Reaching The New Benchmark In Customer Expectations
Digital transformation has created a huge shift in customer expectations. Today’s customers require a seamless , intuitive experience across channels, transparent product information and pricing, real-time contextual solutions and high relevance, personal experiences.
To achieve this step change in capabilities, most companies fall into one of two categories. They either require stronger insights into the behaviours, needs and journeys of their customers or to harness that data more effectively (especially in terms of data aggregation and analysis) . Either way, customer data sits at the core.
Data Driven Customer Insights
Data driven customer insights are helping companies change their approach to customers in many ways, such as improving a product or service, identifying the optimum channels and journeys for customers and tailoring propositions. Here we’re specifically addressing the importance for improving relevance for customers, so using a strong understanding of customers to deliver exceptional, personalized experiences.
Some of the brands demonstrating the way forward are of course internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. Google built its success on algorithms that deliver the most relevant search results whilst Facebook draws in billions of dollars in ad revenue by leveraging customer data to provide highly targeted opportunities for its advertisers. In retail, eBay uses data to predict future customer needs eg. a shopper buying items for a newborn then gets targeted 12 months later with clothes and toys for their 1-year-old.
Skyrocketing Opportunities To Capture Insights
New technologies are capturing unprecedented amounts of real time data, enabling brands to understand and predict customer behaviour at a speed, scale and level of sophistication beyond any marketers dreams just a few years ago.
From point of sale information, digital transactions, sensors, beacons for location data, social media insights, mobile apps and more, these insights provide the springboard to deliver much more personalized customer journeys and experiences.
Image Source : indatalabs.com
And this potential is set to grow exponentially. In ‘Role Of Internet Of Things For Individualization In Retail’ we highlighted a prediction from Cisco that 500 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2025 due to the Internet of Things (IoT), compared to approx 10 billion currently. All of those devices will be capable of capturing insights.
Insights Are A Critical Stepping Stone, Not An End Game
Having highlighted the importance of better customer insights to achieve greater relevance, a word of caution. Too much focus on customer data can become a trap. A mindset that says ‘once we have a single customer view we’re all set’, is misguided. Successfully delivering more relevant, personal customer experiences requires companies to address a number of key priorities including how to use their content more effectively, breaking down internal silos to focus on the customer and more. For example, eConsultancy’s New Marketing Reality report found over a third (37%) of respondents said that the customer journey is owned by a mixture of different departments and nearly a fifth (19%) said no-one has responsibility.
Companies that take a balanced approach across these priorities and adopt a ‘test and fail’ philosophy are delivering results faster than those attempting to create the ideal build blocks, starting with customer data, one at a time.
To learn more about Knexus and how our technology combines smarter customer insights with social and marketing content to provide the most relevant customer experiences, request a demo.
