Building the Right Technology Partnership

At the core of every business is its reputation. It’s more than just establishing a good name for delivery of goods and services. It’s also about being known for information safety and security.  

Customers seek brands they can trust with their personal information and data. In this era of digital technology and the growing ease with which hackers are infiltrating data from businesses, brand security is vital. 

The goal is to protect against negative impact throughout the marketing funnel that affects consumer trust. Creating calculated technology partnerships builds a strong foundation for trust in the way your digital assets are used and not abused. 

Choosing the right partner

Secure technology partners prevent the occurrence of ‘malvertising’. Hackers use ads as a contact point to spread malware and viruses into the computers of your customers or to obtain vital personal information.  

The most expensive price paid by a brand in recent times was British Airways. Their customer data was infiltrated, including personal information like bank account details, and the airline was fined £183.4 million by the ICO. That hefty sum landed quite a blow on British Airways’ finances and reputation. Imagine what a breach like that would do to a startup business? 

Reputable technology partners are important to set standards within a business and to set up an environment for trust between a business and its customers.  Choose a partner that:  

• Provides adequate maintenance and support for your brand and its troubleshooting.  
• Covers current needs and requirements that adhere to existing laws and regulations.  
• Accommodates and offers a variety of features, even those that your business may not need at the moment. Foresight here is key.  
• Is up to date with platform improvements and new features.  
• Is run by a reliable organisation, not individual(s).  
• Is committed to scaling and growing your business over a long-term period. 

Non-intrusive advertising

Developing a process without intrusive advertising further reinforces the security of your business. Consumers have adapted to blocking pop-up ads and banners on websites; many exit out of the page entirely when their access to the desired information is obstructed.  

Rather than push for instant and immediate audience qualification, create opportunities for engagement and qualification that is tailored towards a well-targeted audience. Focus on advertising that is subtle in its messaging, but no less powerful. 

Testing and retesting

Testing your campaigns is always vital to ensuring success. As with any part of a business, testing and retesting a campaign as you preview it ensures the message and execution run as smoothly as possible when launched.  

It also prevents any potential loopholes or entry points for hackers to gain control over your campaign or to siphon valuable user information. 

A/B testing is great for creating clearly defined metrics for messaging and campaign strategies to work best. The standard measurements done with A/B testing include click-through and conversion rates that can be emulated with your technology partner. Focus on: 

• Creating metrics that allow you to understand which technology partner results in data security and customer trust.  
• Testing these metrics once your initial testing phase is complete to ensure that all data is captured accurately and your personalisation fields are correctly filled.  
• Deploying test emails and landing pages to understand layout across browsers both on web and mobile apps.  

Build a continuous customer experience

Adjust your content and campaign model to integrate the concept of continuous experience. Consumers are moving away from seeking isolated information and services from brands; they look for experiences and relationships.  

Establishing a strong engagement cycle with your customers creates a foundation of trust in your brand. A trust which in turn should be reinforced with the right technology partners backing your business and ensuring the safety and security of consumer interactions with your brand.