Eloqua users have all the tools they need to execute their content strategy by designing, building, and delivering an exceptional subscription CX to their audience.
Combining Email Groups, Eloqua forms & landing pages, and personalisation will deliver the best possible outcomes.
What you need to know
- There are multiple names applied to what we call a “Subscription & Preference Centre”. For clarity, as you read this blog post, Subscriptions and Preferences are not the same thing.
- When you choose to create or re-design your Subscription & Preference Centre, you need to think through the user experience. Storyboard or map the anticipated user experience so you can configure Eloqua to suit.
- This is not a complicated process, despite what some may have told you. With a clear strategy and an understanding of the user experience you need/want to deliver, Eloqua can be configured to suit just about anything.
Access our expertise to speed your campaign build time
If you’d like help with any of the aspects covered in this blog post, please get in touch with Marketing Cube Support or email Derek directly.
Privacy reforms in many markets: Turning compliance into a competitive edge
For most organisations we work with, few are playing in a single market. Their audiences span national borders and continents.
This requires marketers to be aware of the legislative requirements imposed on them by various jurisdictions. You should be leaning on your legal team for direction to ensure compliance.
The good news is that Eloqua is well placed to support your requirements. You may require double opt-in, and you may require opt-in data to be recorded and held securely for 7+ years.
If you have any questions or specific needs that you’re unsure how to do in Eloqua, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a good benchmark for you to work towards
As we work with clients across multiple geographies, we frequently see a similar outcome.
Many organisations, both inside and outside the EU, will choose the GDPR as their global privacy framework. Essentially, if they’re required to comply with the GDPR because they have an EU audience, it makes sense to do so as a global standard.
Eloqua can manage different privacy requirements across various jurisdictions if needed.
The key message for you is that Eloqua has you covered and Marketing Cube can help you with the configuration.
These are just some of the various privacy acts marketers must navigate as they engage with a global audience
In May 2018, the EU established the GDPR, which some expected to cause chaos. Seven years later and the world is still turning and marketers are still marketing.
The GDPR is often referred to as the “grand-daddy” of privacy legislation, and in many cases, if you configure your marketing automation to be GDPR-compliant, you can almost guarantee compliance in most jurisdictions.
You should always obtain legal counsel to confirm your system configuration.
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation
Privacy Act
Australian Privacy Act, federal legislation
CCPA
California Consumer Privacy Act
VCDPA
Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act
You!
Discover how our Marketing Automation agency services can help you deliver an exceptional CX
The team at Marketing Cube has been supporting marketing automation customers since 2007. We’ve provided agency services and traditional application support for close to 100 customers across a wide range of industries & geographies.
If you’ve been using marketing automation for some time and are looking for agency services, such as strategic services, end-user coaching/training, campaign support, and more, contact us today to discuss how we can help you.
What is the experience you’re trying to deliver?
We covered this in more detail during the webinar. The key consideration is the user experience (UX) you want to deliver to your audience. The UX will be determined based on how they reach your “Subscription & Preference Centre”.
How do they get there?
- They will click on a link in the footer of your email. At this point, they generally intend to unsubscribe globally or opt out. i.e. It’s game over, they never want to hear from you again.
- A person has clicked your well-placed invitation to subscribe, either on the website or via a social platform. At this stage, the person typically intends to exchange their details for access to your content. It’s a positive experience, or what we like to call a fair and equitable exchange of information. They provide their name, email address, perhaps their company name, and in exchange, you provide them content.
Having a clear, documented strategy in place will make your Preference & Subscription Centre build process much easier
I spoke with an Oracle Eloqua client after this episode; they had some specific questions about preference centres.
What was interesting in that conversation was the feeling that it was just too complex to attempt, but at the same time, they knew it had to be done.
As a large multinational with 80+ Eloqua users worldwide, centralising the CX and the Eloqua User experience was the goal.
They were another example of a multinational that has decided to make GDPR their global privacy benchmark.
Subscriptions? Preferences? Interests?
This is covered in more detail in the webinar. In a nutshell, “subscriptions” are Email Groups. “Preferences” are typically Contact fields or, in some cases, Custom Object fields. Using a Custom Object is generally a better approach for preference management.
Opt-in, Subscribed, Globally Subscribed – what does it all mean?
The use of various terms, phrases, etc, can cause confusion. The following attempts to provide clarity around Eloqua functional features and common phrases or terms.
- Globally Subscribed
- Once a contact enters Eloqua, they are “globally subscribed” by default. I prefer the term “opted-in” to “globally subscribed”. This means you have sufficient business processes in place that you can prove that a person has met the minimum legal requirement, allowing you to market to them.
- In other words, this person has “opted-in” to hearing from your brand as a whole. Not a single newsletter or a single webinar. Work with your legal team to ensure the “opt-in” language is clear about what people are opting in to.
- Globally Unsubscribed
- This one is pretty clear. Eloqua flags the contact as “globally unsubscribed”. Regardless of how many segments and campaigns you add this person to, Eloqua will not send an email. I refer to this group as “opted-out”.
- Email Groups
- Email groups can serve many functions. The key functionality Email Group provide for users is that they robustly manage subscriptions for a specific topic at a level below “opt-in” or “globally subscribed”.
- FOR EXAMPLE, the person who clicks “unsubscribe” in your email footer and reaches a “subscription centre” can be presented with the option to unsubscribe from a single email group rather than opting out altogether.
Know your buyer, ask the right questions & then tailor the CX
In our June 2023 blog post, Unleashing Success: Ideal Client Profile for Lead Gen, Nurturing & MQL’s we talked about various types of data you can apply to a person. We expanded on demographic, psychographic and firmographic data.
The questions you ask for each of these and the answers you obtain will differ significantly. In the context of a preference and subscription centre, the types of questions you ask can go a long way towards helping you map responses to personas.
In turn, you’ll be better positioned to align your content strategy with personas. During this month’s episode, we revisited these three data types after I found a blog post from Hotjar/ContentSquare. You can read their blog post here: Psychographics and personas: how to get to the truth about why people buy is worth your time.
The blog post is geared more towards your colleagues in market research. However, they make some great points about how to ask questions. You will be asking questions via a form, and you want the responses to help you match a person to a persona.
Try this for your next Eloqua form…
Move beyond the basic profile questions. Ask questions that help you understand where a person is in their buyer journey. Avoid free-text responses like the plague. One effective alternative I’ve seen work well is to present statements and ask people to select the statement that best matches them.
You may find these two past episodes of the Eloqua User Group helpful
Unleashing Success: Ideal Client Profile for Lead Gen, Nurturing & MQL’s
The “lead nurture campaign” is one of the key objectives for marketing automation users. A critical part of the process is to know your audience or more specifically, have a clear idea about your buyer. June Eloqua User Group Webinar | Episode 1 3 part series | Lead generation, capture & nurturing Click here to access […]
Listen to what people want & deliver on their preferences
While this webinar is primarily designed for Oracle Eloqua clients, the fundamentals covered, apply to all email marketers. Put your audience at the heart of your campaigns.
Manage your preferences
& subscriptions
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