Uncovering what makes a great Preference Hub

In the UK Gambling Industry, the 1^st of May is rapidly approaching whereby new legislation requires that Operators of Online Gambling platforms must provide customers with options to opt-in to the product type they are interested in receiving, and the channels through which they wish to receive marketing. The aim is to protect & empower customers by giving them more control over the direct marketing they wish to receive and ensure they do not receive messaging that they do not want to receive – to achieve this, it’s imperative that you create a great Preference Hub.

Even if you don’t work in the iGaming industry, other competitive B2C verticals such as Retail, Finance & Telcos can all appreciate the absolute necessity to provide customers with the options they need to select which parts of your brand they want to hear from, and which contact mechanisms they are interested in being engaged by.

Sidenote: if you do work in iGaming, and your advanced product & channel preference grid is not yet live, it would be good to check on status to remain compliant.

Why Preference “Hub” and not Preference “Centre”?

The thing is, a great Preference Hub doesn’t just empower users with clear, granular control over their data and communication preferences, it should delight them – it is a touchpoint, an opportunity for you to show your customers how seriously you take their online presence, and how you act collaboratively with them to ensure they can enjoy a safe, personalized and relevant experience while adhering to data privacy or compliance regulations. This is why we call it a Preference Hub, not a Centre. Its so, so much more than a transactional experience for the modern privacy-savvy customer, and a page they may revisit may times during their lifetime as a customer of yours.

Planning your Preference Hub

Here’s a quick breakdown of what elements makes your preference hub work well, based on what we’ve seen, and who we’ve already helped on this journey:

User-Friendly Design:

The Preference Hub should be intuitive easy to navigate and understand, with clear options and transparently worded descriptions. Major brands (meta anyone?) have stumbled with issuing their customers complex to the point of being impenetrable grids of dozens of tick boxes that you’d need a degree in data science to get to the bottom of. All the better to confuse them with sometimes feels like the design methodology.

Customizable Options:

Users should be able to choose the content they want to receive, the channels they prefer (email, SMS, push notifications), and how frequently they want to be contacted. The frequency should ideally be tailored by channel also, e.g. twice per week on email, once per day on SMS.

Data Privacy Compliance:

Ensure compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR by providing users with granular control over data processing activities, all the while explaining in clear terms why you need the data you are asking for to be able to provide them with the service they expect.

Opt-Down, Not Just Opt-Out:

A newer variant of Preference that is gaining in popularity is the Opt-Down. Consider than offering your users the option to receive fewer messages per channel or product before completely unsubscribing, or even offering a holiday from the brand for a fixed period of time. If you love something, set it free, if it comes back, it was meant to be. Believe in your brand, and have the courage to let your customers decide for themselves.

Universal Unsubscribe:

Above all, and not to be buried in tiny fonts that have customers reaching for their spectacles, Include a clear and easy-to-find option to unsubscribe from all communications. By all means an “are you sure” prompt with a CTA for the above opt-down holiday, but it needs to be there, and future compliance legislation will only enforce this with greater and greater clarity.

Building your Preference Hub

There are of course, many different technologies on the market that allow you to construct a Preference Hub that is a brand representative, positive, even enjoyable experience for Customers. If needed, we can even tell you which ones would suit you best, but the reality is you very likely have all the elements already within your business, and being paid for in the form of ongoing SaaS subscriptions. They just aren’t being used to the right effect.

Designing and implementing a Preference Hub that is satisfies both GDPR and industry regulatory compliance is not as simple as creating a form in an afternoon. That is the literal tip of the iceberg which is the two-way data routing needed to ensure preferences are routed around your business, seamlessly connecting up your eCommerce, website, advertising, social media, direct marketing, point of sale, to name just a few obvious ones (and trust us, there are more).

If you’d like to have a conversation today about how we can help you create a preference experience that protects both your bottom line and customers while improving loyalty, retention and LTV, why not get in touch with us today.

Your DPO might thank you…