Quantcast
Channel: DMA Email Marketing Council Blog » preference centre
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

8 Tips for developing the successful Preference Centre – Part 2

0
0

In this second part of tips for successful preference centre’s I explore what data should be collected and discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls of using modeling to help drive relevant communication.

6. Start simple and Get the Basics, Then Ask Detailed Information

  • When brands require more than three or four preferences, separate opt-in from preference election, first get opt-in with minimum of data such as Email address and Key subscriber data necessary to drive basic customisation (e.g. name or location).
  • Also use field validation to standardise and check entries for consistency and even accuracy and asking users to re-enter a critical value like email helps the accuracy of those fields.
  • Hitting submit opts in the subscriber then follow up with preferences on next page. Although if you can avoid the words submit and go for something more action orientated and clear such as; ‘Yes, sign me up!’ ‘Update my preferences!’ or ‘Yes, send me email!’
  • Also remember that for many companies the objective of an email / multichannel program is to engage consumers in a long term relationship. Like any relationship the more comfortable you are the more you are likely to share. This is just as true of a brand / consumer relationship and so make ongoing data collection a fundamental part of the program. Either by making prominent use of the preference centre link in email or by using softer methods such fun quizzes are a great way to collect and keep data fresh . Keeping it simple or put another way making the data actionable is also one of the key reasons to use preference centre data above behavioural data that may have been collected.
  • Which bring us nicely to the debate between explicit and implicit information. The preference centre deals with explicit preferences but often you will see data not necessarily represent reality. At one cinema client you often saw preference data of art house movies and thrillers whereas the booking data shows all animated kids films and ‘Rom Coms’ in these scenarios using models can help you more easily see and target based on these realties.
  • The downside for models is that they can be more difficult to implement and require a more sophisticated eco system to capture, analyse and operationally execute. When developing a preference centre marketers should ask themselves the question, “What can we most efficiently determine from models and what should we ask the customer directly?” Of course, any given marketer might have an easier time implementing some models than others. For instance, a next logical product model might be easier to develop than a cadence model but some marketers might lack even rudimentary analytics capabilities. I am a big advocate for ensuring that an email program should be evolutionary and whatever you do don’t get caught up with analysis paralysis, small actions are better than no actions and from studying our clients results you will see the benefits of targeting long before you get to any nirvana state of relevance.


7. Use Welcome and Thank-You Communications to Enhance Preference Election

  • On confirmation page, give subscribers the opportunity to correct preference elections immediately.
  • Use confirmation and welcome emails to drive preference elections for those who do not do so at opt-in.
  • The further removed preference election is from opt-in, the less successful it will be.

8. Make your preference centre an acquisition tool

  • Adding an invite a friend link and allowing the person social links – letting their networks know they have signed up, may not drive dramatic numbers will create a more integrated feel to your wider multichannel communications strategy.
  • Making sure you have a share to social link on the page to encourage people to share that they have signed up.

The preference centre gives you a great step forward in helping understand and engage with your consumer so go and review your pages now and make sure they are delivering as much value to your business as possible.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images