Events
December 7, 2023
Another incredible Digital Velocity 2023 is in the books with some stunning insights on future-proofing your business through CX, privacy, and generative AI! This year’s three-day virtual event gathered thought leaders from around the world to discuss the ways they are future-proofing their organizations in an economy in constant flux, expanding privacy regulations, and technological innovations skyrocketing. At the core of the sessions were key tips and strategic insights on how to retain customers, embrace the always burgeoning world of privacy regulations, and navigate the blossoming age of AI.
Our incredible panelists emphasized the importance of understanding customers’ needs and preferences and using high-quality data foundations to gain powerful insights into customer behavior. They also stressed the significance of implementing robust, yet adaptable data privacy policies and security measures to protect customers’ personal information and build trust while being able to adjust as new regulations come to the market. These experts made recommendations on how businesses can invest in AI-powered technologies to enhance customer experiences. And finally, they emphasized the need to continually adapt and innovate to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market.
Overall, DV ’23 provided valuable insights into how businesses can navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by the complex parameters of the world today.
Here Are 13 Eye-Opening Insights on Future-Proofing Your Business With CX, Privacy, and Generative AI:
A High-Quality First Party Data Foundation Is a Must Have
1. Data depreciation is disrupting marketing loyalty, and the impact is not just limited to cookie loss. Privacy regulations, walled gardens, browser and operating system restrictions, and consumer actions such as ad blockers and do not track requests are slowing down brands’ initiatives by preventing access to more data and cross-channel insights. The only viable path forward is to have a high-quality, clean, and unified first party data foundation off which privacy-forward customer experiences can be built (and AI also requires clean data.
2. Companies should take three quick actions to enhance their first party data foundation: build basic data literacy within the organization, gather their business users and analytics team to outline short, medium, and long-term data needs, and document technology for necessary data access, insights, and activation.
It’s All About Hyper-Personalization and Meeting Customers in the Moment
3. Marketing leaders must create strategies powered by data, analytics, and technology to enhance consumer moments, achieve short-term objectives and cultivate deeper value for the business. To do this, they need to real-time first party data insight and activations to improve ROI effectiveness, align with other departments, and focus on post-sale engagement. Without a tool that can support real-time data management, like Tealium’s Customer Data Platform (CDP), companies will continue to face challenges such as lag time between getting the data and being able to analyze it, data quality, speed of data production, and value buy-in on data analytics.
4. To build moments with customers, marketers must turn to first party data analytics and rethink how data should enhance their customer engagement strategy. They can start by inventorying different types of customer data sources, shifting to individualized personalization, using analytics to create value and fuel the customer experience, and aligning real-time customer data technology that can activate upon these insights to serve customers in each moment.
Customers are Keyed Into Privacy, So Transparency on Data Practices is Necessary
5. The future of personalization requires businesses to give customers the power to determine how their own personalization will work. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of what data is being collected about them and how it’s being used. There will be upcoming privacy regulations on how consent is managed, such as what communication channels can be used, and so transparency on how data is being used by companies will become increasingly important.
6. Businesses should have a clear and transparent message for anonymous users that puts the control in the hands of unknown web visitors. This is the first step in the new value exchange, where a company starts its request for data collection by being upfront that it won’t be taking it without consent and then giving the users a reason for providing the data.
7. For businesses that deal with sensitive customer data, HIPAA compliance is an absolute. But HIPAA compliance and targeted marketing are not mutually exclusive! A server-side implementation that allows the company to control data from the beginning, create a private client ID, integrate cookie consent and monitoring framework, and add URL cleansing logic and injection blocking can be used to protect customer data while simultaneously creating compliant customer experiences.
Customer Loyalty and Retention Requires True, Valuable Personalization in Real-time
8. Retaining current customers requires segmentation, cross-selling, and providing the bigger picture of the value being provided to the customer. Companies must build customer relationships through the use of digital tools and first-party data that will enable personalized engagement with customers in real-time.
9. Building customer loyalty requires managing vital moments with customers, becoming a purpose-driven brand, and obsessing about the customer experience. Digital and physical experiences need to be combined to create a seamless, hyper-personalized customer journey.
10. Another way to enhance the customer experience is to collect customer feedback and then not only use that feedback to improve the CX, but also let customers know their insights are being considered and put into action.
Embrace Generative AI, But Start Slowly
11. The use of generative AI should be guided by ethical considerations. Business leaders should use AI to try out new things on the periphery and find the opportunities that arise from trial and error (that isn’t in an area of critical business operations – yet).
12. Businesses should use AI to make employees’ jobs easier, more effective, and more efficient, and think of AI as more of an exoskeleton than a robot – if you tell an employee to jump, AI can be used to help them jump higher, not jump for them.
13. Efficiency plays are crucial for businesses. To future-proof their businesses, organizations need to invest in technology, focus on efficiency, and be open to new tools that can help multiply resources and increase the effectiveness of marketing impact. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help optimize media spend and increase marketing and operational efficiencies. Companies also need to be prepared for the future by building a team that is ready to adapt to changes in technology and customer preferences.
The on-demand recordings of Digital Velocity 2023: Future-Proof Your Business will be available in the coming weeks! These insights only scratch the surface of the incredibly valuable advice derived from our expert-led panels on tackling CX, privacy, and generative AI. You’ll want to save these seminars for the months (and even years) to come as we all work to navigate and thrive within an ever-changing world.
