I lead the Client Success
team at PossibleNOW. I help our clients get
started on their recipes for ideal preference management and privacy compliance.
When it comes to creating a Preference Center, some clients take on just a
small bite in order to meet compliance regulations. Other clients want a full
buffet that offers their customers a wide array of choices, a little something
for everybody.
Whether offering a small bite or a full buffet, they all agree on this - the one thing everybody wants left off the table is spam.
Whether offering a small bite or a full buffet, they all agree on this - the one thing everybody wants left off the table is spam.
Spam produced via any
communication channel tastes bad on both sides of the table. Customers are
annoyed by it. Companies see it as a waste of money and resources and they
don’t want to waste either of those on someone who will never be a customer.
Capturing and maintaining a
customer database can be costly. Driving customers away with untargeted
communications is costly too. It’s not about getting the message out to
everybody; it’s about getting the message to the right people in the right way.
Too many companies don’t
understand that simple point when building a preference center.
Opt down, not out
I worked with a global
company as they were restructuring their preference center. This company has a
complex product set that includes business-to-business as well as
business-to-consumer products. They originally had a basic "unsubscribe" page that
met minimal compliance requirements – consumers had the choice to opt-out of
receiving emails... ALL emails. This left the company with no way to target
their communications campaigns. With such a vast product line and very
different customer sub-sets, this system was not effective.
The solution was to start
with a couple of core business units to test the waters and learn best
practices that can eventually be implemented across all divisions and brands.
They started with a preference center that offered options by product line and
then added a layer that provided opt-down options.
Instead of giving customers
just one option, receive communication or not, the company’s new system allowed
customers to specify choices based on their most relevant needs.
Within two months of
implementing the new preference center, this company saw a 30% reduction in opt
outs, simply by giving customers the choice to customize their communications.
Give customers a tailored
menu, serve them what they want, and they’ll walk away satisfied. Loyal
customers want to engage with the brands they trust and like. The key to
success is giving them a way to customize their experience with the company to
maintain, and even build, that loyalty.
Sandy Tafur is the Manager, Account Management at PossibleNOW.
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