Anonymous users represent a major untapped audience for marketers and brands. However, marketers have difficulty engaging this cohort due to their anonymity. In this article, Sara Spivey, chief marketing officer, Braze, offers three tips to engage anonymous users effectively.
If I told you that you were ignoring four out of five of a key cohort of your valuable customers, you would probably disagree with me. But in 2021, 80% of anonymous users received no messages at all from brands, while marketers struggled to know what to say and how to say it to these unknown consumers. As brands look to phase out third-party cookies in favor of zero- and first-party data, they must get better acquainted with their anonymous users.Â
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Getting to know these “friends you haven’t met yet†needn’t be complicated. Here are my top three tips for anonymous user engagement.
1. Leverage First-party Data: You’ve Got This!
Changes to data privacy restrictions, both by private companies and through government regulations, have reshaped the data-collection landscape in recent years. This has decreased the utility and value of third-party data, pushing brands to leverage zero-party and first-party data to strengthen relationships through personalized customer engagement.Â
First-party data includes all information gathered with the user’s consent, including basics like their email address, along with things like purchase history. Zero-party data is the information that a customer proactively shares with a brand, such as updating a preference center to indicate their desired communication channels and the topics most of interest to her.
Many brands already have first-party data (e.g., favorited items, session data) that can better support messaging campaigns to engage anonymous users. While these consumers are not identified, their data trails can still yield valuable insight into what may be of interest to the anonymous cohort. This readily available data may be the most obvious place to start if you’re looking to deepen valuable anonymous relationships. So it’s no surprise to learn that 38% of surveyed brands are planning to put more emphasis on zero-party and first-party data collection methods in 2022, according to our CER survey resultsOpens a new window .Â
Analyzing your existing data will reveal the kinds of “high-value actions†that consumers take that indicate their interest just before they convert to registered (or paid) customers. One streaming service, for instance, triggers a login message when anonymous users take a content action to continue watching or add a show to a watch list. Alternatively, brands can “reverse engineer†this high-value consumer behavior with messaging that suggests those actions to anonymous users. Â
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2. Use Conversion Tactics That Draw Them In
It’s clear that successfully moving people from anonymous users to premium subscribers depends on marketing, data and product teams being able to understand those users and their behavior. These findings can then be used to power communications that support conversions and stronger brand relationships. The biggest challenge is getting anonymous users to willingly opt in to welcome emails and push messages, converting them into known contacts before they disappear forever. The key here is engagement — getting users to return to the app before they completely fall out of the funnel.Â
Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE), a popular tax software, is a great example of a team that successfully engaged anonymous users to convert them into paid subscribers. QBSE saw many of its users ending their first session before finishing the sign-up process, and getting people to sign up and opt-in to messages was a major hurdle. At this stage, users are effectively anonymous as they haven’t shared their email addresses or permitted push notifications. Luckily, Android and iOS give brands the option to message users who haven’t explicitly opted-in for a push. This functionality allowed QBSE to encourage anonymous users to return to the app to sign up for a free trial, moving them down the subscription lifecycle funnel. From there, QBSE launched dynamic messaging journeys highlighting valuable app features to encourage new users to complete their profiles and ultimately become paid subscribers.
3. Fish Where the Fish Are by Increasing Digital Touchpoints
If a customer chooses not to engage on one platform, they may still be open to hearing valuable messages in other ways. For example, a customer who is cautious about data tracking while online shopping may choose to checkout as a guest but still opt-in for push notifications that alert them when sales occur or a popular item is restocked. For example, one retail brand convinced first-time browsers to come back with easy web push opt-ins. These urgent alerts are great for flash sales or seasonal promotions. The ecommerce marketer sent web push-enabled notifications to 800,000 users and saw a 17.5% conversion rate. The campaign’s success hinged on the fact that customers didn’t have to provide email addresses right away. It’s a low-friction way to convert more users faster.
While expanding your digital touchpoints can allow you to engage with customers you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, it will also add another layer to an already deep pool of customer data. Thirty-two percent of brands surveyed ranked collecting, integrating and managing data as a top concern. In fact, three of the four top concerns for surveyed brands this year are all about how to effectively use the data they receive.Â
So, why go through all the trouble of learning more about anonymous users if your team is already overwhelmed with existing data? Look to your bottom line for the answer: a lack of engagement with this major category of active users can drive down overall results and cost millions in avoidable unrealized revenue. Engaging an anonymous user on just one channel increases their likelihood of buying by 5.3X and increases the likelihood of repeat purchase by 64%, according to the Braze CER findings. As unpredictable changes to data collection continue, anonymous users could become an even larger section of a brand’s customer base. Remember, making new friends takes effort and persistence, but it’s a worthwhile investment when considering a lifetime of value from a satisfied customer.
How are you engaging the cohort of anonymous users? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .