With consumers feeling the pinch of rising inflation on essentials such as their weekly shopping bill, and accompanying fears over both job security and salary levels, they are going to need a lot more persuading to part with their cash.
And just as marketers are finding it hard to encourage consumers to open their wallets, they are also finding it harder to obtain customer data for lead generation. High profile stories in the media on data privacy and security breaches have made it more difficult to collect consumer data at a time when lead generation is critical for those businesses wanting to drive growth and buck the trend of a flat-lining economy.
So how can you best encourage consumers to provide their valuable data in today’s market? Should marketers be now starting to think about the ‘add-ons’ or perks that they can offer consumers? In an effort to lure customers with better deals, and following on from the explosion of voucher sites, perhaps there needs to be a renaissance in offering tangible, high value desirable prizes to encourage them to hand over personal information. For example, a retailer might offer entry to a competition or prize draw to win an iPod when making a purchase – to provide them with the opportunity to obtain greater insight on their customer for future marketing purposes.
The incentive should always be one that has the widest appeal; ideally high value electrical, to encourage the widest number of consumers to take part. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that a great way to collect in-depth data is to provide the added incentive of layered special offers. For example, for every set of questions answered, reward consumers with access to further high value prizes.
Therefore, if you are serious about successfully obtaining leads, think what will best attract consumers to provide data. This is the provision of a stand-out incentive.
Victoria Cobbah is country manager UK at Planet49
