The Internet and wireless devices have certainly opened new lines of strategic communication between brands and their customers, but marketers need to use these integrated marketing tools judiciously. Concerns over identify theft, in addition to the flood of surveys people receive, have made many gun-shy about providing too much personal information. The challenge is building a relationship with your customers without violating their sense of privacy. Here’s how to make your customer research a win-win for both brand and customer.

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1. Put the customer in charge. Customers feel they have control over the process when they are able to opt in to a program. “You need to let the customer tell you how much information they want to share, and let them tell you what the touch points will be in terms of communication,” says David Morrison, president of the young-adult marketing consultancy Twentysomething, which is based in Philadelphia. Though opt-in programs sometimes attract only a brand’s hardcore customer base, Morrison says, “as long as you understand what that sample represents and use it responsibly, it can pay significant dividends for the business.”

2. Keep it clear. Make sure your customers understand exactly what you plan to do with any information they provide. “You need to make the data as transparent as possible so they have a sense of what they’re opting into and what the limits and boundaries are,” says Lee Shupp, vice president of business strategy for Cheskin, a market research firm in Redwood Shores, Calif.

3. Be careful what you ask for. Identity theft has made the public wary about providing answers to what were once considered fairly innocent questions. “You can’t really ask people for their birthday or even their mother’s maiden name anymore, because people often use them as passwords,” says Lisa Skriloff, president of Multicultural Marketing Resources Inc. in New York.

4. Make it worth it. Gifts, coupons, and other incentives can greatly enhance customers’ willingness to provide insight into their lives and consumption habits. “We’re evolving to a world where people realize what their privacy is worth, and it’s becoming a transactional issue,” explains Shupp, noting that supermarket club cards are a great example of a program where customers willingly provide ongoing insight into their purchasing habits in exchange for saving money.

5. Expand your integrated marketing communications arsenal. Go where your customers are. Today that usually means the Internet or wireless devices. “Market research needs to be able to converge on new technologies,” Morrison says. “Especially cell phones, which are definitely the future for younger age groups.”

6. Show some sensitivity. The United States is rapidly becoming a true melting pot, but marketers still need to recognize that questions seemingly innocuous to one group might trigger an entirely different reaction in another. “A marketer may want to learn a consumer’s race in order to ensure they have a representative sample,” Skriloff says. “But remember, those type of questions do have a resonance with the ethnic markets.”

7. Patience is a virtue. Companies develop customer relationships. So wait until that bond is at its deepest before asking for personal information. “You want to be interacting with your customer for a while, so they can see that there’s value in the relationship,” Shupp explains. “Then you’ll be able get them to trade personal data for more information about your products.”

8. Make customers feel their input makes a difference. Shupp says Amazon.com does a great job of not only aggregating customer research but also letting customers know their purchase behavior can have an influence on others. “I let Amazon track the books I buy so that I can find out what people with the same tastes have purchased,” he says.

9. Ask around. There are some clever ways to gain understanding of a customer without asking direct questions. “If you talk to teens, many don’t know what their parents are making,” Morrison says. “But you can ask questions about what your family is driving and what neighborhood you live in. That can give you pretty much the same insight.”

10. Do it right the first time. If you meet or exceed consumer expectations the first time you ask for information, you’ll get a much better response to subsequent requests.

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