The key to success when it comes to e-mail marketing has changed. It is no longer acceptable to ‘spray and pray’ to reach customers. E-mail marketing must be personalised and tailored to the recipient in order for it to be relevant.

To achieve this, it is vital that marketers have the most detailed data available on their customers to make sure their messaging is as tailored to their preferences as possible.

Often, however, trying to get this information from individuals via an online form can often just turn people away. Marketers therefore have to strike a difficult balance here between asking for highly valuable data to inform their future marketing and not discouraging people from signing up.

A key method which marketers can use to combat this is progressive profiling. By gradually gathering demographic and preference data over a sustained period of time, and evaluating trends in customer touch points, marketers can boost both lead generation and qualification significantly.

In order to get the vital initial information, prospects need to only provide data on three or four questions at a time, as opposed to filling out a large and detailed form. Subsequent forms can then be used to gather the additional data required to accurately profile your customers.

One of the key benefits of progressive profiling is that it allows digital marketers to gain information on an incremental basis, as opposed to all in one go – which can often overwhelm customers and put them off providing anything at all. As you build trust with a customer and have further interaction, more information can be requested in order to personalise their experience and of course on the premise that they will received better value through the use of discounts, offers or freebies.

Additional benefits to progressive profiling include:

  • Improved Conversion - Because progressive profiling captures data over a sustained period of time your forms are usually relatively brief. Shorter forms with fewer required fields general have higher conversion rates.

  • Enhanced user experience - With progressive profiling you don’t have to be repetitive with questioning. Likewise, because there are very few questions individuals have to answer at one given time to access the content or material they are interested in.
     
  • Improves your customer interactions – Progressive profiling provides greater insight without overloading a form and putting off potential subscribers. In this way you don’t lose hesitant customers yet you do receive more information about people who are approaching the end of their path to purchase.

When it comes to putting progressive profiling into practice, there are some important things to remember:

  • Prioritise the information needed to build complete profiles of your customers and create forms accordingly.
  • Ask the most relevant questions when developing forms.
  • Include the customer’s name or address in each request so that are aware you already know who they are and are providing the opportunity to correct any mistakes.
  • Reconfirm your privacy policy each time a subscriber converts on a form to reassure them their details will not be misused or sold to other parties.
  • Monitor your profiling – if there is a stage that sees a large decline in response, it’s vital to reassess and try to keep the consumer’s experience when providing data at each stage in mind.

To slowly build relevant and valuable profiles of your customers, progressive profiling is the most useful way to achieve tailored and personal communication. Not only is the customer experience much more enjoyable, but your relationship with your audience is improved as contacts aren’t overwhelmed by being asked for too much personal information in the first interaction.

It’s common knowledge that customer experience is the cornerstone of modern marketing. With this in mind, digital marketers need to find the balance between gaining enough thorough data to ensure that interactions are personal, but also need to be wary of ruining a customer’s experience by asking for too much information early on. Progressive profiling is the possible solution to this enigma.

 

By Matthew Dunn, Managing Director, Targeting, at Experian Marketing Services. 

PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.

comments powered by Disqus