How To Use Human Data And Reciprocity Of Value For CX Innovation

By Ernan Roman, ERDM

“Just 5% of brand marketers think they are doing an excellent job at making changes based on consumer data,” according to The Wall Street Journal’s Suzanne Vranica.

As an example of the complex dynamics involved, the current Apple data privacy dispute with the government illustrates the importance of privacy and personal information. Yet in spite of this, per findings from VoC research conducted by our firm, people are very willing to provide detailed business or personal information in exchange for value, but only if they have defined the parameters for a meaningful value exchange.

Understanding the volatile and rapidly changing needs of retail customers requires new thinking in terms of why customers buy, how they want to be communicated with, and the personalized experiences they expect on their customer journey.

It also requires that marketers implement processes to deliver on CX promises. It is not the responsibility of customers to tell marketers what they want. It is the responsibility of marketers to ask, listen and then respond with personalized customer experiences based on individual preferences. And since Human Data is dynamic; it will constantly change, grow and be enriched, through ongoing interactions with customers.

In our upcoming presentation at the Retail Innovation Conference (RIC), “How to Use Human Data and Reciprocity of Value for CX Innovation” we will discuss these points and the game changing findings from 15,000+ hours of VoC research conducted by ERDM that resulted in the Reciprocity of Value Equation. This transformational equation fundamentally reframes marketing reciprocity and data privacy concerns involved in collecting and then using deeply personal information in exchange for unprecedented levels of CX.

Value Is The Key to the Reciprocity Of Value Equation

This VoC research based equation is based on 3 points:

1. Consumer reciprocity: Recognition by consumers that to receive more relevant and personalized communications and offers, they need to provide marketers with personal or business preference information;
2. Business reciprocity: Recognition by marketers that they have to provide significantly more personalized communications and offers. To be truly personalized these have to be based on more than transactional, overlay and inferential data; and
3. Human Data: B2B or B2C opt-in self-profiled information regarding key issues, needs and expectations.

The combination of these three factors results in marketing transformation!

During the presentation, we will discuss the double-digit increases in results based on implementing this reciprocity of equation.  

Putting Human Data And Reciprocity Into Action At Rent The Runway

David Page, SVP, Brand Strategy & Research at Rent The Runway, will illustrate how reciprocity has led their customers to share their most intimate “data,” and how personalization is being integrated into many different aspects of the Rent The Runway customer experience. Key points Davis will discuss include:

• Evidence from research at Rent the Runway that demonstrates the extent of customer expectations in terms of data exchange and personalization;
• Look at what you know, and if you can get more out of it. Rent the Runway customers have been able to create “shortlists” on the site for a while now, which is already a useful tool for the customer. But we’re increasingly looking at ways to use that information to personalize our communications and experience; and
• The more people get out of something, the more they will share. This is evidenced by the personal information Rent The Runway customers share as part of their photo reviews. These customers know the more they share about their size, stats etc., the more useful those reviews are to other women — it’s reciprocity on a communal scale.  

We look forward to seeing you and answering your questions at the RIC presentation.

Ernan Roman is President, ERDM and Author, Voice of the Customer Marketing. He was inducted into the DMA Marketing Hall of Fame based on the results companies achieve with ERDM’s VoC research-based CX strategies. ERDM conducts specialized VoC research to identify CX strategies that generate significant increases in revenue. Clients include IBM, MassMutual, Gilt, QVC, HP, Microsoft and Norton AntiVirus. His influential blog Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices appears in Forbes, Huffington Post, CMO.com, CustomerThink and Business2Community. Roman’s latest book is titled Voice of the Customer Marketing. His other books are Opt-in Marketing and Integrated Direct Marketing.