The idea of tailoring interactions, products and services to a customer’s profile is not new. It’s called one-to-one marketing.
“The idea is simple: one-to-one marketing […] means being willing and able to change your behavior toward an individual customer based on what the customer tells you and what else you know about that customer.” — Is Your Company Ready for One-to-One Marketing? by Don Peppers, Martha Rogers and Bob Dorf
I read this in an issue of the Harvard Business Review…from 1999. That’s more than fifteen years ago. And the best part is that 90% of the article is still relevant and useful today. It’s critical to know your customers beyond their first and last name, email address and telephone number. If you’re a marketer or even the consumer, I’m sure you already know this stuff.
As the number of sources of customer data continues to grow exponentially, enterprises are putting personalization at the forefront of their digital strategy. The ability to collect and unify a customer’s basic information, online browsing habits and buying history takes one-to-one marketing to the next level. Getting to know your customers promises increased satisfaction and revenue.
But personalization is no longer enough. Already, 51% of consumers and 75% of business buyers are expecting companies to anticipate their needs in the near future, not just understand them. It’s crucial to consider not only a customer’s characteristics and behavior, but also their preferences and their situation. Are they standing in the rain? Are they running in the rain? Are they a female running in the rain? Have they hit 100,000 steps this week?
You probably get the idea by now…Context is key. The scenario above is an unmissable opportunity for a sporting goods store to send that customer a special discount. Not on the women’s sunglasses or snow pants, ‘guesstimates’ you could make based on that customer’s gender and buying history. The offer has got to be on that latest and greatest women’s waterproof windbreaker. Leveraging contextual data beyond what the store already knows about its customers makes hyper personalization possible.
Enterprises need to unify disparate sources of information to make this happen, a task that surely seems daunting in terms of both dollars and time spent. Here’s where Flybits can help. We take care of unifying disparate sources of preferential, attitudinal and situational data, so that your enterprise can focus on driving customer engagement and conversion.
We’d love to tell you more. Get in touch here!
