According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report, 89% of customers are more loyal to companies they trust and 65% have stopped buying from companies that did something they consider distrustful.
Needless to say, for marketers, building trust is key.
A big part of our work at Salesforce is to help businesses reach customers with effective marketing — especially in light of growing demand for features and services built on real-time personalization.
By diving deep into the first-hand challenges we’ve seen businesses navigate, and the data behind strong customer relationships, our teams discovered that transparency and accountability are critical tenets of building trust for brands..
What’s data got to do with it?
Information — about people, trends, and connections — is the foundation for customer relationships that build stronger and more engaged businesses. And, today’s technology makes it easier than ever for companies to solicit this data.
In fact, Salesforce’s 7th State of Marketing report shows that 78% of high performers say they use a customer data platform (CDP). That’s compared to just 58% of underperformers.
But to protect customers and build trust, data-driven personalization needs clear and transparent guardrails for data use and storage. What makes those safety and privacy features successful is an ever-evolving question, but we’ve identified some established ways to build trust, including:
- Making sure that people know what data is being collected, when, and any options they have to opt out.
- Providing publicly-available insights into the steps taken to secure and manage data.
- Delivering well-targeted personalization so that the data collected translates to real value for the consumer.
Each of these steps puts the focus on human privacy, dignity, and agency, while also improving a marketer’s ability to reach customers where they are.
Of course, this kind of trust-centered innovation is not new. Take the internet security industry as an example. Thirty years ago, there were no standard security reviews or requirements for tech products. Now, red-teaming is the norm and you can’t ship a product without first testing for security issues.
The challenge is moving from unknown waters to an industry standard.
Building trust requires an intentional strategy
It’s clear that bringing users into the process of defining how businesses use their data is crucial for maintaining the trust that influences consumer decisions. With privacy, brand reputation, and the bottom line all at stake, a proactive plan is the best way to reach the goal of being transparent and accountable with data.
Transparency, achieved by actively making consumers aware of how data is sourced, evaluated, and protected, builds trust in a company’s efforts. Accountability, which can include inviting feedback and enforcing ethical guidelines, gives customers confidence in a company’s commitment to being even better tomorrow.
Salesforce Interaction Studio empowers marketers to build trust
Salesforce is no stranger to the power and perils of data-centered marketing. Our 1-1 engagement product, Interaction Studio, is designed to leverage information while empowering marketers to product their customers.
The Interaction Studio Marketer’s Guide to the Ethical Use of Data is one of a series of resources designed to empower Salesforce customers, partners, and community members with the information they need to stand out as organizations their customers can count on. By working together to take tech further — without leaving ethics behind — we can create a world where trusted enterprise isn’t just possible, but the standard.
Navigating the complex world of technology, ethics, and trust isn’t always easy, but proactive guardrails and information sharing mean that marketers don’t have to do it alone. Join us on our journey to build trust in what businesses can accomplish — together.
More information
- Download the Interaction Studio Marketer’s Guide to the Ethical Use of Data here.
