We learned a lot in 2018 about what businesses may have thought were good practices but turned out to be exactly the opposite. That’s right, we’re talking about data collection.
We all saw the explosion that took place with Facebook and the negative impacts of storing endless data and information about clients. Marriott also found themselves with a huge data breach, revealing that everything from names to addresses to even passport numbers was all being stored by the company.
This used to be very common, businesses expanding how much content they were recording, collecting, and how it could be leveraged to help themselves and others like them. In some cases, it was just a practice they hadn’t thought much about but for others, it was a way to make more money.
In 2019, that’s not the case. Businesses have seen loud and clear that people need privacy and they want to know that their information isn’t being tracked. Knowing that Alexa by Amazon is recording or that your google search history is turning into ads on other sites has left people uncomfortable.
How do we bring this into marketing? Promote safety, privacy, and honesty. Let your customers know exactly what information you need to store and what you are never going to hold on to. They want to know that you’re not giving away their information, knowingly or unknowingly.
Make sure you have permission to use people’s feedback, photos, or reviews. Get permission to add them to your email lists. Don’t just assume you have the right to the information of your customers, make sure everything you do is not only legal but ethical.
Sources:
