| The Myth: Privacy sensitive consumers are unwilling to share in-depth personal information with marketers. |
| The Reality: Consumers, (BtoB and BtoC), are quite willing to share information with marketers -- if they believe the information they share will result in receiving relevant and valuable information and offers. |
| In recent blogs, I shared two megatrends of 21st century marketing: Megatrend # 1; customers expect multichannel, preference-driven communications and Megatrend # 2, that they expect us to trust their requirements for deeper engagement. |
| Let’s take a look at Megatrend # 3, which is also based on learnings from recent VOC research for companies such as Microsoft, HMS National, NBC Universal and Life Line Screening. |
| Megatrend # 3; there is a growing recognition among consumers that, in order to receive or access increasingly relevant information, they must share increasing amounts of information about their preferences. |
| If they trust the marketer and see a useful value proposition, consumers will Opt-In and self-profile their preferences and expectations by providing significant amounts of information. We call this the Reciprocity of Value Equation: Marketers who provide increasingly relevant information and offers will in turn, receive increasingly detailed Opt-In preferences from customers and prospects. |
| This results in the creation of a uniquely accurate and detailed database. The unprecedented accuracy is because the information is self-profiled, not inferred as with traditional databases. |
| To take full advantage of the Reciprocity of Value Equation, your initial value exchange must be powerful. Microsoft’s VOC-driven Relationship Marketing (RM) program, delivered through its Business Resource Center, initially poses fourteen detailed business questions in order to deliver targeted and relevant offers and information. |
| Microsoft's results were unprecedented: |
 | Opt-in rates up to 95%. |
| Open rates greater than 50%. |
| Response rates performing in the double-digits. |
| Volume license renewal rate is 8 points higher than the control group. |
| Volume license revenue from those in the Opt-In driven relationship program is 2X greater than the control group. |
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| Try This: |
| Test the increase in response and revenue you can achieve by building an Opt-In driven database. |
| First, conduct VOC research to understand how different customer segments define the value proposition you must create to motivate them to Opt-In. Also, determine what questions are appropriate to ask, and when, in the course of their relationship with your company. |
