Can marketers behave themselves online? As empowered customers traipse across the Web, they leave ever-juicier breadcrumbs of behavior in their wake. Will the government step in to limit what marketers are allowed to scoop up?
The debate over marketing personalization and advertising targeted to consumers’ behavior is hardly new… search results for “behavioral advertising” date back to at least 2003. However, a recent resurgence of criticism in Washington and in the media has revealed some interesting facts about what marketing personalization means for Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
The number of people embracing mobile social networking may reach 770 million by 2012, according to a report by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and AVG Technologies that examined social-community vulnerabilities. The figure is particularly compelling considering nearly 20% of respondents claimed to have been a victim of identity theft, and therefore understandably skeptical of the online flow of personal information. If the report’s projections are accurate, and the incidence of identity theft remains unchanged, then approximately 154 million people can expect to have their identities stolen by 2012.
Are the dangers THAT prevalent? A recent article in The New York Times suggested the possibility that Social Security numbers could be deduced by compiling and analyzing the standard biographical data posted by users of such popular services as Facebook and Twitter. But, so far, this type of powerful data mining, which relies on sophisticated statistical correlations, is mostly in the realm of university researches. Plus, companies like AVG Technologies, McAfee, and Symantec are continuously developing new methodologies and software to protect consumers from these risks.
Collected consumer information produces better customer response and reduces wasteful unwanted or uninvited mailings. The information helps increase the relevance of those messages: the data is analyzed, meaningful insights are extracted, and predictive modeling is developed to show what customers intend to buy or are satisfied with. An example of the benefits of these tools is a message that might remind a senior citizen to reorder medication that is about to run out or expire.
Yet, even the most beneficial application of personal data will not eliminate the need for consumers to remain vigilant about privacy. Always being mindful of what information you’re providing, how that information is being stored and protected, consumers must remain sensitive to the fact that there are some very advanced surveillance systems out there using algorithms to figure out things you wouldn’t expect could be figured out.
In mid-March, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held the last in a series of discussions consumer privacy. According to the FTC’s Web site, the meetings were meant to “explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data.” These practices include social networking, cloud computing, online behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, and the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses.
“The goal of the roundtables is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation,” the commission’s site says. Where this back-and-forth will end is anyone’s guess, but meanwhile, the flow of consumer data continues to accelerate.
About Wendi McGowan