Following Your Customers Online Without Pushing Them Away

Last updated: January 11, 2023

A gingerbread cookie with a bite taken out of it next to the text "Be transparent: we use cookies to improve user experience"

In our modern tech-centric world of business, retailers have been forced to up their marketing game. One of the biggest ways in which this is done is through the careful and inconspicuous tracking of customers’ online habits. When done with the right intentions, retailers can learn more about their customers and their shopping habits in order to improve end-user online experience. Seems innocent enough, right?

Sadly, it’s not every retailer who collects information about their customers with noble intentions. Knowing this has made people a lot more wary with many advocating for stricter laws to protect consumers. Vermont just became one of the first states to legislate a law that requires companies that buy and sell 3rd party personal data to register with the Secretary of State. To date the list of companies now exceeds 121 data brokers.

With stricter laws coming into effect, how can you as a brand follow your customers online without pushing them away?

USE SOPHISTICATED DATA HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY

Instead of manually trying to cross-channel market, take advantage of automated customer data platforms such as Blueshift to collect data on visitors to your site.

Blueshift is one of the revolutionary marketing platforms powered by AI that seamlessly integrates into your website and allows you to monitor traffic anonymously. Data collected across different channels will aid you in making informed marketing decisions.

Companies that have partnered up with Blueshift and are currently using this technology include Paypal, Discovery, BBC, and Groupon.

ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS DIRECTLY

Did you know? 66% of adult consumers feel that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good online customer experience.

Former director of data science at Elicit, Liam Hanham, had this to say about how companies collect data: “Customer data can be collected in three ways – by directly asking customers, by indirectly tracking customers, and by appending other sources of customer data on your own.”

By engaging with your customers directly in a friendly manner, you are more likely to win over people as they feel that you are truly listening to their concerns. And remember, 77% of customers will happily recommend your business to a friend after having a positive experience.

TRACK CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR ACROSS DIFFERENT CHANNELS

10 years ago the biggest marketing channel that was on hand for most companies was email. Marketers only had to analyze and prepare data for this channel. Today however, there are a myriad of channels and data coming in from all angles.

Social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SnapChat, just to name a few, have given companies more information and opportunity to interact and track their customers from the back-end without disrupting customers’ online experience.

FOLLOW CUSTOMERS AND BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT

What puts off a lot of customers about being followed online is not knowing what happens to their personal data and tracking habits. Consider writing a disclaimer and putting it in your Terms and Conditions on your website so that your consumers know exactly what happens to their information. People are more likely to continue visiting your site if they know that their information will only be used to improve their online experience and not sold to third parties.

Do you need help with tracking customers and improving your online marketing campaigns? Contact us at Blueshift and we’ll see how best we can help you.