AntiConLX Global 2022 - A Consent-Driven Data Model: The What, The Why, and The How

At last week’s AntiConLX Global event in London, Acquia’s VP of Marketing Tom Bianchi spoke about using first party data to improve customer experience.

How? 

Consumers don’t always trust brands with their data, so the answer is to put the power in the hands of the consumer and let them say when you can communicate with them, and that you’ll treat this data well. 

Thanks to data privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA, consumers already have much more power, and with third party cookies on the way out, a consent-led data strategy becomes more important. 

Tom suggests that the Customer Data Platform is the tool to manage this first party data strategy, with its capabilities of collecting and distributing data to the right platforms, and providing that 360 view of the customer. 

Why? 

People may wonder, with a recession potentially on the horizon, why they should invest in technology such as a Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Tom explains that transforming in a time of recession can actually help you to emerge from the downturn in a stronger position. Indeed, those retailers that can send the right message to the right customer at the right time are more likely to be recession proof.

It’s the CDP that provides the potential to do this. 

The goal of this technology-led first party data strategy is to drive more loyalty. The millennial buyer likes to shop around, but you can still create loyalty. 

First party data is the way to build loyalty. Companies that link first party data sources produce more relevant communications and more efficient marketing. 

How? 

Achieving this first party data approach requires more than an investment in technology. It could mean a complete change in how you market as an organisation. 

At the moment, many organisations will have data that sits in lots of different parts of the organisation and those silos of data are usually aligned with an organisational structure. 

Those teams then across the business will activate that data or use that data in a way that suits the channel that they're working in today. As Tom says, marketers tend to think about how they can activate as opposed to what the customer needs. 

The biggest shift is about taking a holistic view of the data, and then activating or engaging with your customer in the right way for the customer at the right time for the customer. 

For example, it may be best not to automatically send marketing emails out to customers with an open support ticket, as that may not produce a great impression. 

The best way to orchestrate this consent-led data strategy for your business is understanding which are the use cases that are actually going to make a difference, and the  best way to do this is to actually look at your business through the lens of your customer.