With more eyeballs online than ever before, it’s understandable that marketers would seek to push their message louder, wider and further. However, mass marketing does not equate to better experiences for the consumer, nor will it lead to a consummate jolt to key performance metrics. Although it can be tempting to blast your latest offering to your entire database, it’s these strategies that have led to an erosion of consumer trust and a general sense of apathy to the personalization they receive.
The key to delivering messages that consumers want to engage with is establishing an intelligent messaging strategy rooted in relationship marketing that goes beyond casting and blasting, or personalization that peaks at a first name. Relationship marketing is the practice of growing long-term relationships directly with consumers while understanding their true wants and needs to better deliver personalized products and services. To realize this, marketers need to be powering personalization with the right class of data — zero-party data.
By leveraging zero-party data gathered through interactive experiences, marketers can personalize their messages with granularity and specificity. Messages can and should offer products your customer has expressed an interest in, that fits their declared budget and contains dynamic content that uses keywords you know will elicit engagement from them.
This philosophical change in how businesses think about their customers’ data enables both greater personalization and greater control for the end user, whilst engaging with customers from acquisition through to retention and loyalty.
Ultimately, zero-party data isn’t just a new way to place targeted ads or email campaigns — it’s about transforming how companies engage with (and demonstrate respect for) their most valuable stakeholders: their customers.
New channels will always come to the fore, but irrespective, email remains the most impactful cost-effective way to connect with consumers, drive sales and nurture long-term relationships. Brands need to be future-proof now and start owning customer relationships to collect the data and insights required to deliver better personalized marketing on the channels consumers actually want to engage with. Zero-party data puts customers in control of what information they share and who they share it with, enabling both greater transparency and more effective personalization.
Truly personalized messaging is the core of relationship marketing, and not about short-term wins or sales but focused on delighting customers for the long haul. That’s why we put together this guide — covering the five steps that can take you throughout the entire customer lifecycle, and can help transform your customer relationships, from acquiring a customer and triggering that first purchase, to winning back lost customers and engendering lasting loyalty.
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Marigold: where relationships take root.
