DATA RIGHT When making a video, many get bogged down in its creative. It’s important certainly, but for personalized video, most of the magic is driven by technology and data. You can never be too security conscious Personalization may include personalized customer information housed in your customer records or CRM. In an era of data breaches and personally identifiable information (PII) laws, no doubt you go to great lengths to safeguard your clients’ information. Depending on your industry (healthcare or finance, for example), there may be significant sensitivity around parts, or all, of your customers’ personal data. If your vendor is handling PII, make sure all processing happens behind your company firewall for the best security. However, just as often, personalization comes from real-time interaction (with a calculator, product selector, chatbot or interactive questions). Customer information is being used to personalize the video, but the information is not generally identifiable with an individual. In this case, no personal data is recorded. This can be an attractive alternative to personalizing a video from actual customer data. However, in cases where it is to your advantage to use personalized customer data, does the vendor require you to share your customer data with them? Can they install their software within your IT environment to avoid any sharing of personalized customer information? How does your prospective vendor handle client data and personal information? What companies are on their existing client roster – are they reputable, of varying size, and from within your industry? Does the technology platform you’re evaluating have options to deliver personalized video without having to record or process PII/client data? Is it a cloud-based solution? If you don’t know the vendor’s data security and risk management procedures, be sure to ask. Interactivity = personalization plus! Personalized video based on what you already know about your customer is great. It makes your content more relevant, and the client experience more memorable. But adding an interactive component is even more compelling. This approach allows you to learn more about each customer through every interaction, and creates real-time personalization based on what has been learned. As your customer moves through your interactive video, they can respond to questions or make choices based on their preferences and personal situation. Real-time personalization takes each of those responses and continues to tailor their experience. It makes the conversation more intimate, more relevant, even more memorable. Interactivity allows you to gather aggregate data incrementally as visitors engage with the personalized video experience, further deepening your customer knowledge. Moreover, you can acquire more accurate information from your customers in this environment because they often feel that interacting with the video is a data exchange on their own terms, for their own benefit. In other words, if the video tailors their experience, outcome, product or recommendation specifically for them, it’s worth it to them to provide more truthful information about themselves. Does the vendor or technology you are evaluating offer interactivity and real-time personalization?