead to Government intervention, resulting in restrictive legislation on data capture and management. This is at a time when obtaining consumer data to improve targeting has never been easier.

The evolution of data capture technologies and growth in touch points since the late 1990s has really opened the door for brands to collect plenty of insight on consumers.

The web has been one of the key drivers facilitating the collection of consumer data. With many marketers using it because it’s a highly cost effective way to source consumer data quickly – particularly today as the economy stutters into the black and customer acquisition campaigns are back on the agenda for many marketers.

But as consumers become increasingly wary about providing their data over concerns over how it will be used and managed, many are no longer answering what they deem to be intrusive questions.

So what’s the answer for marketers serious about continuing to collect consumer data, whether on or offline?

A good first step is to avoid putting perceived intrusive questions at the top of any questionnaire, but towards the bottom. Usually once the ‘softer’ questions have been answered, consumers are more likely to answer slightly more in-depth questions towards the end of the questionnaire – for example, on their income, and when home insurance up for renewal – when they have already committed their time to answering most of the questionnaire.

Secondly, incentivise consumers to provide in-depth data by delivering a competition with an attractive prize value. It’s a great motivator to encourage consumers to part with their data, particularly with more people searching than ever before for freebies due to the slow economic marketplace post–recession.

Also, by running a competition you can ensure that consumers answer the questions you want them to answer, including any in-depth ones, because not doing so will not allow them to take part. This is easy to implement online.

Whatever audience you are targeting – men women, young or old, ABC1 or DE – it is best to offer the incentive with the widest appeal to engender a response. This is most likely to be a piece of sought after technology - such as an iPhone or iPad. Even if they will not want it personally they can offer as a gift to a friend or family member.

Of key importance is to be clear with consumers that you will responsibly manage and use their data, and you have best practice procedures in place that back this up. This means only engaging with those who have opted-into hearing from you when providing their data. Not only is this best practice, but you are going to communicate with more responsive consumers because they have opted-in to hearing from your organisation. By doing this you will build a strong level of trust and loyalty with consumers that will help you drive sales.

Outside of data, and just as important, know what creative works best to attract the attention of consumers. For example, when collecting data online use the fonts and colours within the body of the text and subject line that is best at delivering a response. Creative layout is also important - placing hyperlinks and click buttons in the correct places to initiate action by the consumer can make all the difference. Furthermore, knowledge of when consumers are more likely to respond to a campaign, whether lead generation or not, is crucial – so even the day of the week and time the email is delivered should be carefully considered.

With consumers increasingly worried about how their data is used and managed not only do marketers need to take and communicate a best practice approach to data acquisition and handling on and offline, they also need to evolve their whole approach. This means re-structuring questionnaires to collect the appropriate data, ensuring consumers are effectively incentivised to respond, and creative and implementation knowledge is utilised to effectively serve the lead generation campaign.

Victoria Cobbah
Country Manager, UK, Planet49