Intelligent CXO Issue 18 | Page 26

BUSINESS STRATEGY
TO TRULY BUILD LOYALTY , BRANDS NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW DIVERSE THEIR TARGET MARKET IS . pandemic , and 66 % wanted brands to communicate how they were helping customers . This is clearly visible in the current climate as many consumers need more financial help than ever before . Undoubtedly , the impact of COVID-19 has made a lot of brands re-evaluate how they market to new and existing customers . With consumer behaviours rapidly evolving , loyalty may well be the most important factor for brands to address .
Effective data is the answer
Businesses must ensure they adhere to regulations designed to protect consumer privacy , by gaining customers ’ explicit permission to share and use data generated by digital interactions , especially with the imminent demise of thirdparty cookies . One way this can be achieved is with ethical data management , whereby a customer intentionally shares their personal information with a brand through preference centre data , purchase intentions or personal context . By utilising the data explicitly shared by consumers , companies gain much greater insight into the demographic and interests of their target market because the data is far more accurate . Essentially , it is paramount for brands to clearly communicate with customers so that they fully understand what their personal information is being used for and why .
Guy Hanson , VP of Customer Engagement at Validity
Maintaining high-quality data health remains a challenge for brands . According to The State of CRM Data Health report , many users have found that poor quality CRM data has resulted in significant customer losses which is something brands simply cannot afford in the current economic climate . In fact , 44 % of respondents estimate their company loses more than 10 % in annual revenue due to poor quality data and 75 % admit staff often or sometimes fabricate data to tell the story they want decision-makers to hear .
There are a few key areas to address when it comes to improving this . When it comes to best practices , the first step is for brands to ensure those in a leadership position are aware of the significant impact data has on the whole organisation . If there is more education and commitment around this , it becomes far easier to secure the necessary investments and resources for organisational change .
Once this has been established , brands will benefit from having someone in charge of all data with broad oversight of their critical data , as it will put them in a better position to manage future growth . The velocity and volume of data will continue to increase in the coming years .
Despite Digital Transformation initiatives , many organisations continue to rely on manual processes . According to the research , this is by far the most prevalent method reported .
Unsurprisingly , manual cleaning methods are not sustainable in today ’ s sales and marketing climate due to the growing number of data points generated on a daily basis . The volume and velocity of incoming data is simply too much for humans to process effectively .
Email is here to stay
Once a brand has access to the relevant customer data , it needs to select a reliable and accurate channel to communicate this information . According to the State of Email 2022 report , it is expected that global email volume will continue to increase in the coming years . The research found that global email volume over Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend was 70 % above the 2021 average and 5 % higher than the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend in 2020 .
This shows the channel has become significantly more popular , particularly throughout the pandemic . As a result , there is added pressure on deliverability and more competition in subscribers ’ inboxes , so it is critical to maintain a top sender reputation and observe established best practices .
When most email service providers ( ESPs ) talk about email deliverability , they only refer to the percentage of emails sent which do not generate bounces . However , this is not an accurate way of recording whether a consumer is interested in what has been sent . Instead , they should measure deliverability by inbox placement rate ( IPR ), which is the percentage of sent emails that successfully reach recipients ’ inboxes , where they can be seen and clicked .
All major mailbox providers ( MBPs ) measure and use sender reputation information to determine when to accept emails and where to place them , be it in the inbox , spam or junk folders . Therefore , senders should ensure they are measuring their reputation on a daily basis by proactively addressing any issues before they sabotage performance . Once a brand has cemented a
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