Mariah Parsons hosts a podcast episode with Larry Kim, founder of customers.ai, discussing the importance of accurate website visitor identification. Larry reveals that current data sources, often used by website visitor ID companies, are only 5-30% accurate, leading to significant issues like low conversion rates and spam complaints. He emphasizes the need for brands to test the accuracy of their data providers and suggests strategies to improve email deliverability and brand reputation. Larry also highlights the legal requirements for email marketing, such as clear identification and opt-out mechanisms, to maintain compliance and trust with customers.

Episode Timestamps:

• Introduction to Retention Chronicles Podcast 0:00

• Mariah Parsons introduces the podcast, Retention Chronicles, focused on customer retention strategies for e-commerce marketers.

• She highlights the importance of post-purchase experience, noting that 84% of shoppers won't return if they have a bad shipping experience.

• Mariah emphasizes the role of transactional shipping emails and SMS in turning them into powerful marketing tools.

• She mentions Malomo as the podcast sponsor, which helps brands create branded order tracking pages to enhance customer experience and drive profits.

• Introduction of Larry Kim and His Background 2:53

• Mariah Parsons welcomes Larry Kim, founder and CEO of customers.ai, to the podcast.

• Larry shares his background, including his previous role as the founder and CEO of WordStream, a pay-per-click advertising platform acquired by Gannett in 2018.

• Larry attributes the growth of WordStream to search engine optimization, which brought in 3-4 million website visitors per month.

• He discusses the challenges and opportunities in the website visitor identification industry, emphasizing the need for accurate data.

• Challenges in Website Visitor Identification 4:10

• Larry explains the limitations of current website visitor identification technologies, which rely on low-quality data sources like publisher data and co-registration network data.

• He highlights the inaccuracy of these data sources, with accuracy rates ranging from 5% to 30%.

• Larry describes the efforts of customers.ai to build a new identity graph for person-level identification, aiming for higher accuracy rates.

• He shares the results of their study and case studies, which show significant improvements in data accuracy.

• Impact of Inaccurate Data on Brands 19:28

• Larry discusses the negative impact of inaccurate website visitor identification data on brands, including low conversion rates and spam complaints.

• He explains how brands can test the accuracy of their data by comparing known website visitors with the data provided by ID providers.

• Larry emphasizes the importance of using accurate data to avoid damaging brand reputation and email deliverability.

• He suggests strategies for brands to improve their data accuracy and mitigate the negative effects of inaccurate data.

• Legal and Ethical Considerations in Email Marketing 22:47

• Mariah and Larry discuss the legal and ethical considerations of email marketing, including the CAN-SPAM Act and the need for clear opt-out mechanisms.

• Larry explains the importance of transparency and disclosure in using marketing trackers and collecting data.

• He suggests strategies for brands to comply with regulations and maintain good email deliverability.

• Mariah highlights the role of transactional emails in maintaining customer trust and the importance of accurate data in these communications.

• Conclusion and Final Thoughts 27:26

• Mariah thanks Larry for sharing his insights and experiences on the podcast.

• She encourages listeners to subscribe to the podcast and follow them on social media.

• Mariah provides a final shout-out to Malomo, the podcast sponsor, and encourages brands to explore their order tracking platform.

• The episode concludes with a reminder of the importance of accurate data and effective customer retention strategies in e-commerce.