We’re living in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), where customers and brands have more opportunity than ever to interact, exchange ideas, and work together to establish and maintain loyalty. Yet, channeling this freedom into true profitability requires delivering content and experiences that are tailored directly to what customers want, when they want it, and how they want it delivered.
In a nutshell, this means more than inundating them with digital messages just because the technology exists. Instead, a successful marketing strategy requires listening to your customers, then turning that knowledge and insight into dynamic, unique, and one-of-a-kind marketing that turns their heads without making them roll their eyes.
The good news is, with your proven CRM system, this type of knowledge is easier than ever to capture, track, organize, and store. Every interaction, no matter the channel or platform it originated on, is stored, so employees can easily reference it when they need it, then use information such as purchase preference, buying patterns, and spending trend to craft more influential campaigns. Here are some simple steps to get you started on the process:
Keep Data Clean
The amount of Big Data transferred across the IoT can be overwhelming, and maintaining stores of information equally challenging. To this end, when sifting through data to present, it’s important to keep only the valuable info, and consider data cleansing strategies to help discard or separate the rest to ensure against time-consuming confusion and backlog.
Consider the Added Value of Location
One of the primary personalization tactics marketers can use is location-based messaging. From geotargeting that allows companies to send messages to customers depending on their location in-store (such as grocery aisles) to mobile push messaging that notifies shoppers of deals as they near a shop’s physical location, such approaches enable companies to literally reach customers where they are, in a way that ups the customization ante. One example is the Salesforce “Mobile Push” which allows users to easily push customized messages across Andriod and iOS devices.
Maximize the In-Store Experience
Equipping employees with the tools and technology they need to succeed should be any company’s goal, but now it’s easier than ever to take it a step further and help them maximize the in-store experience through CRM solutions that provide important details (think shoppers’ previous purchase history, and even physical details such as weight and height that can help associates tailor-pick clothes and accessories) to help companies say “we see you, we know you, and we’re here to help.”
With more potential than ever at our fingertips to engage and excite our audience base, it’s important to remember that while our world is more connected, fast, and in-touch than ever before, at the end of the day, customers simply want to feel appreciated and understood, and the best way to do that hasn’t changed: Listen, then act.
Sources:
“How Smart Retailers are Revolutionising In-Store Experiences,” Salesforce UK, October 13, 2015.
Otis, Rebecca, “Revealed: In 2016 Customers Want This,” Salesforce, October 21, 2015.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
