Calls for New Standard for Digital Marketing Industry
Lytics Inc., the customer data platform company, unveiled its commitment to a new paradigm for digital marketing: Trust-Based Marketing. The company launched this new initiative at the Gartner Digital Marketing Conference in San Diego.
“Digital marketing is at an operational and ethical crossroads,” said Lytics co-founder and CEO James McDermott. “We’re all tired of lazy marketing that is intrusive, inefficient and that leaves customers frustrated and burned. Digital marketers owe their customers more.”
In the midst of controversies around misuse and misappropriation of consumer data, brands are struggling to deliver effective marketing campaigns tailored to the individual consumer. Good digital marketing practices require good digital data obtained with the knowledge and consent of the individual consumer and used in a way that respects and empowers that consumer.
Third-party data pieced together and purchased without the knowledge and consent of the individual consumer is no longer acceptable. The marketing campaigns built on that sort of flawed data are no longer merely rude or annoying; they are unethical in a time like this.
Instead, marketers should be able to communicate with their customers the way their customers want and like and with their permission. First-party data, knowingly shared, is more accurate and better captures an individual’s preferences and behaviors.
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In the wake of consumer data misappropriation scandals, companies and brands that align with the values of Trust-Based Marketing will thrive, said Darren Guarnaccia, CMO of Lytics.
But embracing Trust-Based Marketing means more than just respectful gathering of data, Guarnaccia said. The concept also sets the expectation that marketers use personal data to serve the customer’s best interests. The end goal is to make customers feel both valued and understood.
“All the data in the world won’t help you if you don’t use it the right way,” Guarnaccia said. “Lytics is committed to trust and transparency, and so are the digital marketers we serve. Now we’re calling on all digital marketers to raise their standards and embrace Trust-Based Marketing.”
The company is also committed to helping marketers understand and measure the impact they are having on customer trust. Lytics has been developing tools and KPIs to help marketers understand how their marketing practices are impacting consumer’s trust in the brand.
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“The heart of Trust-Based Marketing is being intentional about being trustful in your engagement with your customers,” Guarnaccia said. To that end, the company has also developed a formal methodology to guide organizations as they shift from legacy marketing approaches to Trust-Based Marketing.
The security and privacy of customer data is built into the Lytics customer data platform. The Lytics system only collects and stores the data its customers gave permission to collect and store, under their valid privacy policies or other end-user agreements. In turn, the consumer gets treated as an individual, with marketing tailored to serve them based on their individual preferences and needs.
When this core principle was challenged by inaccurate news reports recently, the company’s leadership determined that now was the time to rally its customers to the concept of Trust-Based Marketing.
“We believe this is the future of digital marketing – built on trust, and in service of the consumer,” said McDermott. “Brands that put their customers’ interests ahead of their own will thrive in this environment.”
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