Dumbing it down

Marketers have been patting themselves on the back a lot recently over their ability to customize and personalize direct marketing efforts. Great results have been acheived through personalized mailings and the customization of creative. However, I'd like to suggest that we need to exercise caution in using the information we collect on our customers.

In fact, I don't believe even customer permission is enough. Let me use an example to explain.

Just before the birth of my second child, I received a direct mail package from an infant formula company. As an advocate of leveraging data, I appreciated how well targeted it was; it spoke to me as an “experienced” mother, who had used infant formula before. In fact, it came with a free can of formula (valued at approximately $10). However, I did not buy the product, or even try the sample; I was so put off that I gave the sample to a women’s shelter and never considered the brand when feeding my new baby.

So what went wrong? In this case, the customer data was accurate but the use of it was inappropriate. I expect I willingly provided all the information that they used to target me - likely via a survey at a maternity store - and even gave permission for the contact.

But such intimacy requires more than just access and permission to use the information.
The communication came from a company I had no prior relationship with and they used information that I consider of a personal nature. The customization left me feeling violated, rather than understood.

Advocates of one-to-one have talked about “remembering for” the customers, but many marketers instead have been “remembering about”. I already knew I was having a baby and would need to use formula – telling me that was of no benefit to me. It just made me ask how they knew.

Maintaining customer data is a privilege and a responsibility. As marketers, we need to ensure that we are using it for our customers’ benefit, not to show how clever we are.

Even when we really do know something, sometimes we are better off to “dumb it down.” If instead they had sent me an innocuous mailing with a formula sample; still using the data to target the right customer at the right time but not making it so obvious that they know; I expect I would have accepted it willingly, would have read about the benefits of their new formula and considered it for my new baby.

This post paraphrases an earlier article. For the full article please go to: http://www.emmawarrillow.com/images/How%20Not%20to%20do%20CRM.pdf