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As a marketer, you will already collect and use a huge amount of customer data to deliver more relevant and personalized experiences. This data you use to deliver these experiences will often be tied - and also restricted - to any existing data you may have e.g. customer purchase history, demographics and preferences. While this particular type of data can generate valuable insights into your customer’s buying habits, wouldn’t it be great if you could understand more about them as an individual, if you could understand what they like outside of your store and what makes them tick?
Social data makes this possible. You only have to think of the information we all share with Facebook every day to realize how powerful capturing and understanding social data could be. We tell Facebook what we “Like”, how we’re feeling, what we’re doing, the songs we listen to and the apps we’re using. Of course, the personal information we share is down to individual discretion, but if customers do choose to engage with your brand, then the opportunity to use social data within your business is enormous.
Here’s why.
1: You can identify the trends that are affecting your customer, and your business
In today’s connected world, reacting to social trends is business savvy. Engaging with and analysing social trends can help businesses get an instant heads-up on the issues that their customers care about – the same issues that can impact your sales. Social data is the gateway to understanding the topics that your customers care about.
In just a few seconds, you can identify what your customers are talking about; the products they like, the events they’re interested in and places they’re ‘checking in’ to. Knowing this means you can adapt your marketing messages to be much more on-trend and relevant to your customer in the moment.
Example: You notice your customers are particularly active using the #InternationalCoffeeDay hashtag – and you quickly create a blog post on “what does your coffee say about your style?” – it goes viral!
2: You can actively build relationships
Social media is the perfect environment to reach out to your customers on a personal level. But, with existing tools, it’s nearly impossible to listen and engage with every customer, one-to-one. Too much social “noise” means you might miss the posts that matter – meaning you could lose a customer for life.
But using technology like SmartFocus means you can be notified when a customer is talking about your brand or your products. And advanced machine learning classifies their social post into three categories – positive sentiment, negative sentiment, purchase intent – so you can respond with the right message.
Example: Your customer posts on Twitter about needing to buy a suit for a wedding this weekend. Within minutes, you can respond with a link to this season’s trends, and offer to book an appointment at their local store. They book an appointment, and buy a suit just in time!
3: You can make the most of every customer interaction
Every time your customer visits your website, opens your email or walks into your store is an opportunity to engage – and to sell. Usually, you’re restricted to the type of data you can use – surely you can’t bring social data in store, or connect in-store purchases to an email?
But not only is it possible - it’s powerful. And it takes your customer’s experience to the next level. Empower your store assistants to understand what your customer is looking for, enable your website to react to their offline purchases and reach out to them when they walk past your store with personalized recommendations. This presents a seamless, connected brand experience. And relevant experiences foster loyal relationships, leading to long-term, engaged, happy customers – and higher customer lifetime values.
Example: Your customer walks into a store. Instantly, they receive a beacon notification through your app on their smartphone, providing them with recommendations based on their website purchases. They try on a few clothes and buy them later that evening on their tablet!
How to get started
The main barrier to achieving all of the above is not about access to technology. The biggest obstacle is mapping out your customer experience into individual elements, and understanding what data is available to improve it.
When looking at the data you have to hand, don’t forget to look at other data you have within your business that might not focus on your customer. Other areas of your business will have a great deal of information that, on the surface, seems quite basic – but when applied to a customer understanding, can be supremely valuable. From product data (like colors, sizes and other attributes), to stock availability, content and promotions, understanding what these elements mean to each other (and to customers) will add much needed depth to your brand experience.
What does the ultimate experience look like?
Share your favorite customer journey in the comments below – we’d love to hear about any brand experiences you think are super special!