How can you open new possibilities for preference-based advertisement? How do you involve the human factor in your communication by confronting raw data with the real needs of real customers? The answer is zero-party data. What is it? Why are they worth collecting and how to do it? This article will help you introduce more consensus to your relations with customers, as well as enhance your marketing results.
Contents
- The need for zero-party data and collecting preferences
- Zero-party data: what is it?
- How can close relations with customers be formed by collecting zero-party data?
- What types of data can be collected through the Customer Preference Center?
- How do you collect data through the Customer Preference Center?
- How do you use zero-party data collected through the Customer Preference Center?
- Customer Preference Center: examples of use
1. The need for zero-party data and collecting preferences
Many marketing specialists wrongly assume that they know what consumers want. The effect is often the opposite. Instead of behaving as expected and following the trails demarcated by marketing departments, customers choose their own paths. This makes one wonder if marketing should not be given a more human form.
- 63% of consumers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. (Salesforce Research)
- 92% of customers appreciate companies giving them control over what information is collected about them. (Salesforce)
- 83% of consumers are willing to share their data to enable a personalized experience. (Accenture)
- 79% of customers are willing to share relevant information about themselves in exchange for contextualized interactions in which they’re immediately known and understood. (Salesforce)
- 74% of consumers say they would find “living profiles” with more detailed personal preferences valuable if they could be used to curate the experiences, offers, and products they receive. (Accenture)
- 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences. (Epsilon)
- Your online conversion rate can improve by about 8% with personalized online consumer experiences. (Trust Pilot)
Numbers don’t lie: consumers are gaining more and more awareness. They are becoming experienced in setting boundaries and prefer to become involved with brands according to their own rules. Is this the end of digital marketing?
2. Zero-party data: what is it?
As customers are becoming more and more aware, marketing based on third-party cookies is yielding, slowly but unavoidably, to marketing based on consent and zero-party data.
As opposed to first-party data (collected by companies through cookies and other monitoring mechanisms directly from their audiences) and third-party data (collected by companies that have no direct contact with the data subjects), zero-party data refers to any sort of information that brands directly ask their audiences about.
Example
The concept of zero-party data can be easily explained through an analogy with a big stationary shop. When someone goes into one of the many aisles, all they know is that they want to find a specific product there. Sometimes a broad range of available choices is more of a curse than a blessing. In such situations, a shop employee may approach the customer, ask if they need any help and start asking questions. They will ask about the customer’s needs and preferences, or about how they want to use the product. Based on this information, the employee helps the customer select the product that will best suit them. In this example, zero-party data is the information provided by the customer to the shop employee so that the latter can help in finding the right product.
3. How can close relations with customers be formed by collecting zero-party data?
Start listening to your customers!
Customers don’t want to be anonymous. They want to receive communication based on their explicit needs. As research shows, 72% of customers only want to engage with personalized messaging. This is exactly why we’re upgrading our platform with high-end Customer Preference Management features. They will help eCommerce businesses gather zero-party data directly from their customers and immediately activate this data by executing omnichannel campaigns in real time.
We want your customers to be heard!
Many tools ensure the flow of valuable zero-party data to the Customer Data Platform. These include quizzes, pop-ups, and other forms. The most advanced tools that combine the capabilities of these features are state-of-the-art Customer Preference Centers. They allow users to share and manage the most important information about themselves and how they see their relationship with the brand in a single place.
Collect zero-party data!
The Customer Preference Center allows you to use various built-in tools from the Customer Data Platform to collect information about consumers, such as product preferences, personal data, marketing consents, or even preferred channels and frequency of communication. You can freely combine and use them to get to know your audience even better.
Build stronger, more meaningful relationships with your customers!
The beautiful thing is that the data can be developed and collected in any direction, depending on how the business, product line, and customers evolve. Use it to build better personalized communication that increases Customer Lifetime Value.
4. What types of data can be collected through the Customer Preference Center?
Thanks to the Customer Preference Center, you can collect all types of data and ask people about anything relevant to your company, for example:
Product preferences
- A customer can indicate specific product groups from the list of products available in the e-shop (loaded from the XML file) as their product preferences. You can make the indication of preferences easier for customers by displaying recommendations according to a specific scenario (e.g., recently viewed products).
- Examples of product preferences: pink tops for no more than 30 EUR, dog feed for large breeds in packages of > 30 kg, trips for childless singles to East Asia, etc.
Personal data
- To obtain such information, you can ask your audience different questions using questionnaires, pop-ups, and forms displayed across your website. Questions can concern various aspects of your customers’ lives, their needs or interests – the possibilities are endless. The replies will constitute personal data enriching your customers’ 360° profiles.
- Examples of personal information: pet’s name, shoe size, favorite color, monthly income, allergies, etc.
Marketing consents
- A marketing consent refers to any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the types of communications that a given person wishes to receive (by which they signify agreement to the processing of their personal data for this purpose). Any person may check and manage at any moment all marketing consents given to a company.
- Examples of marketing consents: consent to the receipt of marketing emails, Web Push notifications, or SMS messages.
Preferred communication channels and frequency
- Each customer can indicate their preferred communication channel via the Customer Preference Center. They can also specify the weekdays, and even hours, when they wish to receive marketing communications. Analyze such preferences to better tailor your messages. Remember, however, that they are just suggestions and not rigid declarations blocking all other communication.
- Examples of Channel & Frequency preferences: a customer who wants to be contacted by SMS and email messages sent on Fridays between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
5. How do you collect data in the Customer Preference Center?
There are many ways to collect zero-party data in the Customer Preference Center:
Prepare a separate page with surveys and questionnaires
- Create a Customer Preference Center using our simple wizard, or customize a template of your choice. Explore our library of ready-made templates for eCommerce adapted to different industries, such as fashion, beauty, finance, and B2B commerce.
- Implement the Center on your website using the API method. For this purpose, you need the Center’s ID, which can be obtained after saving and activating the Center.
- By implementing the Center on your website using the API method, you allow users to indicate their preferences directly on your website and manage this data in a quick and simple manner.
Link the Center to forms and pop-ups displayed anywhere on your website
Beautifully designed pop-ups can help you collect data for your Preference Center from each section of your website. You can adjust their display to many factors, such as page contents, the level of user engagement in the relationship with your brand, or individual interests. A person who has indicated their preferences through a pop-up does not need to access the Preference Center to confirm the information. However, they can update their information through the Center at any time.
Send your customers a link to your Preference Center and get to know them even better
To obtain a link, save and activate your Customer Preference Center. You can send your Contacts the access link to your Center via: email, SMS or WhatsApp. Send your Contacts attractive messages that include a link to your Preference Center. Emphasize the benefits to encourage them to share data. The more information you collect, the better you will understand your Contacts. Having such deep knowledge will help you run more effective and profitable marketing activities.
6. How do you use zero-party data collected through the Customer Preference Center?
360° profiles
You can easily complete your Contacts’ 360° profiles with data from the Customer Preference Center (Personal Data) through pop-ups and forms. Use the Custom Modal Designer or the Pop-up Express wizard. When creating a pop-up in the Custom Modal Designer, you add a form with an input field for Key Information. Then you select the right Key Information item from the list and edit the fields as required. When using the Pop-up Express Designer, you follow the same steps except for adding a form (as it is included automatically).
Segmentation
Build detailed segments based on customer preferences, and address your messages to the right persons.
Create your new segment in the Customer Segmentation Center. Select (or exclude) the Contacts who have indicated appropriate preferences in the Customer Preference Center, as required.
Recommendations
Create a Recommendation Frame with a scenario that displays products that match users’ preferences on your website or sends customized recommendations via dynamic emails and Dynamic Web Push notifications. You can also go one step further and use the advanced FreeMarker recommendations.
Automation Processes
Combine zero-party data and marketing automation to improve the quality of your Contact database, achieve higher conversion rates, and boost your eCommerce revenue growth.
Configure Workflows that include the following Events and Conditions:
- Workflow Event: Key Information provided by Contact
- Workflow Event: Preference for Channels & Frequency indicated by Contact
- Workflow Condition: Contact has Key Information
- Workflow Condition: Contact indicated preferences for Channels & Frequency
Configure Automation Rules that include the following Events and Conditions:
- Event: Contact indicated a preference for Channels & Frequency
- Condition: Contact has specified preferences for Channels & Frequency
- Event: Contact has completed the Key Information
- Condition: Key Information
7. Customer Preference Center: examples of use
We want your customers to be heard more. Here’s how you can give them a platform:
- Build a personal preference dashboard for your customers. Invite them to the Customer Preference Center landing page prepared to collect all available types of data, including product preferences, personal data, marketing consents, and preferred channels and frequency. In this Center, give them full control over what their experience and purchase path will look like. The data will enrich customer profiles. You can use it to tailor communications and recommendations to each customer’s liking.
- Invite all users to enter a new level of relationship. Send them an email with a link to the Customer Preference Center with all four tabs. Let them know that from now on, they have full control over the data they provide and their marketing consent. Use collected data to fully personalize communications across the indicated channels, show relevant recommendations, and match content to indicated preferences.
- Gather data through the website using pop-ups. Prepare short quizzes that allow users to share their preferences on products available in the store. Using automation rules, send an email with relevant content and suggestions for the best products based on the submitted information to bring customers back to your website and encourage new purchases.
- Activate dormant users. Invite them to specify their communication preferences through the Center with the Channels & Frequency tab and encourage users to indicate their preferred channels, days, hours, and intensity of communication. Use this information to send them messages at the right time and through the right channel to increase engagement with the brand.
- Listen to feedback from people who already know the company and the product through a survey. This will help you to adjust and update the marked preferences from before. Invite every person who recently bought something from your store to complete it. Use the feedback to appeal to their needs even more and thus increase the average order value and frequency.