Data is everywhere. Little 1’s and 0’s. It is being constantly created by users, devices and applications, some of it worthy but most of it probably worthless. But capture and use the worthy stuff right and it becomes the lever for some serious competitive advantage.
As consumers demand more personalised experiences, businesses of all sizes can use data to stand-out and enhance share of voice: it’s just a case of knowing what to collect and how to mould it into data-driven marketing campaigns using strategies like these:
1. Segmentation
We talked here about the value of segmentation. We looked at behavioural segmentation to group your database by loyalty: understanding purchase behaviours and value to you, so you can categorise the accounts as advocates, customers, prospects or suspects. But segmentation is a way more nuanced subject and includes:
- Demographic (age, gender, nationality, occupation etc)
- Geographic (location)
- Psychographic (emotional drivers such as personality, interests and beliefs)
- Firmographics - used more by B2B businesses (industry, revenues, no. of employees)
An IT reseller of cyber-security platforms may segment their market like this:
- Firmographic – 500-1000 employees, as they are less likely to have a specialised cyber security resource meaning they can sell more support services.
- Geographic – business based in North of England, they can serve that region and will be competing with fewer larger London resellers.
- Psychographic – they want to deal with organisations who invest in cyber security so will target those who are members of a relevant trade association.
Businesses will sell to more than one segment, and the tighter your segments the more laser-focused your campaigns, NPD, product launches etc. It is data that drives this, so capture and treat it well, you will be rewarded!
2. Retargeting
If you sell cross-channel then you really should be retargeting: positioning your products, ads and content across other channels after a web visit, social interaction or abandoned cart.
This keeps you top-of-mind and makes the consumer think again about moving on, or helps reinforce why they should buy from you. And of course, this is all data driven; tracking the movements across your website, recording which products were browsed, or which content was viewed and then interpreting that through marketing automations to re-present your brand.
HubSpot have a great resource about retargeting which also lifts the lid on it’s cousin, remarketing. Which segues nicely into our next strategy, retention.
3. Retention
Customer acquisition is futile if you can’t keep hold of the ones you have. Just think of the cost of sale to acquire new customers verses the cost of retaining a satisfied one, yep, it’s way more. Typically, it is good communication that retains a customer: being there for them, steering and guiding them through their lifecycle and ensuring the product is serving their needs. Maintaining a low churn rate is pretty crucial to growth.
For IT resellers or SaaS providers, it is essential to have an open dialogue with customers, enhancing the core value of your product so they understand it’s full capabilities. This is where data-driven retention communication becomes critical. Churn in this sector is often due to a customer not understanding the full capability of a product and thinking it can’t do what they need. Obviously, training can only go so far, so proactively requesting customer feedback helps bridge the gap and alerts you to customer issues that otherwise may fester, causing unnecessary frustration or a lost account.
Catch-all surveying will not yield the results, but clever use of data-powered surveys will. Surveys can be designed which automatically trigger to a subset of users when they perform certain actions or hit retention-related milestones in their lifecycle. This makes them more useful and helps uncover confidence-busting issues that can be nipped in the bud. And all it takes is some data and a nicely worded email.
4. Acquisition
Although we say retention trumps acquisition, acquisition is obviously still critical! And leaders in today’s environment respond to this by taking a wide-angle approach to data collection; using external data sources to identify demand spikes, customer migration intelligence, as well as spotlighting which customers are increasing their spend.
This fascinating insight from McKinsey, highlights some wonderful examples of clever data use. One use case showed how a business-services provider used third-party data to identify newly launched businesses at one-day old, contacting them immediately with products and messages tailored to the needs of newly formed companies, such as systems tools. Although contacting new businesses is not an earth-shattering revelation, it’s the pace at which it was done that resulting in an increase in sales productivity of more than 25%.
Turning your focus to customer data really is worth the effort, helping you create tighter, more successful marketing – making you less likely to proclaim the old marketing saying “I know half my budget doesn’t work, I just don’t know which half!”
To discuss data-driven marketing strategies, please get in touch, we’d love to have a chat with you!