The amount of data available to marketers today is unparalleled and it’s growing fast. Thanks to connected technology like smart home devices and voice assistants, data quantity is expected to increase ten-fold by 2025. For savvy marketers, there are a wealth of new data sources that will make marketing hyper-personalised.
A new level of personalisation
Personalisation in marketing isn’t anything new, it’s become standard for most marketers to do in some form. However, basic personalisation is no longer enough. 31 per cent of consumers want a more personalised marketing experience and only 22 per cent are happy with the level of personalisation that they currently receive. Putting a first name on an email is no longer enough to stand out.
Increasingly, consumers expect tailored products, services and offers based on their previous interactions with a brand. If marketers can fulfil this, they will see a significant boost to their marketing effectiveness and bottom-line. There are many ways to personalise marketing and provide this desired experience, and data can inform everything from the initial marketing strategy to pricing and product development.
Customer acquisition and retention
Data provides marketers with detailed behavioural, socioeconomic and demographic insights to create messaging with pinpoint accuracy. Behavioural data based on web browsing history, interactions on social media and purchases can predict the likelihood of a customer returning. Similarly, this data can create ‘ideal customer’ groups that will tell a marketer if a prospect is likely to purchase and what communication will convince them.
Forecasting tools can predict the success rate of a campaign. In turn, this informs budget and KPIs (key performance indicators).
Predicting demand
Novel data sources, such as weather or traffic data, can be used to determine the demand for a certain product. The Weather Channel, for instance, is offering its climate data to help predict consumer buying behaviour and produce hyper-targeted ads. A pharmacy can promote sunscreen when sunny weather is expected, for example. It also helps ensure that nothing runs out when it’s likely to be in high demand.
Recommending products
Recommending related products to customers is a quick way to boost revenue and loyalty. Amazon is a great example of this in action, recommending products based on past purchases via its website and email. Spotify and Netflix also do this, changing their listings to fit a user’s preferred genre and suggesting related songs or shows.
Informing prices and promotions
Currently, 30% of pricing decisions fail to reach the optimum price. By using data, marketers can determine the best price point for each customer based on whether they have purchased before, their price elasticity and likelihood to buy. This maximises revenue whilst also ensuring they aren’t put off from purchasing. This has applications for new product pricing as well as promotions.
Customer service
Providing good customer service is key to retaining loyal customers. Data from support centres, live chat, calls and social media can be used to identify pain-points for customers. An organisation can address this, stopping customers from leaving because of bad service or product issues and negative mentions of a company can be quickly flagged and rectified. Meanwhile, positive feedback can be amplified as part of a marketing campaign, award or PR.
Social media listening
There is a glut of data available because of social media and marketers can sift through it to find valuable insights on reputation, for feedback and future-planning. B2B marketers can also use social media to discover new companies to target based on their existing network.
Samsung uses social media to determine the success of its product launches and social media data informs its marketing campaigns, allowing it to quickly tweak underperforming ads or to launch new campaigns based on competitor activity. When Huawei launched a phone and heavily promoted its slow-motion camera ability, Samsung rapidly responded with an altered marketing campaign that focussed on the same function.
Data is for everyone
There are many ways that data will create more personalised marketing. When marketers fail to use it, they sell themselves short. In a data-saturated age, all marketing campaigns should be underpinned with data. With applications across the full spectrum of marketing, data offers something for everyone, especially consumers, who are begging marketers for more personalisation.