Setting off 2023 with a strong email marketing objective is critical to having the best email marketing year of your life.
However, companies didn’t take many steps to establish their credibility. Thankfully, a lot of progress has been made in the previous century or so. These days, everyone from the chief information officer to the head of marketing, from the compliance officer to the chief executive, is worried about the safety and privacy of the company’s data.
One reason is the proliferation of regulations all over the globe that require businesses to ensure the privacy and security of their customers’ information. Another is influencing consumers’ views on the value of data as a trust factor in brands.
Brands are at the meeting point of these two movements. That’s why, even if we believe we’re doing a fantastic job, we need to make trust-building a main priority of our email marketing in 2023 to improve trust and data privacy.
But why do people use email? It’s the most direct line of communication with our target audience. When trying to gain a customer’s trust, there’s no better place to do it than in their email.
Buyer Insight
Customer inconsistency on the factors that lead them to choose one brand over another is not helping matters. In survey after study, consumers reported that they would be willing to provide personal information in exchange for more personalized advertising. Then, in the same survey, respondents will frequently claim they have little faith in brands to keep their information safe or give them control over their final destination.
The proliferation of privacy rules indicates widespread concern about the lack of customer insight into the data black hole created by brand and data company data acquisition, management, usage, and protection practices.
The fact remains, however, that as email marketers, it is in our best interest to safeguard our client’s data privacy and security, no matter how contradictory consumers’ views toward data may be. Once we’ve done that, our thoroughness will serve as a trust-building element, and email will serve as the perfect medium to express this.
Google’s “3 Ms” for Establishing Trust
Is there a correlation between consumers’ increased willingness to interact with brands and their increased willingness to stop doing business with them if they lose faith in that brand? How has the constant stream of data breaches, changes brought on by political instability, COVID-19 encounters, and the anticipation that the values of the businesses we support reflect our own affected lives?
Most importantly, Google questioned thousands of UK and European customers about their data privacy and trust views. At the same time, systems enabled Google to study and poll its survey base to gauge American opinions.
Don’t just say anything. Say something that matters: The value of and response to personalized messages increases. Collecting first-party data enables this, but only if consumers believe that the business would handle the information ethically and responsibly.
Make it stand out: Customers or potential customers have a right to know what information you have collected on them, how you collected it, and why. Customers should be informed of what information you have acquired on them, including whether you obtained it directly from them, through a third party, or as a result of their interactions with your company. It’s common knowledge that customers forget they opted in, but it’s the company’s job to remind them.
Reduce stress: You should provide your potential customers or clients with the means to access, modify, and update their information. Many data privacy and security rules now make this a must rather than a nice-to-have.
Email may be pretty helpful at this stage. Experts recommend sending “privacy digests” to consumers via email to remind them when they joined for services or supplied information and the permissions they granted.
Here are four trustworthy data practices.
Your data practices may either generate or destroy trust; therefore, providing consumers with the tools they need to manage their data independently is essential. To gain your customers’ confidence, remember these four guidelines:
Don’t gather info for the sake of having it. Don’t ask for more information than is necessary to establish contact with a consumer. In order to get what you need, you should employ progressive profiling.
If you have someone else’s information, get their permission before sharing or selling it. Consider doing a similar audit of the agreements with any outside parties that handle data processing or security. Know the destination and storage methods for the data if you decide to sell it.
Confidentially store the information. Get the help of a storage provider that meets all your security requirements. Check how you store and use data. Reevaluate your internal security measures and restrict access to those with a legitimate business need to utilize it.
When you’re done with the information, get rid of it. When handled, shared, sold, stored, or secured improperly, information is compromised. A data breach may cause problems for your company and the individuals whose information was compromised. Even after a data breach, some well-known companies, like Target, may continue to thrive. It’s hazardous for the little ones.
Completing This Discussion
Trust is a misleading, fleeting term that has far-reaching consequences beyond your email team. As we’ve shown, email may be your most effective weapon for gaining and retaining clients’ confidence, increasing the likelihood that they will choose your brand over others. Click here to be redirected to Email Oversight’s page for more helpful email resources and tools to fix your email marketing issues.
