Today in every industry publication you can see the headlines about the data. Data is a new oil and the source of all competitive advantages. They are vulnerable even under the protection of the GDPR. They are confidential, public and generally available.
But data – is not just a commodity, but modern DNA.
With their help we better know and understand other people, and we can help them. Thanks to these companies, they are getting closer to customers and potential customers. This is the main goal of marketing – both for a nearby store and an online service.
Success is achieved by brands that have revised their tasks and began to build meaningful and open relationships with customers. Not because they have more data, but because they analyze them more carefully.
If you want to build a business around clients, start by working out the strategy:
- How can you interact with customers directly?
- What can you offer in order to benefit?
- How can data help you and how much is it profitable?
- How will this change the attitude of clients and how will you be able to take a more personal approach to them?
To create the right strategy, you need to know everything about the customer experience of your customers. People do not share real life and the Internet, so collect this information in one portrait. Do they buy online or prefer to go to the store – watch them. If it is more convenient for them to search for a product on the site and buy in a store, then the sales system must combine both ways for an unhindered purchase.
To get to know your client better, to benefit him and cause positive emotions, after creating a strategy, follow the step-by-step data analysis plan.
1. Ensure that the data meets your needs
What business problems are you trying to solve? Who will use the data? How should this data be collected, filtered, validated and correlated?
2. Make a work plan
Any strategy concerning data should be based on the security of personal information and its responsible use.
Along with IT professionals, lawyers and employees working with confidentiality, work out a sustainable policy for the collection, processing and distribution of information. Never just collect it for the future.
If you do not have a plan and data collection policy, go back to the first step.
3. Check, filter and properly store data
Your goal is to make a complete picture of the buyer. In order to be able to correlate data with other dimensions, they must be accurate, stored in the right format without unnecessary information.
If errors occur, find out where they come from: you purchased unverified information, the customer made a typo, or just changed the email and phone number.
To find and solve such problems, ask your colleagues for help.
4. Create a single interaction card
To combine separate profiles, you need a reliable database – it must fully reflect the actions of customers in the network and in life through different devices and channels of interaction with the brand for a long time.
Then the data will work as a universal solution for complex situations. After you correlate the data on the map with other indicators: starting from the input data to segmentation through onboarding. And complement it, making your interaction with customers more reasonable, efficient and expedient.
It is important that customer data is transferred directly. End-to-end analytics is the key to the successful use of data.
5. Analyze the data
You may have terabytes of data, but this does not help you understand the customer better and benefit him.
Analyze them – in the process you may have new ideas. Do not forget to visualize the data: organize them and compose infographics.
Together with colleagues, correlate consumer data with external factors. This will help to find new opportunities for brand development.
6. Go beyond analysis
When you have established good contact with customers, thank them for this. They shared with you something of value, helped to better know them.
Now you can make their interaction with the company more pleasant. For example, use convenient channels of interaction, thank you with special offers or simplify the process of buying.
Do not expect that buyers will show loyalty immediately. Be an example for them – become loyal and loyal to your client.
7. Watch for changes
Buyers are constantly changing. Make sure that the information remains up-to-date – update the address, email, name or age.
Enter a point for regularly updating the data in your plan.
8. Optimize the processes and … repeat again
You have two ways: either to improve the consumer experience, or inevitably to suffer losses. In the process of brand development, the relationship with customers changes and your strategy changes. This cycle of development is continuous.
Regularly improve the process of direct interaction with customers.
Marketers see in the data great potential to more effectively solve problems and create a more meaningful and valuable consumer experience.
With the help of data analysis, we can make relations with customers more direct and open. We are able to understand customers and potential customers much deeper and bring them more value. We can assess what we have succeeded and what does not, and thereby constantly improve.
Image credit: Lukas