An amazing array of analytic data is available to help you understand the behaviors of those who use your digital assets while they are online. Some of those users will be current customers, some will be potential customers — but, they will all expect dynamic, personalized, and relevant experiences. And, if you cannot collect or access the data to deliver the personal experiences they desire, they will seek out competitors who can.
The reality is that you must authenticate users; otherwise, you will not know who they are, you will be unable to deliver the personalized experiences they are demanding, and you will waste a lot of ad dollars. Marketing tools can help you follow your visitors by using cookies or IP addresses, but this approach to customer identification has limits. For example, if the security settings on a user’s browser or app block pertinent user information from being shared, you have no way to follow him.
Should I Even Bother?
You may be under the impression that creating an authentication system will be difficult and expensive. The truth is, though, that it does not have to be. Only online-banking authentication systems have to be as fancy as online-banking authentication systems. Most other systems can remain as simple as signing up for an email receipt — or, really, any process that captures some type of identifiable information on a website and allows it to be connected to customer relationship management (CRM) data. You could also collect information by creating a section of your website that is only accessible by users who have registered and/or logged in — but you must present them with value in return. Any cost of adding authentication will be repaid in higher conversion rates, increased loyalties, heightened customer engagement from personalized marketing, and more efficient ad spend.
How Do I Collect Identifying Information?
The first step in identifying your audience is to always use your first-party data first. A lot of CRM data sits offline, and you may need to work to integrate company databases that sit in various departments. Each customer needs to have a single, unique ID. Authentication is the link connecting that offline database to all of a customer’s online activities. Without that link, it becomes very difficult to take any marketing action on the data you have.
Benefits Abound When It Comes to Authenticating Users!
1. Gain a Full Customer View.
Connecting backend, offline data — like CRM and point-of-sale (POS) data — to your online customer data can yield tremendous value and inch you closer to understanding the total customer journey with your brand.
2. Utilize More Effective Messaging.
The power of personalized messaging cannot be underestimated. Show your customers that you not only know them, but also understand their preferences. Tracking their shopping histories and making recommendations can dramatically increase sales. Tracking abandoned shopping carts, and then sending emails to reengage the customers who have abandoned them, can help recapture 29 percent of purchases — sometimes, even more!
3. Share and Receive Information for Cross-Device Identification.
If your user begins researching your brand from a smartphone, continues his research later from a tablet, and then finishes by making a purchase from his desktop, you are missing personalization opportunities if you can’t identify him as the same person on every device. Authenticating users across multiple devices is challenging. The Adobe Marketing Cloud Device Co-op offers a unique opportunity for global brands to collaborate and provide anonymized data that will help all members determine which users of various devices are the same people.
4. Spend Your Advertising Money More Effectively.
It is pointless to use conversion and retargeting messages for users who have already become customers. In fact, it annoys them! From a customer-experience standpoint, authentication gives you the information you need to personalize a customer’s interaction with your brand. This additional information allows you to serve up different offers or promotions or suppress certain campaigns. Delivering contextually relevant information to your customer results in more efficient ad dollars.
5. Correctly Attribute Your Marketing Success.
Another benefit of linking the offline data to the online data through authentication is more accurately attributed marketing efforts. Perhaps, an in-store purchase was first influenced by the customer’s online exposure to a brand. Having a whole customer perspective is key to being able to correctly attribute how specific marketing activities during a customer’s journey influenced the eventual outcome.
Armed with information about who your users are, you’ll be able to develop successful, personalized programs; create meaningful segments of your customer and prospect bases; and move closer to your goal of offering your products and services to all who come your way.
Andrew Gutierrez, senior consultant for Adobe Audience Manager, also contributed to this article.
The post Five Reasons Why You Must Start Authenticating Users appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.
from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/mobile/five-reasons-must-start-authenticating-users/
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