Data is a key component in the success of any business – - but it’s not enough to simply acquire and have a mass of data. In order to use data in the right way, businesses must create an effective customer data management strategy, allowing easy access to customer information and helping to drive better decision making.
A customer data management strategy is a plan for how your organisation uses customer information, such as contact details, purchase history, and preferences. It outlines the systems and processes by which customer data is collected and stored, as well as how the data is used to inform business decisions and even tailor customer experiences.
The purpose of a customer data management strategy is to maximise the value of customer data. Creating such a plan requires careful consideration of your customers’ needs and expectations, as well as an in-depth understanding of what data is available and how it can be used.
A well-thought-out customer data management strategy offers many benefits to businesses.
With a good customer data management strategy, you can gain better insights into your customers’ behaviours and preferences. Having this data can help you tailor customer communications and personalise the messages they receive. Examples include recommending products related to ones they’ve bought in the past, or providing content that’s related to their interests. A personalised call-to-action outperforms a generic alternative by more than 202%.
For example, you might analyse customer data to discover that a certain customer typically responds well to promotional discounts. Armed with this information, you could use targeted promotions to drive customer loyalty and engagement, increasing the chances of a successful sale, and the development of a long-term relationship with that customer.
By having access to detailed customer data, you can streamline operations and optimise processes for maximum efficiency. This improves the customer experience and helps to reduce costs.
For example, having easy access to customer purchase history can allow you to resolve customer queries or complaints quickly and accurately by looking up past orders. For example, customers may have to recall purchase information that they wouldn’t need to if the customer service agent has this to hand.
You can also create tailored automations that trigger based off purchase data, such as suggesting new or related products, thus increasing efficiencies and increasing revenue.
3 in every 5 businesses are using data to drive innovation and make decisions.
Having an effective customer data management strategy in place helps you to make more informed decisions based on accurate insights into your customers’ needs and preferences, such as their favourite products and services.
This information can then be used to create more effective marketing campaigns, and to develop and refine your product offering.