There can be many different ways to achieve customer success; a combination of strategies designed to attract, retain and grow a customer base.
Customer experience is predicted to overtake price as a decisive factor in consumer purchasing decisions by 2020 (Walker Research: Customer 2020 Report). Companies who succeed will use intelligent marketing centred on knowing, engaging and personalising your customer approach.
However without good data and analytics, this will be impossible. Data is the basis for improved experience and engagement. Marketers will need to understand how to turn data into valuable insight.
The demands of a digital world create more online (and offline) noise for consumers. Communications must be customer-centred to cut through. The goal is to encourage dialogue and relationship building between customers and your brand.
Outbound activity should be informed by consumer behaviour. Learn more about their lifestyle and what they like, and use the knowledge to create relevant and engaging messaging. It is essential to use behavioural data to gain a fuller picture of your audience, instead of solely demographic information.
It is essential to use behavioural data to gain a fuller picture of your audience, instead of solely demographic information.
Netflix are keenly aware of this, as Todd Yellin, VP of Product Innovation said in an interview:
“It really doesn’t matter if you are a 60-year-old woman or a 20-year-old man because a 20-year-old man can watch Say Yes To The Dress and a 60-year-old woman could watch Hellboy.”
So as well as developing customer personas to understand who your ideal customer is, it’s also necessary to understand what drives customers to act.
Once you understand customer motives you can more easily segment website visitors, communications and mailings. Then, by creating personalised messages that invoke action, the right message will reach the right customers.
Personalisation is important; the 2017 State of Marketing report from Salesforce states that customers are 52% more likely to switch brands if communications lack personalisation.
Each and every touch point should be analysed for greater understanding. You’ll gain new insight into how and when people engage, and on what channels. This will provide greater opportunities for targeting similar promotions. Data is more than collecting information, but monitoring it and acting upon your discoveries.
Data is more than collecting information, but monitoring it and acting upon your discoveries.
Finally, the goal is to anticipate the needs of your audience. Rather than looking historically, embedding a strong data ethic in your activity will enable you to look forward. Using a proactive approach will enable you to optimise customer value.
There are a growing number of studies that show the benefits of data-driven marketing and analytics. Key findings from a Sloan Review report this year include:
• More than half (59%) of managers say that using data analytics is helping their business to gain competitive advantage
• Analytics are increasingly being used to drive customer engagement; with stronger engagement from data-mature companies
• The longer the history of data analytics, the higher the number of data sources used to engage customers
Organisations that embrace data strategies are able to use insight for the most gain. This increases further if you can integrate on and offline data, to create a holistic customer view. Overall, data analytics help to drive customer engagement by:
1. Ensuring relevancy in all offers and communications, as you have data to back up your findings from test and live campaigns.
2. Enabling your brand to act fast; reacting to consumer behaviour and market trends to deliver at the right time.
3. Building trust with customers. Better data protection measures (including GDPR) will enable greater consumer control. This helps you to deliver messaging to the right place, i.e. as stated by the customer’s communication preferences.
By using insight to improve your connection with customers, you can turn data into bottom line advantage.
This article is an abridged version of Using Data to Drive Customer Engagement. Read the full version here.
Relativity Intelligent Marketing help businesses to identify and connect with their most valuable customers, through data management, customer strategies and analytics.