We’re already hearing a lot of talk around trust and ethics/values and we expect there to be a greater emphasis on this throughout this year. From a data-driven marketing perspective, one area that needs serious consideration is how we can gain the trust of consumers sufficiently that they are happy to share their personal data, whether that’s as a brand, a start-up or even as a third party data provider.
Giving brands the right to be personal only works if the brand has access to quality data. The customer-business relationship is one of trust vs sharing data: the greater the trust in the business, the happier the customer will be to share their data.
In a recent Dun & Bradstreet report, half of the 500 business leaders interviewed said their business wouldn’t survive without top quality data, while over two-thirds (69%) agreed that having access to more data supports revenue generation. These make for compelling figures.
First party data vs third party data
First party data is of course an asset, but it’s only as good as the insight you apply to it. Third party data opens up further possibilities, helping businesses gain even more value from their marketing activities, such as finding the best customers, driving more informed decisions and delivering ROI.
Some 54% of the business leaders interviewed by D&B said that third-party data is valuable for enhancing the data that they hold in their organisation, while a similar proportion (56%) agreed that they would benefit from more of it.
But again, trust is crucial. You can only trust the data you’ve got if you can maintain its quality. And can you trust the supplier of the data if it’s third party data?
Buying third party data
When it comes to purchasing marketing data, you should apply strict due diligence before you select a supplier. Trusting the data is all down to its quality and there are a number of questions you should ask when choosing a data provider, about the data’s source, provenance, permission, validation processes, recency and quality.
Tracking permissions accurately and evidencing the due diligence applied when data was collected is key and aligns to privacy by design, one of the core requirements and principles of the Data Protection Act 2018. It demonstrates the transparency of the data source and the credibility of a data supplier.
Keeping data clean
Even as a small business, keeping data clean doesn’t need to be a daunting task. Take one of our clients, Stannp, a print management provider which offers companies a fully digital, integrated solution to their direct mail needs.
Keeping data up-to-date and accurate is now law so Stannp wanted to provide its clients with the capability to clean their direct mail campaign data in realtime.
We provided them with a fully automated data cleaning solution which provides realtime access to our data cleaning products, GAS and TBR. Clients upload their data to the platform and are given the option to plug into REaDConnect before launching a campaign, delivering a bespoke data cleaning solution that is moulded to their requirements.
Quality data and data quality
What all of this illustrates is how important the circle of trust is, especially in 2020. Demonstrate to your customers that you adhere to the principles of both data quality and quality data, then they will be reassured that their data will be looked after according to the data protection laws, and they in turn will trust you. Let’s make this year the year of responsible marketing.
Scott Logie is customer engagement director at REaD Group