Category: Marketing Automation

Your customers are consuming messages in more ways than ever before — online, in publications, on TV, the radio, and on their phones — to name a few.

For companies hoping to reach their audiences across multiple channels, engaging in media planning is a must. However, it’s almost impossible to pull off without media planning tools that give you insight into your efforts.
To help you with your media planning efforts, we’ve compiled a list of the essential media planning tools, templates, and software to use this year.
Your customers are consuming messages in more ways than ever before — online, in publications, on TV, the radio, and on their phones…to name a few.
1. HubSpot Media Planning Template [Featured Resource]

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HubSpot’s paid media template will help you keep track of how much you’re spending on paid media, where your messages have gone out, and how much attributable revenue has been generated from each source.
You’ll also gain access to charts that automatically adjust when you add your spend and ROI. This resource is free — click here to get your copy now.
What we like: This template lets you compile data from your media buying efforts on a monthly basis. With it, you can determine which paid media channel works best for your company and yields the best results for your bottom line.
2. Bionic Media Planning Software
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Bionic prides itself on its media plans, flowcharts, RFPs and IOs, trafficking, reporting, and client dashboards.
It has an average of 3.1 software updates on a monthly basis, meaning agencies using the software are provided with up-to-date planning tools to run and organize their campaigns.
What we like: Unlike other tools, Bionic is cloud-based — meaning you’ll be up and running in minutes. You also get unlimited training, support, and data backups at no extra cost.
3. Kantar SRDS Media Planning Platform
The most valuable resource for media planners is data. To feel confident promoting media on a specific platform, media planners need to know who is on each channel, in addition to understanding their target audience.
What we like: SRDS gives media planners access to extensive datasets on audience statistics and demographics so media planners can choose the right platform, message, and audience to target.
4. Media Plan HQ

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Not a fan of spreadsheets? No problem. Media Plan HQ’s got you covered. The tool tracks dates, placements, and budgets in real-time over an organized interface without having to deal with Excel. The tool is also collaborative, allowing you to work alongside your team members without the headaches caused by back-and-forth emails.
What we like: This tool gets a gold star for its collaboration capabilities. You can work alongside your team members (or share your plan with stakeholders) without the headaches caused by back-and-forth emails.
5. BluHorn

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Promising easy media planning and buying, BluHorn integrates with Nielsen and Comscore to provide users with instant access to data-rich insights. The tool is rich with useful features, such as post-buy, a vendor database, and data filters.
What we like: BluHorn is integration-rich. Connect with Nielsen & Comscore for easy planning; Google Analytics and Facebook for better tracking; and programmatic for seamless digital buying. And here’s the icing on the cake — BluHorn also integrates into Amazon AWS.
6. Quantcast
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Quantcast is an audience insights tool with data from 100 million websites. Quantcast uses AI so users can “better predict and influence [their] desired audience,” which is especially useful in an era where consumers are showered with ads wherever they go.
What we like: If you’re looking to dig into your audience’s behavior, look no further. Quantcast provides real-time insights into your ad campaigns, empowering you to better understand your audience and drive results.
7. Basis Technologies
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Rated the #1 demand-side platform on G2 Crowd, Basis “addresses your direct, programmatic, search & social through a single interface.”
The software gives users access to 9,000 vendors and 11,000 publishers and informs them with more than 180 unique data points. It also contains a messaging tool for seamless team communication.
What we like: Running multiple ad campaigns can sometimes feel like an unorchestrated chaos. But with Basis, you can integrate all your advertising (including programmatic, direct, search, and social) in one central location.
8. Comscore
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Comscore is an essential tool for “planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms.” Best known for providing data for digital platforms, film, and television, Comscore provides audience measurement metrics for companies looking to promote their products on a visual medium.
What we like: With Comscore, you can access data to determine the true impact of your media plan. Then, you can optimize your plan across a variety of media and screens in one place.
9. Nielsen
A household name, Nielsen is synonymous with audience measurement. Known mostly for TV viewership metrics, Nielsen’s global strategy also provides users with metrics for podcasts, streaming services, and social media. This gives users an all-encompassing view of where their audience is. It’s no wonder media planners and sellers have relied on Nielsen for nearly a century.
Fun Fact: Nielsen is considered to be the first company to offer market research and is responsible for the term “market share.”
What we like: Along with advanced audience segmentation, Nielsen also provides competitive intelligence that paints a complete picture of the media landscape — which helps you identify ways to differentiate your brand from competitors.
10. HubSpot Social Media Software

Looking to keep things just to a social media audience? HubSpot’s Social Media Software allows for easy publishing and audience analysis for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram on a single platform.
Plus, you can measure how your audience converts from social media in your CRM on their journey to becoming a customer.
What we like: Are you constantly refreshing your social media to monitor interactions? With this tool, all your social media interactions link back to your CRM — which saves you time and effort.
11. Scarborough from Nielsen
Another appearance from Nielsen on this list, Scarborough is a media planning tool for companies looking to get more local, hyper-focused audience insights. This tool is great for region-specific messaging or promotion and can facilitate a more systematic rollout of the word you want to spread.
What we like: With this tool, you can profile consumers beyond standard demographics — such as their lifestyle, shopping behaviors, and media consumption. You can also narrow in on specific audience segments, like sports betters or streamers.
12. MRI-Simmons
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Marketed as “The Essential Consumer Truth Set,” MRI-Simmons provides both national and regional focus studies to those looking to learn more about their audience and plan media more effectively. Its clientele includes companies spanning multiple industries like Dell, Spotify, Coca-Cola, and Men’s Warehouse — which makes sense, given the massive amount of segmentations available to users.
What we like: As I mentioned above, MRI-Simmons is a powerful tool for segmentation. Why is this important? With segmentation, marketers can identify new audience trends to anticipate their behavior, attitudes and preferences and reach them in the most effective way.
Bonus Resource: HubSpot Academy’s Paid Media Course
HubSpot Academy’s course on How to Build a Paid Media Strategy is the perfect introduction to media planning. Whether you have a generous budget or none at all, this course provides marketers with the fundamentals of developing a paid media strategy, utilizing media throughout the buyer’s journey, and finding the ROI of your efforts. Click here to take the free course.
Media planning is an essential task for marketers. But doing it alone, or with disconnected software, will make it unnecessarily difficult. That’s why it’s important to look at the available tools and use ones that make sense for your goals.

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on practically every element of our lives. The epidemic shifted how we connect daily, even with mundane chores like shopping. Shopping at brick-and-mortar stores came to a standstill in many areas — and many consumers are placing more focus on eCommerce even as stores open back up. In 2020,…
The post Is Livestream Shopping The Future Of eCommerce? appeared first on Benchmark Email.

I have a couple of questions regarding form processing in Eloqua that I was hoping someone could provide some assistance with: 1. How can form processing be set up to where when someone checks any of the interested brand checkboxes they are then segmented into lists based on their selections? 2. Once the form processing and automation is set up, is there a way to ensure that the form itself is published? 3. I believe I have set up the processing correctly so when a contact fills out a form they will be added to a “New Contacts” contact list, but this may need to be spot checked as well. Thanks! Any help is much appreciated. submitted by /u/brianhdh [link] [comments]

Wellness Wheel PLR by Firelaunchers is Finest to Boost Your Health and wellness, Improve Your Life by Understanding All The Tricks of Wellness Wheel. Health Wheel PLR features Complete Personal Label Legal Rights. This Implies Your Customers Can Market It To Others Under Their Own Call As Well As Get Significant Cash Money Roll-Into Their Pockets On Complete Auto-pilot. In short, the Health Wheel PLR evaluation is A detailed overview that will certainly aid your target market to find out how to guarantee ample health to acquire an extra improving lifestyle. As wellness wheel is an alternative model that results in an extra effective existence. Examine Right here! In other words, this is your ticket to get yourself on the path of Success, Profits, and Lasting Clients. We offer expertise for you … SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO. This Is A Faster way To Get All The Effort As Well As Have Your Really Very Own Product Ready To Offer And Build Your Checklist In An Issue Of Minutes. This Exceptional “Profit-Stuffed” Product With Private Label Legal Rights Comes Jam-Loaded With this Remarkable BenefitsL; Ready-for-market sales product reduces “Time-to-Profits.” Completely incorporated sales channel Ready-to- Resell. Hot and evergreen subject from a big niche that sells like hotcakes. Rebrand it, re-sell it as well as keep 100% profits, and so on. Simply Think of, in simply 4 actions, you’ll get “Money Credited” Messages Night And Day! All you have to do. https://tescadeux.com/wellness-wheel-plr-review/ submitted by /u/cycysimba [link] [comments]

Hi everyone! Did you know that 56% of the companies that used buyer personas generated higher-quality leads? Yes – Buyer Persona is that powerful. Having the Buyer Personas defined allows your business to: ✔️ Be more accurate about who you are reaching out to, ✔️ Be more productive, ✔️ Have a more personalized approach (aka better response rate), ✔️ And close more deals. Therefore, here is a useful guide on how you can create Buyer Personas in 6 easy steps. We’ve even included how to use them in practice for your lead generation efforts, prospecting, and outreach using automation tool.6 Key Steps To Creating a B2B Buyer Persona For Sales [+Free Template] submitted by /u/Kristina-Sky [link] [comments]

For the first time since we started analyzing the gender pay gap at Buffer, our unadjusted gender pay gap is below one percent. Although this number will certainly fluctuate with team changes, we’re proud and happy to see this progress. ❤️As a reminder, unadjusted means that we are comparing all salaries across Buffer. Adjusted is comparing two people in the same role, we don’t have an adjusted pay gap as we use a salary formula to determine compensation.Here’s a closer look at our pay analysis from 2022 and some of the elements from this past year we believe impacted this number. Buffer’s 2022 Pay AnalysisOur team size has stayed roughly the same over the last 12 months, we have 83 Buffer teammates. Of those, 37 identify as women, and 46 identify as men. The average salary for women is $136,850 and the average salary for men is $137,418, making our unadjusted pay gap percentage 0.41%.Buffer team: 83 peopleWomen: 37Men: 46        Average salary for women: $136,850Average salary for men: $137,418Unadjusted percentage gap: 0.41%*Note: We can’t share data from the folks on our team who don’t identify as men or women as it is not a representative sample so we’ve opted to leave it out of this report but that may change for future reports depending on how we collect data internally. Since 2018, this what our unadjusted gender pay hap percentage has looked like: Unadjusted gender pay gap percentage at Buffer, 2018 – 2022In 2019, our gap got worse before it got better. As we’ve reflected on this over the years, we believe this is because being a smaller company, each departure, and new hire moves the number and in 2019 we hired more women who were in lower experience levels. As a result, we widened our gender pay gap, though we improved our overall gender ratio as a company and we believe this paid off in the long-term.Here’s a look at the gender split on the Buffer team over the last five years: Gender split on the Buffer team from 2018 – 2022We also see a lot of fluctuation in between these pay analyses also due to new hires and departures. You can see over the last 12 months that every month has been quite different:Unadjusted gender pay gap percentage at Buffer over the last 12 monthsClosing the unadjusted gender pay gap at Buffer is something we’ve been working on for years and is cause for celebration. Initially, this didn’t feel like a goal we could attain given that our co-founder and CEO, Joel, is our highest-paid employee and also a man. There are a lot of factors that have made this possible, though. We’ve talked about diversifying our hiring pipeline and creating a career framework in the past. Here are a few changes that happened over the last year that we believe would have also had an impact. What changed in the last year?Buffer is made up of different teammatesHiring and departures are consistently huge factors that impact our unadjusted gender wage gap every year. Hiring: From March 1st, 2021 we hired 24 new teammates, 11 women, and 13 men.Departures: From March 1st, 2021, we had 25 departures, 15 women, and 10 men. In our analysis, we found that 52 percent of departures were above the average pay across the company while 33 percent of new hires were hired above the average pay across the company. Our executive team is 80% women As we calculate the unadjusted gender wage gap by comparing all salaries across all teams at Buffer, our executive team naturally plays a large role here as they are some of the highest paid teammates at Buffer. Over the last few years, our executive team’s ratio of men and women has always skewed slightly towards more women on the team. In the last year, our executive team has shifted to be comprised of all women except for our CEO, Joel. We adjusted our cost of livings bands We use a salary formula to determine every salary at Buffer and in April 2020 we made a big change to that formula — we went from four cost of living bands down to just two. As Joel writes in his blog post on the vision for location-independent salaries, “the change we made resulted in salary increases for 55 of 85 team members, with the increase being on average $10,265.” That’s a huge number of Buffer teammates and a large percentage of the team who was impacted. These changes were entirely based on location, every teammate in our two lowest cost of living bands was brought up to our new Global cost of living band while those in our High cost of living band remained the same. In total, 46 percent of those whose salaries was increased were women and 54 percent were men, however we did have more women in the Low cost of living band, meaning that their salary increased more on average due to this change than men. There could have been other shifts that we missed that also impacted this number, but these are three big themes. Naturally, each new hire and departure will continue to impact this number over time, so this is something we’ll continue to track and report on. We publish this pay analysis every year as we believe this is the best way to help move our industry towards positive change. We hope that as we continue to share this journey it can be beneficial to others who are working towards similar goals. ❤️View all of our past pay analyses here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 Reach out with your thoughts on equal pay or this pay analysis anytime!

Learn how to write a survey email subject line that gets your emails opened and your surveys responded to.
You’ve probably gotten a survey email before, with a subject line that reads something like: 

 “Customer satisfaction survey.”
“Your opinion matters!”
 “Let us know what you think.” 
“Feedback about your recent purchase.”

…But how many of those do you actually open?
You already know that subject lines can make or break any email campaign you send out — particularly with survey emails, which require customer responses to be successful. 
According to a recent report, only 22% of marketers believed customer loyalty for brands has increased over the past two years. 38% of customers, however, consider themselves loyal to brands they love. This shows a very discouraging disconnect between marketers and the people they want to reach. 
So why is this happening, and what can you do to bridge that gap? Those generic “Let us know what you think” survey email subject lines might only get the attention of your angry or frustrated customers. 
Remember, the goal of an email survey is to collect honest data about a wide range of customers — happy, unhappy, and everywhere in between — and understand your customer experience from start to finish. 
10 tips for creating survey email subject lines your subscribers will open
If you’re sending out survey emails with lackluster subject lines, your data will be measly (and totally inaccurate). Don’t worry, though. Here are 10 tried-and-true tips for sending survey emails with fire open rates (plus 15 example subject lines)! 
1. Trigger an emotion
Imagine all the survey email subject lines in your inbox right now. What emotions come to mind?
Are you having trouble coming up with an answer? That’s probably because most of those subject lines don’t trigger any type of emotion. They’re forgettable. 
Just like with your other email campaigns, you want to invoke some type of emotion in your subscribers when they see that Gmail notification. Emotion always trumps rationale. “Let us know what you think” will not produce an emotion unless the customer had an extreme experience with your company. 
While extremely positive reviews are great, it can take a lot to counteract extremely bad reviews, so you want to aim for customers who had a pleasant experience but may need extra reinforcement or reward to write a review.
The easiest emotion to trigger in your survey subject lines is empathy. People tend to identify with other customers as the “us” and brands as “them.” That’s why word-of-mouth marketing is so important.
Let subscribers know that they can help their fellow comrades make informed decisions about your company or organization by replying to the survey.
2. Make sure it’s personal
“Quick customer feedback survey” doesn’t necessarily pack the punch you’re looking for. Not only is this email subject line dry and boring, but it’s also extremely robotic and impersonal. Your subscriber isn’t an inbox — they’re a human. So in your subject lines, speak to them like a person.
According to research from Accenture, 75% of customers are more likely to spend their hard-earned money with brands that recognize them by name and remember information about them. Plus, personalized survey emails are vital for understanding customer satisfaction (which = retention).
We might sound like a broken record, but it’s extremely important to use personalized subject lines. 
You can also take it a step further by sending personalized automated emails. If you’re requesting feedback about a recent purchase, make sure to incorporate the day, location, order number, and any other unique information you have to help the customer recall their experience.
Uber does a great job of personalizing their automated feedback emails with a friendly tone and specific information about the purchase.

3. Pose a question
Even if you go the route of “Well, how did we do?” you’re still engaging with the subscriber instead of simply reacting to their recent purchase. A question forms the beginning of a conversation with a real human being — it’s not simply a robotic response.
Questions are excellent survey email subject line choices both for past purchases and general surveys about your brand as a whole. Time automated surveys about products to go out after the subscriber has had a chance to experience the item.
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4. Mention the word “survey”
Specifically asking your customers to take a survey in the subject line is a great and clear CTA right off the bat.
However, you should still word your subject lines in an intriguing way. “Take our survey today” probably won’t deliver the results you want.
Instead, use personalization or some kind of incentive along with the word survey to boost your subject line’s potential.
5. …or don’t mention it at all
This isn’t carte blanche to completely dupe your subscribers. You can, however, entirely avoid even mentioning the survey in your subject line.
Get creative. Consider how you would start a conversation with a trusted friend you’re asking for advice, and write your copy from there.
Focus on developing a one-on-one relationship with your subscribers in your survey email subject lines.
6. Focus on the benefits
Following up with the previous point, you can avoid mentioning the survey in your subject lines by mentioning the benefit instead. To do this, however, you need to offer some kind of incentive for taking the survey.
For longer surveys, offer a bigger incentive—like 50% off a one-time purchase. This may seem like quite a large give, but remember the value of a customer’s time and feedback.
Even quick product reviews on your website could warrant a smooth 10% or 15% off.
7. Make sure your copy lives up to the survey email subject lines
If you make promises in your survey email subject lines, make sure you follow through with it in the body copy.
This point is crucial for several reasons:

To avoid spam filters (spammy copy = bad copy, always 
To uphold your brand’s (and email service provider’s) reputation 
Getting the results you want. Dry, boring copy won’t make people want to take your survey! 

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8. Keep it short
Over 41% of emails were opened on mobile devices in 2021, and your subject lines need to take that into consideration. Finding the ideal subject line length is tricky, but when it comes to survey email subject lines, we’d recommend keeping them short so they fit into app notifications.
How short? You should be safe with 50 characters.
You should also keep it short so that your subject line copy is concise, straight to the point, and easy to understand.
9. Encourage some kind of urgency.
If you don’t discuss anything about time constraints, your subscribers might not respond. They’ll think about responding. They’ll have every intention to respond. But they won’t actually respond.
Expressing urgency can be as simple as using the word “now” in your subject lines. You can also let subscribers know that the coupon for taking the survey will expire at a certain time.
10. Use emojis.
A report by Experian revealed that fifty-six percent of brands using emojis in their email subject lines had a higher unique email open rate. 
Emojis can be over-used in email marketing these days, but they add levity and friendliness to almost any send. In a world of bland corporate surveys with almost no pep, an emoji in your subject line can add a little spark.
Remember — not all emojis render properly based on the email client. Check to see if the majority of your list uses a supported email provider before going all-in on the emoji front.
15 survey email subject line examples worth copying
Most survey email subject lines follow a simple set of formulas: they personalize, incentivize, and/or create urgency to get folks to click in and fill out the survey. 
Here are a few examples to inspire your next survey subject line:
Examples using personalization

“[NAME], people have questions about [insert product]. Can you help?”
“Hi [NAME]. Can we talk?”
“Hi [NAME], how do your new [brand] sneakers fit?”
“Hey [NAME]. Time’s almost up to earn 50% off.”

Examples using second person POV

“Your Saturday afternoon trip with Uber” 
“Well, what do you think?”
“Your feedback makes us better” 

Examples using incentives

“Take a quick survey, earn 25% off”
“Looking for 40% off?”
“Penny (or more) for your thoughts?”

Examples that create a sense of urgency

“LAST DAY to win a $200 Visa gift card” 
“Last chance! Survey ends at midnight”

Examples with emojis

“Answer our survey, get a ”
“Got a minute? ”
“This Valentine’s Day, we your feedback.”

Start sending those survey emails
Survey email subject lines are tough because, by nature, surveys aren’t the most interesting pieces of content. Marketers really need to use their creativity to come up with something unique that will spark interest.
We could write an entire blog post on survey email copy but you need to actually get subscribers to open the email first. Otherwise, you’ve just wasted your time creating something amazing that no one will ever read. 
Focusing on your subscribers’ wants, needs, and state of mind can help you develop subject lines that hit home. Just don’t forget to A/B test a few different subject lines!
Need help creating rock-solid subject lines or embedding beautiful surveys directly into your emails? Campaign Monitor can help with customizable templates.
The post 9 Surefire Survey Email Subject Lines appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Inclusive content is no longer considered a bonus for video marketers; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is an integral component of an effective video content strategy.
According to Facebook Advertising, 64% of audiences in the US, UK, and Brazil said they would like to see more diversity. Deloitte’s Heat Test Report found 69% of brands with representation in ads saw an average stock gain of 44%.
But where does one start? Diversity isn’t something you can simply check off a list — implementing inclusive content is complex. It has many facets internally and externally in an organization and includes multiple areas that must be taken into consideration when brand and marketing teams plan and produce diverse content strategies.

Many marketers are working against legacy systems and ways of doing things that have been in practice for years, if not decades or more. What can brands and marketing teams do today to start implementing successful DEI content strategies?
At Storyblocks, a rapid video creation company, we’ve released the Diversity in Video Report to help businesses and marketers implement effective DEI content strategies. Through conducting quantitative and qualitative market analysis over a period of the last four years, we could see how the DEI landscape has evolved in video marketing and determine what the key takeaways are for brands today.
About the Diversity in Video Report
Thanks to our growing diverse video content library at Storyblocks, we’ve been given unique access to what is important to content creators and brands today. Our research analyzes over 250 million searches and over 45 million downloads from our user database of businesses, marketing teams, and individual content creators from 18 industries worldwide.
In addition to these quantitative data points, the research also includes a qualitative in-depth analysis of noteworthy brand DEI initiatives over the last few years. Through evaluating what the top global brands have done to implement DEI strategies, this qualitative study shines a light on best practices and lessons to be learned from the successes and failures of the big players in the market. We include specific examples from companies like Citi, Netflix, Sesame Street, and more.
Diversity in Video Report Findings
1. Diversity doesn’t stop at race.
Diversity is often thought of in terms of race, but our research suggests that diversity in video marketing extends beyond that. Diversity has many layers and includes diversity in faith, age, sexual orientation, ability, body type, and more in addition to racial diversity.
In 2021 the top five DEI keywords and searches by all businesses were: body diversity, elderly, Muslim, general diversity, and African American.
Body diversity, particularly the representation of plus-sized bodies, is something multiple industries prioritized in 2021. This is an area of diversity that has been historically underrepresented, with most ads showing thin body types. Today marketers are approaching this differently, highlighting the importance of body diversity in content planning.
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2. There’s an increased demand for BIPOC representation in media and marketing.
Compared to 2019, there has been a 113% increase in BIPOC (Black, Indigineous, and People of Color) video searches from members and visitors, with 937,000 more searches in 2021. There has been a 195% increase in the number of BIPOC video downloads, with 2.3 million more downloads in 2021 compared to 2019.

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This increase in demand for BIPOC representation in media is likely linked to the murder of George Floyd and the vast racial inequities that led to increased coverage of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement that took place in the spring of 2020.
This movement resulted in a global cultural awakening that led to a ripple effect on different facets of media and business. Similar to the evolution of BLM, demand for BIPOC representation in media is not a ‘moment’ — the movement is still continuing and growing today.
3. Demand for diversity is clear with an increase of over 100% in just two years.
It’s clear that brands and video marketers are getting the message and listening to consumers’ undeniable demands for representation. Many businesses have been prioritizing inclusion when producing video content in the last few years.
In 2021, diversity searches including race, ethnicity, ability, age, body and LGBTQIA+ increased by 104% from 2019, with 1.1 million more diversity searches in 2021 from both Storyblocks members and visitors.
Similarly, downloads of diverse content increased by a massive 191% from 2019, with 3 million more downloads of content that include more authentic representation of communities in 2021.

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What the future of diverse content looks like.
The data indicate DEI is not a trend — the increase in diverse video content creation and consumption in media is increasing. We see DEI in video and advertising becoming an intentional, thought-out practice that more businesses invest in and strategize around.
Diverse Video Content Best Practices
1. Don’t insert your brand into a community without research.
The most powerful tool to invest in when approaching DEI is research. If a community is “trending” and receiving increased attention in the media for any given reason, be careful before your marketing team dives headfirst into the conversation.
Do your due diligence and fully understand the community you are planning on representing in your content. So many failed DEI campaigns that have received public backlash could have been avoided if the research phase was done properly.
2. Have a DEI strategy in place.
Set clear and measurable DEI goals and targets that are cross-functional and involve different workstreams and teams in your organization. DEI initiatives shouldn’t just be put on a singular group — DEI should be incorporated into your company’s strategy as a whole.
When a company is serious about its DEI efforts and has a results-driven strategy, dedicating financial resources is essential, similar to how sales and marketing have quarterly and annual budgets. DEI should be no different.
3. Diverse representation needs to exist at the decision making level.
This past year, Storyblocks worked with Indigenous filmmakers to increase the representation of Indigenous communities in our libraries. We recognized our team did not have adequate Indigenous representation, so our marketing team hired a board of external advisors from the Indigenous community to act as guides on how to best communicate, understand the community’s pain points, encourage compassion and avoid harmful misrepresentation.
When aiming to create content that’s inclusive, make sure the decision makers represent who you are speaking to. Recognize when your team is not as inclusive as you’d like and reach out for third-party support to make up for the representation your team is lacking.
Final Thoughts
Armed with the information we’ve compiled in this report, you should be able to build or take a critical look at your DEI video strategy successfully. A crucial part of that success lies in you and/or your business’s ability to approach DEI thoughtfully. Learn from the successes and failures of other brands, bring in diverse voices and understand that this isn’t something you should rush to implement. Take time and care in crafting your approach.
We’re still learning lessons ourselves, and are on this journey with you. We can’t wait to see what you create.

 

 

How could one open up new opportunities for preference-based advertising and add a human factor to communication by confronting raw data with the real needs of real customers? The answer is: by emphasizing zero- and first-party data. What are they? Why should you collect them, and how do you do it? Here’s our Supreme Guide that will help you bring more consent to your relationships with customers and multiply your marketing results.

This article is a continuation of Supreme Guide to Zero-Party Data: The What, The How, and The Why>>

 

Tools to collect zero-party data with the Customer Preference Center

 

Customer Preference Center allows you to use various built-in tools from the Customer Data Platform to collect information about consumers. You can freely combine and use them to get to know your audience even better.

 

Pop-up

 

Beautifully designed pop-ups can help you collect data for the Preference Center from anywhere on your site. You can adjust their display according to many factors, such as the content of the subpage, the user’s engagement with the brand, or their interests. The user who fills in the preferences on the pop-up does not even have to go to the Center landing page to confirm the provided information. However, they can update them at any time from the Preference Center.

 

Tool #1 Pop-up with quiz to collect Personal preferences on products

 

 

Prepare a pop-up with a short quiz that allows the user to choose the best product from the ones available in the store. Ask a few questions to narrow down their choices, and ask for an email address to which you will send the results (along with permission to send marketing content). The provided Personal data and Consents will be saved in the Customer Preference Center and on the contact card. Using automation rules, send an email with expert advice and suggestions for the best products based on the submitted information.

Examples of information you can collect:

ColorStyleSizeOccasion

Use Case Example:

Gather information about the favorite type of jewelry, preferred materials, shapes, styles, and types. On this basis, sort your user base and send them relevant content from your blog with recommendations of selected products.

 

Tool #2 Pop-up with question to progressively collect Personal data

 

 

Instead of overwhelming your audience with lots of questions at once, break the process down into steps. Collect data in smaller batches and in the right context. 

Prepare pop-ups containing a form to collect personal data with questions that are matched contextually to the content on the page. Ask one or two questions at a time to avoid overloading the users and always refer to the content they are viewing. Additionally, every 5 filled pop-ups, you can invite users to fill in the whole questionnaire from the Preference Center in exchange for a specific reward.

Examples of information you can collect:

Prepare a flow where you’ll ask them to specify, for example:Favorite travel destinationsTraveling budgetFavorite activityPreferred traveling seasonCompany (size and age of companions)Dietary requirements

Use Case Example:

With each piece of information you gather, you can provide even more personalized communication and offers. In your regular newsletters, incorporate the given preferences and encourage the user to visit the Center and fill out additional information for even better tailored content.

 

Tool #3 Pop-up with a form to collect data for B2B offer

 

 

On a B2B website, use pop-ups to gather Personal data that will help you fine-tune the offer. 

Prepare a professional-looking pop-up containing a form with questions about relevant details. Display it on the micro-conversion sub-page of the offer inquiry, or the page from which people most often go to the main micro-conversion page. Collected data will appear on the contact card, so you can prepare an even better offer without bothering the user with additional questions.

Examples of information you can collect:

Company nameNumber of employeesIndustryJob titleJob roleTeam sizeCountrySalaryExperience level with your productsBudget

Use Case Example:

In B2B commerce, gather customer information such as industry, company size, spending budget and monthly demand for your products. Prepare a professional looking bid that includes the provided information. Then reach out with offers across various channels.

 

Tool #4 Pop-up with question to engage users while collecting Personal preferences

 

 

Engage users on the website using gamification. 

Display pop-ups in different locations with questions about Personal data. Reward users for answering by sending an email with a code snippet to unlock a special prize. The email should also contain a hint as to where the next pop-up can be found. Use the collected information to complete the customer profile and personalize future actions.

Examples of information you can collect:

Face shape (article with style tips for eyeglasses)Type of work (article about types of glasses)Whether they use contact lenses (article comparing contact lenses to glasses)Hair color (look book for the upcoming season)How much time they spend outdoors (article on how to prevent glasses from fogging up)

Use Case Example:

Prepare a series of questions to get to know your customers better with an incentive and match them with blog articles. Display pop-ups to users who read the articles. After completing each pop-up, send a message letting the user know how many answers they are missing to receive the reward. Then, encourage them to find more pop-ups while reading articles. 

 

Landing page

 

A landing page is a dedicated space containing a beautifully crafted Preference Center. It can contain one or more tabs, and its appearance can be personalized as needed. Available tabs are:

Product preferences,Personal data (Primary information and Personal preferences),Consents,Channels & Frequency.

How do you get the most out of them?

 

Tool #1 Landing page to collect Product preferences

 

 

Prepare a Preference Center containing only one tab: Product preferences. Add a space where you display suggestions of interesting products using an AI-based recommendation scenario. Redirect users from the website to the Preference Center landing page and encourage them to choose what interests them from this selection. Collect data that will help you make even more personalized recommendations.

Examples of information you can collect:

Apparelgendercoloritem typebrandprice

Beautypurposeageactivityallergiesbrandscenthealth concern

Travelcountryvacation typeorganizationdiet budgetaccommodation

Financeloan valuelength of loanloan insuranceother loans

B2B commerceindustrystage of productionpurposevolume of productionbrandbudget

Use case example:

Prepare an email with personal recommendations. Here, you can display product recommendations according to the scenario Products based on contact preferences. Then, send it to those who filled out this tab along with an incentive to visit the site. This way, people who are interested in green jeans for women, costing less than €200, will see exactly these types of products.

 

Tool #2 Landing page to collect Personal preferences on products

 

 

Welcome new users to your site and get to know them better early in a relationship. 

On the login page, place a banner redirecting to the Preferences Center with one tab: Personal data. Put a questionnaire asking for basic information about the users, their habits, and preferences. Use the data to do some initial segmentation of new users. Give thanks for completing the survey by sending expert advice tailored to one or more of the stated preferences immediately after completing the survey as instant gratification.

Examples of information you can collect:

Country they live inBudget for shoppingFavorite brandProduct categoryFavorite colorClothes size Shoe sizeFavorite fabricPersonal styleIf they have kidsNumber of kidsAge of kidsTop interestsHobbiesAllergiesAllergy typesWhat kind of pet they havePet breedPet nameDream vacation destinationPreferred vacation typeDietary requirementsLoan purposeLoan valueIf they want loan insuranceIf they have other loansPreferred payments frequencyInterest rate per year

Use Case Example:

Send a free trip preparation checklist to help a contact travel with children ages 3-4 to Germany. This is based on a contact indicating that they have children, provided they’re ages and wishes to visit Germany.

 

Tool #3 Landing page to collect marketing consents

 

 

Allow customers to manage consents collected through any form within the site. 

In a visible location on the page, place a redirect to the Preference Center with a Consents tab that collects all opt-in and marketing consents given by the contact. Make it clear that the contact can view and manage the list of consents at any time. You can further improve the user experience by adding a Channels & Frequency tab to the Center, so they can indicate when, at what time, and in what channel they prefer to receive messages.

Examples of information you can collect:

Opt-in consentsEmail consentText (SMS) consent

Marketing consentsAcceptance of Privacy PolicyConsent for Sending Marketing MaterialsConsent for Third Party Marketing

Preferred channel of contactEmailTextWeb Push

Preferred frequency of contactOftenSometimesOccasionally

Preferred days and hours for receiving messages

Use Case Example:

Prepare an email with educational content for users who expressed such desires. Mention the benefits of personalized communication across multiple channels, for example, discount and early access to promotions of interested products for Web Push channel subscribers. Invite them to give relevant consents in the Center.

 

Tool #4 Landing page to collect various types of information on customer preferences

 

 

Make two-way communication your competitive advantage. 

Redirect identified users to a personal preference dashboard: Center consisting of all 4 tabs that will give them full control over what their experience and purchase path will look like. Deliver on your part of the promise. Use the data collected in the Center to fully personalize communications across the indicated channels, show relevant recommendations, and match content to indicated preferences.

Examples of information you can collect:

Product preferences narrow down groups of products a person is interested in, such as:pantsblue clothesdressesitems costing less than €100mortgagesshort-term loanshiking geartrainersliving room chairscat toysearrings with rubies

Personal preferencescustomer’s likes/dislikes, needs, interests, requirements, such as:budgeteye colorhairstylefavorite coffee brandway they like their coffeemajor health concernsif they shop only for themselvesmost used night cream branddream vacation typedominant style in their living roomfavorite article typefavorite article subjecta person that inspires them

Personal informationBasic demographic information, such as:first namelast nameemail addresspronounscountrycityphone number

Marketing consentsall the marketing and opt-in consents (new and old ones), such as:text (SMS) opt-inWeb Push opt-inConsent to receive the newsletter at the provided email addressConsent to processing personal data for the purpose of promoting services and goods, including email commercial information

Communication preferencesexact information on where, when and how often a person wants to receive messages, including:preferred channelpreferred frequencypreferred time of the daypreferred day of the week

Use Case Example:

Based on the provided preferences, prepare a communication that takes the given information into account. For example, tailor an email campaign to the preferences of a fan of weekend ski trips to Switzerland who agreed to receive marketing communications and email offers and likes to read them every Saturday morning. Fill your newsletter with the best places to go in the upcoming time period. Keep them posted on important travel deals for flights from the country they live in to Switzerland. Keep the email design in the style of the morning news. Include recommendation boxes with products that interest the reader. Be specific and timely. After all, you see each other every week over Saturday morning coffee.

 

Email

 

Email marketing gives you tons of options for targeting and personalizing your messages. You can use this channel to collect customer information in your Preference Center.

 

Tool #1 Email plus landing page to collect various types of zero-party data

 

 

Invite all users to enter a new level of relationship via email. In the message, provide a link to the Customer Preference Center with all four tabs and let them know that from now on, they have full control over the data and marketing consent they provide. Add information that by using this link, they can both provide and update the data.

Examples of information you can collect:

Update on given opt-in consentsUpdate on given marketing consentsNew opt-in consents in different channelsNew marketing consents

 

Use Case Example:

Prepare three messages for people who subscribe to one channel: email, text, and Web Push. Send prompts to encourage people to visit the Preferences Center and update their opt-in and marketing consents based on their preferences. Add a link redirecting them to the Center with a Consents tab where recipients will be able to check and adjust their consents. When creating the tab, in addition to the type of permission, you can add a short incentive, such as the benefits of giving that particular consent.

 

Tool #2 Email with a discount plus landing page to collect Product preferences

 

 

Increase CLV of customer groups that bring in medium to lower revenue. Use RFM segmentation to identify the right segment. 

Prepare and send them an email directing to the Preference Center with one tab: Product preferences. In the message, explain that you want to get to know their needs better and, in return, offer a discount on future purchases for those who visit the center and submit their answers.

Examples of information you can collect:

Type of productPurposeUsing frequencyDetails related to the categories in your store, such as:pricebrandother subcategories

Use Case Example:

Use the Frequency|Monetary value matrix in the RFM Marketing Automation dashboard to find people who buy frequently and spend a lot in your store. For these promising segments, prepare a message inviting them to share their preferences. Redirect them to the Preference Center with the Product Preferences and Channels & Frequency tabs and encourage them to fill in their data. Use this information to send them ultra-personalized recommendations as often as they find comfortable.

 

Tool #3 Email plus landing page to collect communication preferences

 

 

Activate dormant users. 

Send them an email that invites them to specify their communication preferences. Include a link to 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 in the right channel to increase engagement with the brand.

Examples of information you can collect: 

Update on preferred channelsIndication of preferred messaging frequencyPreferred day and time to receive messages

Use Case Example:

In the Segmentation Center, find people who have not opened the last 5 emails. You can additionally add the condition of low probability of purchase. Prepare a message letting them know that you’ve noticed their inactivity, and you can respect that. However, you would like to stay in touch, but on their terms. Invite them to indicate their Communication Preferences via the Center and provide a link directing them to the right landing page.

 

Tool #4 Email plus landing page to collect customer feedback

 

 

For people who already know the company and the product, prepare a survey, which will help to adjust and update the marked preferences from before. 

Prepare a Customer Preference Center with a Personal data tab and use it to compose a feedback survey. Send an email with an invitation to complete it to every person who recently bought something from your store. Include the link to the Customer Preference Center landing page. 

Examples of information you can collect:

Main purpose for using a productConcerns about product/brandChanges after they started using the productWhere they found out about the productEarlier experience with the productReasons to choose the product Experience with similar productsWays of using the productRating of the buying experienceRating of the cost-to-value ratioChallenges they are facingLikes/dislikes about the productSuggestions for features to add and improve the experience Willingness to recommend a productHow satisfied are they with the product

Use Case Example:

Carry out a satisfaction survey with a shopping experience rating among people who have recently purchased from the store. Prepare a Preference Center with a Personal Data tab. Here, you can ask questions about their satisfaction with the purchase and the buying process. Set up an automation rule that will send an email to all people within seven days after their purchase. In the message, say thank you for the purchase and invite them to give you feedback. Include a link to the Preference Center. The information provided will be saved on the contact card, and you can use it in the upcoming correspondence to strengthen relationships and build customer loyalty.

 

Types of data in Customer preference center and how to collect and leverage them

 

With Customer Preference Center, you can collect all types of zero-party data and ask people anything relevant to your business. To collect specific types of information, you need to select the appropriate option in the first step of the Customer Preference Center wizard.

 

Product preferences

 

 

Product preferences is a set of criteria for a contact to determine which groups of products from your offer interest them. You can further use them to create product recommendations. The more data you collect, the better you will understand the interests of your contacts. 

Criteria are directly correlated with the information pulled from the product feed (XML). The structure of product preference filters is similar to search filters in the online store. The main filter will be the primary criterion by which contacts will express their preferences, and additional filters will help narrow and specify them. 

 

Tip #1 Help people see more products they really want

 

 

Send users an email with a link to the Center using the Product preferences tab. Ask users to indicate their preferences for desired clothing items, color, and cut, and also to indicate if they want to see discounted products. On this basis, build recommendations that will really increase sales in the store. This is because each recipient will only see what interests them within their price range.

 

Tip #2 Extend customer insights beyond website behavior 

 

 

Instead of building foreign travel recommendations based on click-throughs, ask users via the Customer Preference Center landing page to indicate their preferred destinations, vacation type, and budget. Add to this the information about the customer’s loyalty to the brand and use it to prepare offers including favorite destinations, loyalty discounts and upselling with additional attractions according to the customer’s wishes.

 

Tip #3 Make B2B offer preparing as easy as one-two-three

 

 

Prepare an advanced B2B product offer for complex customer office needs by collecting product preferences in various categories. 

Use the Customer Preference Center landing page as a pre-offer interview. Prepare a Center with two tabs: Personal data and Product preferences. In the first tab collect information about the company, its needs and budget and complete it with Product preferences. Find out how big the company is, which equipment it requires, how much they can afford to spend, and how they will use it.

 

Tip #4 Adapt the language of your messages to the needs of your audience

 

 

In a finance-related B2C online business, redirect website users to a Center landing page where you collect their preferences for financial products. Use this information to personalize communications based on shared preferences. Adjust the language, so it addresses the needs of specific individuals. Differentiate the tone of communication for people looking for mortgages, insurance, quick loans and debt consolidation. Vary your vocabulary and arguments to appeal to the different needs of your prospects.

 

Tip #5 Help people to select product preferences

 

 

On the Landing page with Center using Product preferences tab display them the products from the store according to the selected recommendation scenario. This way, even if people are not sure what they are interested in, they can find inspiration and common ground for products that appeal to them.

 

Personal preferences and Primary information (Personal data)

 

 

Personal data is information provided by contacts in the form of answers to all kinds of questions presented in this section. You can ask a number of different questions relevant to your business, such as age, shoe size, favorite vacation spot, or dog’s name. The more you ask, the more detailed the information will be to help you to get to know your contacts better. 

 

Tip #1 Pre-segment your contacts using their personal preferences to make better recommendations

 

 

Prepare an attractive pop-up with a quiz. Put up to 5 fields with simple questions that will allow you to initially assess which products from the assortment will be the most suitable for the user. Inform the user about the benefits they will get in return for answering the questions. For example, it can be personalized expert advice or a special discount on selected products. Remember to include a section for the user’s email address, to which you will send the quiz results.

 

Tip #2 Use zero-party data to select the best lead nurturing cycle

 

 

Prepare a pop-up collecting Personal Data to find out if users have already interacted with the product, have been using it for a while, or are just getting started. Use this information to tailor your content based on how advanced users are in their knowledge of the product. Set a Workflow launching one of the three lead nurturing cycles: Basic, Advanced, or Expert, triggered by the information provided in the Customer Preference Center. This approach allows you to shorten the path to purchase for different types of customers and build better relationships with them.

 

Tip #3 Use zero-party data to recommend the most relevant content and products

 

 

On your website, place a banner encouraging people to share their main interests. Use it to redirect people to a Customer Preference Center landing page that gathers accurate information about user needs through the Personal data tab. For a beauty store, this could be skin type, preferred routine, allergy information, and skincare goal. Using this, send them referrals for expert articles on these topics. In the articles, you can include relevant banners with sets of products that match the given criteria.

 

Tip #4 Increase revenue by inviting users to flash sales of their favorite brands

 

 

Send an email saying “You are one step away from joining exclusive, brand-specific flash sales!” Add a link to a Preference Center that collects Personal data, specifically your audiences’ favorite brands and designers. Set up automated invitations to flash sales of products from these brands. To increase conversion rate, you can enrich this segmentation with information about clothing sizes and invite your audience to sales.

 

Tip #5 Master segmentation in a store selling one type of product

 

 

An interesting case is a store that sells only one type of product, for example, children’s linens. You can set a pop-up collecting Personal data to narrow down your preferred product criteria to give your contacts even better and more accurate recommendations. For example, you can ask about favorite patterns, colors, material, as well as sizes or used parts of sets. This allows you to better understand the needs of specific customer groups and send them customized newsletters with relevant offers.

 

Tip #6 Properly segment your B2B contact base even without an online store

 

 

If you run a B2B business without an online store and want to improve the segmentation in your database, you can collect information in the Personal data tab. Send your contacts an email and invite them via link to the Center, where you’ll ask them questions about the preferred type of content. Then, using automation rules and the Contact has completed the key information event, automatically assign the appropriate tags. Once you sort the users, you can send them preferred content via email or Web Push notifications.

 

Marketing consents

 

 

A marketing consent is a freely given, specific, informed, and an unambiguous indication of the type of communication a person wants to receive (and allows their data to be processed for that purpose). A person can check and manage all marketing consents given to a company at any point of their relationship. In this tab, you can ask customers to express, update and manage marketing (like GDPR compliance, consent to send educational, sales- or marketing-related materials) and opt-in (like email, SMS) consents given via the forms on your website. 

 

Tip #1 Use insights on preferred channels to create unforgettable omnichannel experience

 

 

Run omnichannel campaigns for people who have agreed to receive messages across multiple channels. On landing pages with a Preference Center containing the Consents tab, collect information about channels in which the person agreed to receive messages. Based on possible combinations, create omnichannel campaigns using Workflow to provide your recipients with a complete experience and consistent communication on multiple levels.

 

Tip #2 Recover abandoned carts using the right channels

 

 

Using the landing page of the Center, collect updated marketing and opt-in consents. Using this data, prepare separate abandoned cart recovery scenarios for people who have agreed to receive messages in a single channel. Take care of beautifully crafted post-cart abandonment emails and texts to automatically send them to those who have only agreed to this type of message.

 

Tip #3 Get more marketing consents

 

 

For people who opt-in for only one channel, show content and incentives to opt-in in other channels, so you can create a better omnichannel brand experience for them. For example, to all people who subscribe to your email newsletter but not the text messages, send an email showing amazing perks for subscribing to texts. Provide them with a link to a Preference Center with a Consents tab, so they can subscribe right away.

 

Tip #4 Respect user choices to get more marketing consents

 

 

Expand the scope of consents. Start with educational campaign consents that allow you to send out educational materials in selected channels. Once you’ve built some trust, ask your contacts via email if you can occasionally send them a marketing newsletter and add a link to the Preference Center landing page. Use this mechanism to gradually increase the scope of your permissions, showing users that you’re not abusing their trust and that you’re only using consents for the purposes you agreed to.

 

Preferred channels and frequency

 

 

Channels & Frequency provide information that will let you know your contacts’ preferences for communication methods. Specifically, it shows their favorite marketing channel and messaging timing (day of the week and time range) and intensity (often, sometimes, rarely). 

 

Tip #1 Always match the message content to the preferred channel

 

 

Redirect website users to a Customer Preference Center with a Channels & Frequency tab. Gather information on which channel a person would like to receive messages. Develop your communication strategies accordingly. For those who prefer text messages, choose a concise and specific style. Web Push notification devotees should be treated like Tapas consumers: tempting, colorful and bite-sized. For those who select email, prepare communications that are more conversational, elaborate, and strategically packed with incentives.

 

Tip #2 Use preferences to personalize the omnichannel experience

 

 

Redirect website users to a Customer Preference Center with a single tab (Channels & Frequency) and ask them to specify their communication preferences. For those who have indicated more than one preferred channel, create campaigns that seamlessly blend different types of messages. Remember to keep messages consistent and avoid unnecessary duplication. For example, you can use Web Push Notifications to inform users that they will find a special birthday offer in the mail.

 

Tip #3 Use email to invite users to a poll on preferred messaging frequency

 

 

Through a link direct them to a Customer Preference Center using Channels & Frequency tab containing the Frequency section. Gather information about preferred communication frequency and use it to better engage users who are less active. For example, in your monthly newsletter, show that you have a special offer every two weeks on their favorite products and ask them to send you messages more often in their preferred channel.

 

Tip #4 Use zero-party data to customize newsletter styles, greetings and goodbyes for each user

 

 

Prepare a landing page with a Customer Preference Center containing Channels & Frequency tab where you can gather information on prefered frequency and time of the day when your users want to receive messages. Encourage contacts to provide this information by sending them an email with a link, or redirecting them from the main page. Use this information to tailor the content of your emails. For early birds, create an informative newsletter with flash news that reads perfectly with their morning coffee, and for night owls, send deeper content for contemplation and reflection, on one specific topic. Enhance the personalization by matching your email greetings to users’ preferred time of day to receive messages (Good morning, Good afternoon), and your goodbyes to their preferred frequency (See you next week, See you next month).

 

Customer Preference Center from different angles 

 

The Consumer Preference Center can consist of one, two, three or four tabs. You can mix and match them to gather information that is relevant and useful to your strategy. Additionally, you can collect data in several channels: directly through the Center, through pop-ups, and through emails. This makes it easy for you to adjust the pace and intensity of profiling according to the customer’s level of familiarity with your brand, engagement, preferred channels and the information they’ve already provided.

 

Wrap-up

 

There are plenty of ways to use Customer Preference Center to collect zero-party data. It will heavily depend on the strategy adopted and the type of business. 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. It’s a great tool for informed and permission-based marketing. If you want to learn more, schedule a free 1:1 consultation and learn how you can use the Customer Preference Center in your business.

 

 

 

How could one open up new opportunities for preference-based advertising and add a human factor to communication by confronting raw data with the real needs of real customers? The answer is: by emphasizing zero- and first-party data. What are they? Why should you collect them, and how do you do it? Here’s our Supreme Guide that will help you bring more consent to your relationships with customers and multiply your marketing results.

If you want to jump straight to use cases, be sure to check out part two >>

Many marketing professionals fall into the trap of assuming in advance that they know what their customers want. This attitude tends to backfire, as customers often follow their own paths rather than aligning with the vision of brainiacs from Marketing departments. Therefore, one should consider whether the demand for more “human” marketing is real?

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 create a more 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 “living profiles” with more detailed personal preferences would be useful if they were used to curate personalized experiences, products, and offers. (Accenture)80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. (Epsilon)Your online conversion rate can improve by roughly 8% when you include personalized consumer experiences. (Trust Pilot)

The numbers don’t lie. Customers are becoming more and more conscious. They are getting better at setting their own boundaries and prefer to enter relationships with brands on their own terms. Does this mean a doomsday for digital marketing?

 

Zero-party data: The What

 

The end is nigh, though not necessarily for all varieties of online marketing. As customer awareness increases, there is a slow but inevitable shift away from third-party cookie-based marketing to permission-based marketing and zero-party cookies.

 

Basic definitions

 

There are several terms related to the new trend that are worth knowing, as they will be used later in the article.

 

Cookies

 

A cookie or cookie file is a piece of text stored in your browser’s memory to collect information about your online behavior. Anytime the browser needs some of this important information, it uses it to retrieve important information. 

 

Example

Imagine you enter a new website and register as a new user. Next time you’ll try to log in, the website will prompt your username. The information about your nick isn’t stored in a website memory; it exists as a cookie file on your computer. While you enter the login page, the browser requests this information and automatically completes the username input field. 

 

First-party data

 

First-party data is information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies by companies first-hand from their recipients.

 

Example

An example of first-party data could be the on-page behavior and transactional information collected by SALESmanago on a user’s site. It’s a bit like a good salesperson who observes and remembers their customers’ habits in order to recommend them the most suitable items from their booth with no questions asked.

 

Third-party data

 

Third-party data is customer information collected by companies that have no direct contact with those to whom the data relates.

 

Example

To understand how third-party data works, think of a municipal archive. This organization stores information from different administrative units. All the information is sorted and clustered. It can be accessed by different people, often for a certain price. Third-party data works similarly. A company collects from other companies their first-party data about large groups of consumers, like winter sports fans, gamers, or CEOs. You can have paid access to this data, but it will be already aggregated. Instead of knowing who exactly you are targeting, you will only know the general characteristics of the group, gathered from people’s behavior on various websites.

 

Zero-party data

 

Unlike the first- and third-party data, zero-party data refers to all kinds of information requested by brands and provided directly by customers. 

 

 

Example

Zero-party data can be explained using an analogy to a brick-and-mortar store. When a person enters an isle with a specific type of product, all they know is that they want an item from this isle. Oftentimes, the amount of different options is more a curse than a blessing. A store associate approaches them to help and starts asking questions. They ask about the customer’s preferences, conditions, ways they want to use this item, and according to this information they help a customer pick the item that will suit them best. In this example, zero-party data are things the customer tells to a salesperson which will help them find the right product. 

 

Zero-party data: The Why

 

One of the factors that is forcing change in the modern world is the growing demand for personalization, which is understandable and logical. Being plugged into more and more devices, we are fully aware that our private lives and consumer choices are no longer our own. This comes with consequences. In 2019 only 54% of consumers said they are willing to share their email address—up from 61% in 2018. At the same time, up to 86% of consumers are willing to pay for a better customer experience. But what builds a good experience? Is it enough to observe user behavior on the site, and assume you know best what they need? Or is this behavior overwhelming rather than nourishing?

 

Rented relationships

 

Third-party data-driven online marketing is all about rented relationships. The information you use to address potential customers does not belong to you, but to external parties. Working through intermediaries obviously has its upsides (such as access to diverse data from many sources), but it also has its downsides. First of all, you do not have direct access to the data and you do not own it. If the intermediary company turns off the tap, you lose the relationships you have built and the ability to continue operating. In this arrangement, you lack control over the data, how it is collected, transmitted, and analyzed.

 

Example

An illustration of a rented relationship can be ads displayed to lookalike audiences on Facebook. You choose an audience through a wizard, set up a campaign, and trust Facebook to deliver it to the right people. Everything works ok until you operate in the Facebook space. Only when someone hits your page through the ad do you have a chance to start collecting first-party data on that person, but you have to remember that their primary relationship is with Facebook, not with you.

 

Consent-based relationships

 

A very different relationship between a brand and its audience is based on zero- and first-party data. Contact and data collection begins at the place where it will be used, i.e., in the company’s owned media. From the very beginning, the user is informed that you want to observe and record their actions. You ask their permission and let them know how you will use the data. In other words: you build a relationship based on informed consent. There are no middlemen in the whole process, no one keeps a file on the relationship and no one can steal it from under your nose. You are the one in control of the development of the relationship and the direction of the conversation.

 

 

Example

A relationship based on zero- and first-party data can take different forms. For example, a person visits an eCommerce site. After viewing several products, they fill out a preference survey and leave an email address to receive a discount. You process this information to send an email with a discount code and suggest some products that match the stated preferences. During the next interaction, you recommend the person to use the site’s wish list mechanism. At the same time, you record their actions with first-party cookies. All of this knowledge translates into personalization of the website elements and the best possible adjustment of communication in various marketing channels.

 

Zero-party data: The How

 

The best way to get zero-party data is to ask. Many customers will gladly exchange personal information in exchange for a personalized shopping experience and a smoother buying process. We (customers) like to feel special. Of course, a 50-question survey on the first visit to a store is a huge overkill, but there are smarter ways to encourage users to leave their data.

 

Collecting zero-party data across entire Customer Lifetime

 

Throughout their lifecycle, a customer’s relationship with a brand changes. Initially, they may be reluctant to share their story, so the first data requests should be low-key and reasonable, preferentially accompanied by a tangible incentive. In other words: don’t force it! Adapting to the client’s pace is crucial here.

As the relationship develops, people begin to trust brands and decide whether they want to have a more intimate interaction with them. The better, more engaged the relationship, the greater the chance of gaining valuable personal information to better tailor the communication.

 

From onboarding to post-purchase with zero-party data

 

There are three milestones in a brand’s relationship with its customers:

Onboarding,Purchase,Post-purchase.

They mark three different stages of a relationship. At each stage, you will collect a different type of zero-party data.

 

 

Onboarding is when the person first identifies themselves on the site. You’re just getting to know each other, so it’s normal to ask for very basic information like favorite brand, clothing size, or dream vacation destinations.

Purchase is the moment when you get a formal confirmation of their preferences and you can learn a lot of practical things about the customer, like where to deliver the items.

Post-purchase is the time to see yourself in someone else’s eyes. A relationship already exists, at this point, not only can you ask for feedback on the service or the product itself, but also for future wishes. You can also periodically update the information you have.

 

How to fuel CDP with the right data?

 

Many tools ensure the flow of valuable zero-party data to the Customer Data Platform. These include quizzes, pop-ups, and forms. The most advanced form that combines the capabilities of these features are state-of-the-art Customer Preference Centers. In a single place, they allow users to share and manage the most important information about themselves and how they see their relationship with the brand. The centers allow the merging of different tools into the ecosystem that collects data from customers and aggregates it on the individual contact cards according to their wishes. This is done through the integration with other modules of the platform, like: 

Pop-up,Landing page (the Center itself),Email.

 

Ways to collect zero-party data with the Customer Preference Center

 

Use quiz to collect Personal preferences on products
Prepare a pop-up that allows the user to select their preferences regarding your offer. Gather the information to segment your user base and send them relevant content from your blog with recommendations of selected products.

Progressively collect Personal data
Break the process of getting to know your customers down into steps. Collect data in smaller batches and in the right context. With each gathered piece of information, you can provide even more personalized communication and offers.

Effectively collect data for B2B offers
Use professional-looking pop-ups to gather Personal data that will help you fine-tune the offer. Prepare a professional looking bid that includes the provided information. Then reach out with offers across various channels.

Engage users while collecting Personal preferences
Prepare a series of questions to get to know your customers better and match them with blog articles. After completing each pop-up, send a message letting the user know how many answers they are missing to receive the reward and encourage continuing the game.

 

A continuation of this article with ways to collect data and practical examples can be found in part two >>