Whether it is the sight of daffodils or your wardrobe changes, this time of year has us all thinking about a spring clean.
With the first birthday of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching, we have been speaking to data professionals about the impact compliance requirements has had on their marketing and customer management strategies.
During these conversations it is clear that a key focus during preparation for the legislation was to ensure that the necessary customer consent and audit trails were in place and the impact on database volumes minimised. These concerns reflect research conducted by TransUnion during which 100 marketing decision makers were questioned on how their work had been impacted by GDPR. Marketers specified that a reduced pool of prospects to target (26%) and reduced insight on existing customer database (25%) were post-GDPR hurdles they were trying to overcome. Looking beyond our own research this complements wider insights such as the fact that 53% of charity workers have seen their email database shrink.
In client meetings it has become clear that organisations are paying increased attention to the requirement for data accuracy as outlined in Article 5 of the ICO’s GDPR principles. GDPR Article 5 (d) requires retained data to be accurate, up to date, have a clear purpose or otherwise deleted or rectified without delay.
Without embedding appropriate cleansing processes into a data strategy, customer data will naturally deteriorate as people move to a new house, get married, or pass away. Indeed marketers also need access to accurate data to help them solve the following consumer conundrum; trust regarding organisations handling of their personal data is currently low, while consumers are expecting brands to be able communicate with them in a relevant and engaging manner. As such, robust data cleanse processes are essential element for a successful customer data management and engagement strategy.
Our data solutions team have been working across a broad range of sectors including finance, gaming and telco, providing clients with data cleanse services. We have seen a significant increase for our data governance services that ensure customer data has the integrity required. This has involved utilising ‘Gone Away’ data, which is an accurate source of mover data, along with deceased suppression sets. This activity can be a fast, effective route to supporting your approach to GDPR.
The need for accurate customer data is hugely important. Accuracy ensures the right insight is associated to the most recent customer records, supports your approach to being compliant and protects your investments. This makes the business case for a robust single customer view (SCV) stronger and more compelling than ever.
An accurate and up to date customer database is the foundation for insight, whether for the interpretation of transactional behaviour and interaction with a brand to the insight that can be provided by additional sociodemographic or other third-party data. When using GDPR compliant sociodemographic data, such as the classification CAMEO dataset or other compliant third-party data, to build a more nuanced view and understanding of your consumers, it’s vital your own database is accurate.
Our research revealed that two-thirds of marketers (66%) are now less able to personalise marketing to individuals, making segmentation key to customer engagement strategies in 2019. Indeed, nearly two-thirds (63%) of marketers told us that they are now using widely accessible data such as firmographics, demographics or geodemographics as their primary segmentation dimension to provide value insight and power customer segmentation.
An SCV unlocks the value of customer data and the key to developing and maintaining relevant customer relationships, powering brand loyalty, advocacy and supporting your approach to being compliant.
Creating a true SCV is not easy. It requires strategic thinking, investment – in processes such as data cleansing as outlined earlier – and expertise.
We have worked with organisations who have built their own SCVs and while these can join customer records following a name change or house move, it is usually limited to information provided to the organisation by the customer. As such the quality and effectiveness of the SCV is dependent on your businesses’ success at brand engagement. Further underscoring the data challenges being faced, our research revealed that 61% of marketing data professionals felt that following GDPR they are unable to link up their databases and create a SCV.
In our experience working with a partner and leveraging their expertise and assets can solve this issue, making a fully functioning SCV a reality. At TransUnion our team can offer expert advice on setting up an SCV and help you harness the power of proprietary software to create DataDNA™. This technology and knowledge platform covers 99% of UK adults and is built using more than 493M underlying financial transactions to assign a unique and unchanging number to individuals, linking every known linked address and alias. The solution can be appended to existing customers via our batch delivery solution and can be returned in real time, enabling calls to be made efficiently, tying the customer into your existing customer management processes and ensuring that consistent communication is delivered to them. The result is a robust SCV and an accurate database that allows you optimise your marketing activities and support your approach to compliance.
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