For businesses to turn profit, it must churn out products and services that their customers will want enough to purchase. It’s not easy to get insight into the minds of customers – but it is possible to improve customer experience through leveraging information gained by implementing the right processes and focusing on the right points.
Gleanster and Yesmail Interactive conducted a survey that found that close to 80 percent of brands do not have sufficient data to launch an effective marketing campaign. The basic information can be easily accessed from numerous sources – but getting to know the customers well is harder than it has ever been. In order to increase conversion rates, one must have a clear understanding about who the customers are and what drives them. When a business makes the decision to put more effort towards better understanding their customers, they are following one of many marketing best practices for small businesses. This is a big step in the right direction.
Ready to make that step? Here are some ways to use customer data for a better customer experience and smarter marketing.
Leverage social media.
Everyone wants to know how to become the smartest Internet marketer out there, yet only 38 percent of marketers utilize data from social media that could help them better target their audience. Having a social media account is a must for businesses that can use it to interact with the current and prospective customers. Social networks provide insights into customer’s likes, habits, and what they are really buying. Customers often have complaints about a product or service and by resolving those issues through social media, business can learn more about customers’ likes and dislikes.
Leverage new technology.
Technology has progressing at an astounding rate over the last decade. From the smart phone boom has come entirely new communication channels like social media and huge businesses like Facebook. It’s these new channels that gives consumers more power over how they interact with brands and businesses more ways to communicate what makes them better than their competition. As businesses look for the next technology boom to leverage there’s one that stands alone as probably the most potentially impactful to people’s everyday lives. 3D technology has the potential of changing how people see and interact with the world around them.
3D and augmented reality technologies are making a big splash at every technology conference across the world and for good reason. The social and business implications of a completely immersive experience are mind blowing. Businesses went from understanding very little about their customers, beyond basic demographic and psycho-graphic profiles, to knowing who influences them and what their likes and dislikes are in just a few years. With these technologies people can interact with businesses in entirely new ways.
With brands brining more immersive experiences to their customers, the customer affinity becomes more tightly woven with the brand. This leads to better marketing and longer customer relationships.
New technology has always given us pause when consumers and businesses first started using them but over time they become part of our everyday lives. Society feels more comfortable with the human interaction with technology while business become more adept at leveraging it. While social media is today’s top connection point between consumers and brands, the future holds a much more connected experience with technologies like 3D and augmented reality. It will be up the businesses to be early adopters to come out ahead.
How do you get to know your customers better?
