While economic uncertainty remains a factor, brands face continued pressure to grow their customer base without sacrificing profitability. Traditional discounting may offer a quick boost, but it often leads to margin erosion and diminishing returns over time.
We sat down with Rebecca Grimes, Chief Revenue Officer, SheerID, to explore how brands can unlock the full potential of their existing data to deliver more strategic, loyalty-driving offers—without putting their margins at risk.
Q1: How should brands be thinking about their approach to special offers?
Rebecca Grimes: Even as consumers remain cautious, they’re still seeking meaningful connections with the brands they choose. Value-conscious shoppers don’t just respond to price—they respond to relevance and the connection that they feel to a brand. When offers feel personal and tied to who they are, not just what they want to buy, it creates a deeper emotional connection that inspires action.
This is why verified, audience-specific offers—like those for students or educators—often outperform generic promotions. These offers feel earned, not mass-produced. And that sense of recognition helps brands stand out, drive conversions, and protect their margins by avoiding over-discounting.
I believe that brands who lean in with purpose-driving marketing strategies are the ones who will continue to grow and thrive even during tough times.
Q2: What’s the key to creating a value exchange that encourages customers to share their data?
Rebecca Grimes: You have to go beyond the basics and make the exchange clear, authentic, and rewarding.
- Be Clear: Customers should immediately understand what they’ll receive in return—whether that’s exclusive pricing, tailored recommendations, or early product access.
- Be Authentic: Today’s consumers can tell when a brand’s actions align with their values—or when they’re just checking a box. Make sure your offers reflect a real commitment to the communities you’re trying to reach.
- Make It Easy: Don’t overcomplicate the process. Sharing information should feel quick and privacy-friendly.
- Deliver on the Promise: Use the data you collect to improve the customer experience. If you ask for information but don’t follow through with more personalized, valuable experiences, you risk losing trust.
Today, a simple 10% discount for an email address isn’t enough. Ask for the right data, explain the benefit clearly, and then show customers how that information leads to better experiences with your brand.
Q3: How does permissioned data enable smarter loyalty strategies?
Rebecca Grimes: Permissioned data—information that consumers intentionally and willingly share—allows brands to engage with them more authentically and precisely. It’s highly accurate and enables marketers to tailor offers that truly resonate.
Instead of defaulting to broad discounting strategies, brands can create targeted offers that feel meaningful to specific groups. For example, offering students exclusive access to products or pricing doesn’t just incentivize a purchase—it builds trust and loyalty over time. That’s how you keep margins strong while deepening customer relationships.
Q4: How can brands put these strategies into practice right now, even if their technical resources aren’t fully connected?
Rebecca Grimes: You don’t have to wait for a full technology overhaul to start seeing the benefits of permissioned data. We often tell brands: Just get started. Even manual data imports are a win while you build toward real-time integration.
Begin by creating a clear and compelling value exchange. Ask: What communities are most important to our business—students, seniors, educators, first responders—and how can we recognize and reward them in a meaningful way? Focus on simple, authentic campaigns that offer exclusive perks or access in exchange for verified data.
At the same time, use early results to demonstrate quick wins and gain buy-in across your organization. Showing how these audiences convert at higher rates, have higher AOV, purchase more frequently, and ultimately deliver stronger long-term value helps build momentum, even before the full data strategy is in place.
Q5: How can marketers use permissioned data to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), not just one-time purchases?
Rebecca Grimes: The real power of permissioned data is how it helps you move beyond transactional marketing and toward creating long-term relationships.
- Personalize at Scale: Understand your customers’ demographics, preferences, and life moments to offer product recommendations and exclusive experiences that truly matter to them.
- Engage Proactively: Use data insights to anticipate needs before they arise and maintain engagement between purchases. For example, offering tailored promotions to educators during key times of year creates moments that feel thoughtful, not opportunistic.
- Make Smarter Business Decisions: Feeding permissioned data into AI and analytics models helps brands predict future buying behavior and optimize marketing strategies for cross-sell, upsell, and retention.
When marketers lean into these strategies, they unlock stronger engagement, higher lifetime value, and ultimately, healthier margins.
Q6: What’s your advice to marketers trying to ‘do more with less’ this year?
Rebecca Grimes: Focus on doing more with what you already have. Winning brands aren’t spending more—they’re spending smarter and more purposefully.
Permissioned data is one of the most valuable assets a brand can have. It allows you to engage with purpose, design offers that matter to specific audiences—like Gen Z or healthcare professionals—and build loyalty that lasts.
We’ve seen time and again that when brands lean into purpose-driven marketing and recognize high-value audiences, they create stronger emotional connections. And that’s the kind of loyalty that sustains growth, even when budgets are tight.
Ready to protect margins and grow loyalty with smarter, verified offers? Discover how the SheerID Audience Data Platform helps you turn permissioned data into personalized experiences that drive lasting results.