Data can help companies improve their marketing and sales strategies

Learn how to turn it into valuable insights that can create positive experiences

In the digital age, data plays a crucial role in shaping exceptional customer experiences. It is the backbone for understanding customer needs, predicting behaviors, and personalizing interactions.

However, using data effectively is not as simple as it seems. It involves not only collecting and analyzing it, but also understanding how to apply it correctly to improve the customer experience.

So the question arises: how can we do this and what data should we use? This article will explore four crucial considerations for using data effectively in the design and delivery of an excellent customer experience.

1. Real-time data and insights

To design and deliver the experience, you need certain types of data, which can be summarized as a “customer understanding,” a composite picture drawn from three different sources of information and insights:

– Listen: This involves feedback and data. It is not enough to simply ask customers about their experiences through surveys; you also need to listen to them (e.g., on social media, online reviews, etc.). There are many different channels for consumers to communicate their needs and expectations, including the data they leave behind when they interact and transact with a brand. This set provides historical and real-time data to work with.

– Characterize: Researching customers is very important. It involves talking to them directly, identifying their needs, problems to be solved, and tasks they are trying to accomplish. From this, you can compile personas that represent the various types of prospects and customers who may buy from your company or who use certain products or services.

– Empathize: Putting yourself in the shoes of consumers is critical to understanding the steps they take to access an organization’s products or services. Therefore, it is necessary to map the journeys to understand the current state of the experience. Developing a service blueprint to understand what is happening behind the scenes is the right way to create and facilitate the experience.

2. A single view of the customer

There are many sources of data about consumers. The problem is that data often remains where it is collected. It is stored in separate systems, which sometimes do not integrate with current or newer systems. Data is not naturally shared between departments. When data is disconnected, the customer experience suffers.

To deliver the experience consumers expect from one channel to another, you need a single source that provides an overview of all the data collected about each individual customer. In other words, a single source of truth. You need to consolidate and connect data and connect systems. After all, data is useless if it is scattered across the company.

3. Provide context and results

Designing an experience is useless without understanding the customer’s context, what results they want, and what goal they are trying to achieve. First, you need to understand where the customer is in their journey and what they are trying to achieve. Then consider what data you have to help you not only understand, but also design and deliver the ideal experience.

The data you need should be contextual and relevant, ensuring that the right person receives the right content (message, offer, next best action, etc.), in the right place, at the right time, in the right format, in the right language, and on the right device.

4. The right tools

Data and technology go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. While it’s possible to generate data without technology, it’s not easy to extract meaning from it without the right tools. This necessitates an integrated customer data platform (CDP) that collects various types of data, including consumer feedback.

Data is the lifeblood of your customer experience strategy. Consumers want seamless, consistent, and effortless experiences. Only by using data to inform and deliver customer experiences will you be able to meet these expectations.