From getting a clearer picture of your target market and improving customer communications to ramping up the bottom line, collecting information about your customers is just smart business. While you should know who your target market is before you even launch, both businesses and markets evolve. The population group that was once your target market may no longer be. Keeping a careful watch on the customer data will keep your brand on target and relevant to the folks who purchase from you. Whether you use customer relationship software (CRM) or Google Analytics, you can arm yourself with this data and utilize it to improve communications, focus on what your customers want and make more conversions.
Keeping Your Customers Happy
When you know all of the details of a customer, you’re better able to resolve issues and problem solve. There may be an issue with a product complain, missing shipment or terms of payment. These types of issues should be dealt with quickly and efficiently. It’s much easier to do this when you’ve got all of the customer’s details. Statistics have shown than 91 percent of dissatisfied customers will not do business with you again, but 70 percent will if you resolve the complaint.
Building Customer Loyalty
Tracking how and when your customers buy allows you to offer them reasons to come back. For example, if someone purchases gifts on special occasions or holidays, you can shoot them an email with a discount coupon before those times roll around. Points and loyalty cards are another ideal way to track your customers’ spending habits, while giving them a reason to return to your site. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, a loyal customer is worth 10 times more than their initial purchase.
Collecting Social Media Customer Data
When you collect social media data from your potential customers, you can then use it to get social and engage with them. Post about hot topics surrounding your product or service and even offer a coupon. Another goal here is to have them hopefully include your brand in a post or tweet. Plus, people are much more likely to buy from a brand that they follow on Facebook or Twitter.
Focusing the Marketing Campaign
Having a database with lots of customer details allows you to target them with relevant products or services and allows you to focus on which marketing media to deliver the message, whether it’s via email, press release, direct mail or social medial post. Collect all the information you can including, name, address, phone email, how many children they have and how they like their eggs cooked or coffee made. The more data you have, the more effectively you can target your marketing campaign.
Suggesting Recommendations for Purchase
Drive more sales by tracking your customers’ buying habits and making a recommendation about products that may interest them. Collect data about what items your viewers have looked at but didn’t purchase. Perhaps, they just need a gentle nudge to put it in their cart. When you have customer data, you can send a follow-up email about similar products, extra incentives to buy or suggest a new item that they didn’t know you carry.
Example of customer data
The bottom line with getting and using customer data is that you need to it. If you don’t, you’re opening the door for your competitor.
