After years of researching hundreds of consent statements, we now know what factors most influence consent.
Major charity, financial, retail and insurance brands have tested their consent statements using fastmap’s Consent Optimising Benchmarks concocting every conceivable statement structure. fastmap have diligently recorded the absolute level of consent by channel and ascertained why consent was given.
Whilst there are an abundance of factors that can be changed in permission statements, this article highlights the three most important for your consent marketing campaigns. We refer to these as the Three Pillars of Consent.
Pillar 1: Opt in Opt out
The debate many clients have is whether to go all opt in, all opt out or to incorporate both in their consent statements.
Opt out results in more consent, but post-GDPR opt in wording that requires a clear, affirmative action is advised. Our clients (particularly those close to the finance director or MD) are anxiously and conscientiously planning for a day when opt in is mandatory. Perhaps you are aware of organisations which have made the transition to opt in such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). fastmap have worked with the RNLI using quantitative research to develop their consent statements. Part of their journey and the impact of moving to opt in can be seen in our 11 Steps to Consent Guide. Where do you stand on the opt-in opt-out debate?
Pillar 2: Language
Concealed within the concept of consent are key attributes (including trust, clarity and control) that influence whether consent is given. The language and prioritisation of these competing qualities significantly affects consent. Impatient consumers have a consent attention-span of a few short seconds so the selection, order and placement of every word and comma really matters.
Staying compliant is often the focus of guidelines as the GDPR consent requirements get closer. Post-GDPR opt in wording can make or break your marketing strategy, will you be offering positive reasons why a prospect should consent to your marketing rather than your competitors?
Pillar 3: Structure
It is particularly difficult to gain consent for some channels such as telephone, so the order, combination and prioritisation of choices and channels will influence the outcome. Granular consent is another factor to be considered; i.e. splitting type of communication by channel.
Brands should prioritise communication channels that they consider most important. For example if your marketing programme can only survive through telephone communications then optimising this channel is vital.
Why the three pillars revelation is important
Direct marketers, when testing; try to limit the variables so it is clear which one caused the result. Our analysts have now built benchmark scores for statements of differing types so brands can now compare the performance of their own statements with similar statements. They might for example choose to keep two pillars consistent; e.g. opt in and structure, but change language.
By David Cole, Managing Director, fastmap
For further tips and insight around consent read about:
- What makes consent an ‘elevator pitch’ – fastmap.com/elevator
- How consent can be about quality, not quantity – fastmap.com/types
Understand more about the Consent Optimising Benchmarks at www.fastmap.com/consent
If you have any questions about opt in opt out GDPR consent requirements or want to talk it through face-to-face call David Cole or ask for a member of the fastmap account team on 020 7242 0702; email david.cole@fastmap.com
