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Increasing Engagement by Valuing Customer Privacy

Customer Privacy

Truly valuing customer privacy can help you increase engagement in 2019.

Personalization will continue to be a big buzzword in 2019. To personalize your marketing, you need some personal information about your customers. But, getting a customer to engage by giving up a piece of personal information can sometimes be a daunting task. Whether you’re asking them to click a survey link, type in their email address to sign up for a newsletter, or perform any other action via your website, newsletter, or social media, there are many ways to get them to do so.

The easiest and most obvious way is to offer an incentive. However, with customers being increasingly aware of and concerned with the privacy of their data, addressing this concern in your call to action can help you achieve your data collection goals.

In addition to the carrot that you’ve chosen to offer your customers as an incentive to get them to complete your call to action, your campaign should always include information regarding your commitment to customer privacy. Incorporating these six key points into a campaign can help you increase engagement and drive customer loyalty.

Be Transparent About Customer Privacy

Explain how you will be using the customer’s data so that they can choose whether or not that sits within their comfort level. Will it be used solely internally? Will the data be compiled and published? Ensure customers that their specific information (like names) will not be used. If very specific information will be used, require them to opt in to having it published (clicking or initialing a box), rather than opting out since this can easily be overlooked.

Ensure That the Platform That You Are Using is Secure

Whether you’re using popular platforms like MailChimp for newsletters or SurveyMonkey for a survey or a lesser known platform, you should only choose one that publishes their security and customer data policies front and center.

A quick Google search or browse through the site’s FAQs should explain their policies. Once you’re satisfied with their security, be sure to include a mention of that in your disclosure statement.

Let Them Know if Data Will be Shared with Anyone Else

Facebook has changed the way people engage in a social environment. However, thanks to their recent customer data disaster with Cambridge Analytica, they’ve also redefined what it means to undermine their users’ trust. Many customers will not mind if you are sharing your data with a project partner or other necessary entity, but you must disclose it. If anyone outside of your organization will be looking at this data, whether to compile it or analyze it, be sure to disclose that.

Address the Human Factor

No matter how large or small, in this technological day and age, every company needs to have conducted employee training regarding customer data and privacy. Customers don’t need to know whether you’ve had full day trainings or a simple online orientation. They do need to know that every customer, vendor, and contractor that you work with has received some sort of training regarding handling their data.

Make Your Company Available for Questions About Customer Privacy

For some, a simple disclosure statement may not be enough. This will likely not be the case most of the time, but you need to make sure that you account for those customers.

Make sure to include contact information for someone working on the project who can answer specific questions about how the data will be used and how data will be protected.

Crafting Your Disclosure Statement

Fitting all of this information into a disclosure may seem a bit daunting. With some creative placement and wording can relay all of the information that you need to share quickly and succinctly so that your customer can move on to engaging with you. Don’t try to fit too much in, lest you lose their attention, but make sure that you thoroughly convey a commitment to privacy.

Showing your customers that you care about their privacy shows that you care about them. That not only benefits you when it comes to this particular engagement, but also ensures that they will engage with you in the future.

Need some professional advice on creating personalized campaigns without compromising privacy? Contact MindEcology.

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