5 examples of data capture campaigns on the internet
Acquiring databases is essential for you to be able to launch a digital marketing campaign, get to know the client, and improve the activity of the company itself. Many brands use databases to work, but some still do not appreciate its importance nor do not know the methods they should use in order to attract new clients to complete and increase their lists of records.
The importance of data capture
A good database is a central axis on which any marketing campaign is built. Its creation, segmentation and maintenance can be the foundations on which any campaign can evolve to be better, get more sales, attract more public and be successful. The companies that work with databases know their usefulness and therefore invest time and money in their development and maintenance over time.
The database is the list of contacts and customers that a company has. Once a user has entered the database of a Company, he or she can be considered as a “member of the family”. For this reason, it is necessary to take care of them; pamper them and keep them informed and updated about everything happening within the company. Every registered user in a database should have the possibility to enjoy a series of advantages, such as:
- Access to information ahead of time of non-subscribed customers.
- Receive exclusive offers just for being customers.
- Access to discounts, promotions, offers and advantages when buying the business’ product that could not be obtained otherwise.
- Reception of regular communications about what is happening within the company, new products and services, changes in conditions and everything the customer’s subscription.
- Sending messages that avoid the customer’s escape to another business on the same industry, giving relevance to their presence in the database and making them feel important.
- Customized and close treatment in all communications, procedures, transactions and operations to be carried out.
But the advantages of having a well-constructed and developed database are not only for customers; companies also benefit from it since they can:
- Access confidential and close information provided by customers during their purchase and interaction processes with the company, and during the introduction of data for their registration in the database.
- Cost savings to keep customers close.
- Count on a series of customers that can stay loyal to the brand.
- Obtain a large group of individuals who will convert more easily than those who are not in the database.
- Customize and individualize the relation with the client.
- Track customers, users and suppliers over time.
- Optimize the company’s own campaigns and ways of working based on the data provided by the company.
How to capture customers for a database?
The process of data capture can be very varied. Many companies simply leave it to their clients to approach and provide their data. This is one of the usual practices of digital social media platforms that do not perform specific actions to attract the customer, but rather the client decides to become part of the community of the social media in question, giving up their data and becoming one more user. For this, the platform’s strategy is based on the already registered users.
Another method of database capture is to ask the client for information for a specific action, for example, downloading a whitepaper or an ebook. When downloading these online resources, the company obtains a first data that acts as an anchor to obtain more information in the future. These actions usually use e-mail, since it is easier to obtain the e-mail than a telephone number, a credit card number or the passport or identity card data of the users.
But the usual practice usually consists of a mixture of the two forms previously stated. Thus, companies tend to let users get close to the brand and then pose situations in which registration is essential to access.
5 effective ways of capturing databases on the internet
There are numerous ways to attract a customer to a database. We have defined these 5 practical examples of how databases can be captured:
1.- Download a document or own resource
The download of unique and own elements of websites is ideal for capturing databases of people interested in a specific topic. Thus, many companies take advantage and exploit the knowledge they treasure in the form of electronic books, ebooks, PDFs or whitepapers. The user who wants to access this information must pass a toll: provide their data.
An example of this type of capture is the download of guides focused on email marketing, landing pages or cross-channel marketing proposed by MDirector.
In the example above, MDirector offers a guide to start working with Email Marketing. It is a guide for rookies in this area. For that reason, next to the guide there is the information about its content, a brief text and some ideas about what the user who decides to download it will find in the document.
In this recruitment landing page, below the guide and on the right side of the page, a brief form is included in which the user must provide some data to access this product. These data are stored and can be used later by the brand to propose similar products or to invite the user to test their services.
2.- Voluntary user registration
Social media platforms such as Facebook do not execute campaigns specifically designed to capture databases. These platforms, once they have captured an interesting volume of users, are sufficient claim in themselves do not need to do anything special to attract users.
That is their main strategy: to be a resource that users find necessary to communicate with friends, family and acquaintances share their life experiences or show what they do. Thus, these users will access the service and provide their data by filling in the form shown in the image.
Later on, these platforms, especially Facebook, usually request more data to complete the registration. Among the usual data is:
- Studies and training.
- Relationship status.
- Other forms of contact, such as phone number.
- Interests, likes and hobbies.
All the information collected by social media is then available to users who decide to advertise in them, since through these data the public to whom the campaign arrive will be segmented.
3.- Campaigns to complete information
When a customer is already registered in a service, it is usual for the company to contact them later to request more information or to specify what kind of interests they have. This second phase of gathering information can be done in very different ways:
- Surveys, as in the example shown in GoDaddy. They allow the company to collect information on customer satisfaction, in addition to knowing which sections of the web are worth improving, what interests the customer has or on which topics they’d rather be informed about.
- Calls to action. Some social media, such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, often use a call-to-action button to invite users to complete their registration information. The messages used for this usually say something along the lines of “your profile is incomplete”.
- Complete an action. It may be enough to share the content, ask a question, write a comment or join the social media profile of the company so that the company can have more information about you.
4.- Incentive campaigns for inviting other users
Startups such as Dropbox have taken a great advantage of the recommendations that consist of invitations from current users to potential users who are friends of the first ones. These recommendations are usually accompanied by incentives or prizes for the one who invites, which is the current user.
In Dropbox, users get more storage space for each user they are able to attract to Dropbox and if those people complete the process of registration and installation. It is a simple process and for which the user has a specific need. If you need more storage space, you have the option of attracting new customers and thus obtaining additional free space for each of them, or simply buying more storage space.
This type of process is usually beneficial for the client, who gets the reward, and for the company, as they add new users and customers to its database.
5.- Expansion of services
In the same vein as gifts or incentives, the expansion of services offers the company the option to expand contact data. For example, Spotify does not have to know their user’s phone number, a data they can obtain if the user decides to download the Spotify App.
It is enough to offer a better service or a complementary one to the one you currently enjoy so that by downloading or expanding this service the user can provide them with more information.
