Hang on to Your Wallets Big Brother is Watching You

Hang on to Your Wallets Big Brother is Watching You

You can’t be in business today without technology. It’s mandatory in the modern age. The fact that it constantly changes has undeniably changed the way in which we do business and target our customers.

Fundamentally, B2C marketers have always had the same problem. The question that bugged the first salesman was born was: how do I reach and convert my target customer into an active customer and keep them? You could stand on a soapbox or set up a cart in the local market and wait for your target customer to walk past and then pounce. But technology allows us to think big and today, marketers can think very big. As big as they can imagine. Today we can sell globally, thanks to technology.

In order to be successful, B2C marketers need now to assess which marketing technologies create enterprise value and which technologies will align their investments with imperative market needs. Addressable media is now allowing advertisers to know who they are stalking across smartphones, tablets and laptops for true 1:1 direct marketing.

Online advertising is annoying and doesn’t really create customers. The increase in banner advertising blocking only frustrates consumers who become unhappy at having these ads thrust upon them, stopping them from getting on with what they really want to do. Now, successful advertising needs to be “people-based” that is data-driven and personally relevant, to the target customer.

True “people-based” marketing uses specific connections to individual consumers. It does this by tying your first-party data, i.e. all your digital interests, together with your enduring digital identity. This allows brands to target more directly whilst having a much deeper understanding of their customers and prospects needs. This more meaningful and direct “personal” approach is making an impact on sales.

83% of brands that have deployed people-based-advertising report that it has outperformed standard campaigns on similar media. Marketers are moving beyond the “Spray and Pray” campaigns, to using customer data to deliver ads with genuine benefit to the recipient. Consumers are beginning to see a positive experience with online and mobile advertising with brands that do intelligent ad targeting. Companies who approach advertising in this way engage with relevant and addressable media to build their campaigns.

As each of us browses across digital media every day we leave a personal digital footprint that can be tracked, recorded and sold to interested brands that want to sell us goods or services using a people-based intelligent advertising approach. And, it seems we like it.

First-party data is the king of information: exclusively shared in the relationship with the customer and the company. It’s the most personal of information and goes way beyond name, age and address, this data encapsulates your preferences, buying patterns, behavior information and your browsing patterns and also your social media content.

On its own however first-party data is not enough to make the most of addressable media. First-party data is historical data but it needs to be put into context. If first-party data see a sudden flurry of activity in baby clothes, for example, people-based marketers need to get contextual information from a specific partner or trusted groups to pool the information. As Ronald Regan said, “trust but verify.” By marrying up second and third party information from partners or groups you interact with, brands can identify, track and serve targeted programmatic ads to unsuspecting potential new customers.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo all sell the data they have on you to company brands that want to use people-based advertising campaigns. So hang on to your wallets, big brother is watching you.

Retention and loyalty of customers is vital in any business. Find them and keep them is the name of the game. People-based marketing is a growing trend to do just that and its working. Expect it to become ever more sophisticated as the big data expands and everything about you becomes digitally clear.

“If sheep elect wolves to be their shepherds, then they deserve to be eaten,” said Suzy Kassem.

Steve Weedon is an award-winning CEO who has held senior management positions at various OEMs as well as Katun Corp and SCC. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Print-Rite Europe Limited, Print-Rite Pelikan GmbH Germany and Print-Rite Pelikan SAS France.

He was the original founder of The Recycler Magazine and of trade shows in Europe. He also established Static Control’s Worldwide Subsidiaries and relocated to the US to become executive vice president. Weedon headed up the global Cartridge World network after it was acquired in 2016. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

Weedon is a popular columnist in RT ImagingWorld Magazine and speaker at RT Summits and events. You can read his other blogs: