How do you use your company’s customer data?
There was a time when the greatest insight about a company’s customers could be obtained simply by asking them. The approach was relatively simple and straightforward; You hired a research company and explained what you wanted to know, often with the questions already ready.
In the early 2000s, major retail companies started using data to gain more insight into their customers through transaction patterns. Today, 2018, many B2C companies have become adept at building internal explanatory models of customer behavior and needs.
Good products and communication aren’t enough
At the same time, competition for consumers has increased. It is not enough to just offer good products and good communication anymore; It’s about being most relevant to the customers you want to reach in the channels they are in. The companies that today manage best to stay relevant to their customers are the ones who’ve created a data strategy that runs from management to operational level. Today, many businesses experience a gap here that makes in hard to maximise the value and usage of their data.
Data differs between different segments
At management level, sophisticated segmentation strategies are developed to reach set up goals, using a kind of data as a basis. But when it comes to market-specifics and campaign execution, the segmentation strategy can be difficult to implement on an operational level if you’re not using the same data currency on both operational and management level. A good way to close this gap and reach your set up goals is to implement a company wide data currency that combines internal data with external, such as the world’s largest segmentation tool Mosaic™.
Combined data is the best data
Combining data helps companies better understand what information is important when measuring customer needs and loyalty. The gap between strategy and execution will disappear and it will be easier to drive the same communication across all channels. Today, digital advertising space can be purchased according to segmentation strategy, but it requires a clear picture and understanding of the segments you want to reach and and how to reach them. Contact costs with customers may have fallen, but at the same time the price is high if communication style and target groups don’t match: a weakened brand. As consumers, we share information, but we also expect something in return: relevance and individual treatment.
Find your purpose – it’s profitable
If it used to be about who has the most data, today it’s about who has the best data. There is plenty of data out there, so it all comes down to creating a clear purpose and structure, as well as combining internal with external knowledge to better understand your customers. This is what makes some companies succeed better than others in todays marketing environment.
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– Markus Jürss / InsightOne
Read the original article in Swedish HERE
