How to Know Your Customer Better than the Competition in 2020

Most sales-oriented businesses understand the importance of market research and studying the competition. The fact that companies invest significant time and resources into pursuing both bears out this fact. One area where some fall behind, however, is in really knowing the customer. Brands may assume they know what their customers want and need, but sales reports often say otherwise. To truly know customers well, companies must understand their intentions, disposition, and actions.

Start by Tracking the Customer’s Entire Journey

While the best way to know what a customer is thinking with the buying process is to just ask him or her, this isn’t always practical or desirable. Businesses that operate only online, for example, may have a poor response to customer surveys while others don’t want to risk annoying customers by asking a lot of questions. Investing in tracking software and technology delivers the information while operating quietly in the background.

It might surprise marketers to know that more than 80 percent of online shoppers are okay with brands tracking them if it provides the most relevant experience. By seeing what current and potential customers look at and interact with, brands can create special offers for them on the spot.

photo/Gerd Altmann

Install Chatbots

In the past, companies hoping to learn more about customers placed several forms on their website and hoped that customers would take the time to complete them. This rarely happened, frustrating marketing teams that had spent time and money installing them. Customers want interaction when visiting a business website, but they desire it to be more responsive. A chatbot could be the ideal solution.

When an employee of the business can’t be there in real time to welcome someone to the website, a chatbot is the next best thing. That is because people seem willing to provide detailed information about themselves to chatbots such as the types of products they use, their preferred method of communication, and more about their company if shopping on behalf of a business. The chatbot saves all this data for employees to analyze and create a more accurate customer profile later.

Offer a Small Incentive for Providing Information

People who wouldn’t look twice at a survey because they feel their time is too valuable to give away free might change their mind when offered an incentive. For example, brands might consider offering a coupon off a future purchase or exclusive notification of sales in exchange for completing a survey that provides greater insight into customer intentions and ultimately their purchase history. Even so, it should not be too long or invasive as this could cause some people to click away feeling that providing the information is still not worth their time even with the incentive.

Bring Everything Together with Google Analytics 360

Google Analytics 360 offers numerous new features that make it easier than ever for brands to personalize the buying journeys of their customers. With the program enabled, marketers can track consumer actions across various campaigns and channel types for a truly complete picture. The Optimize 360 feature allows them to create personalized offers on the spot based on what customers searched for and interacted with on their website. These features and more ultimately allow marketers to make the most effective decisions regarding which platforms to advertise on and which campaigns perform the best.

Author: Andrew Armstrong