Is your business getting the most out of your data?
What your customer intelligence data can tell you.
Customers in today’s market have options. They know there are businesses vying for their attention and most consumers are smart, savvy, and adept at using the technology that allows them to research products and services before making a purchase. This is why customer intelligence is important – it gives you the best understanding of your customer and allows better communication, enhanced marketing effort and strategy, and personalized service, all which can set you apart when it comes time for customers to make a choice about where they spend their time, money, or attention.
Customer Intelligence Examples
Customer intelligence is exactly what it sounds like – intelligence and insight on your actual and target customers. This data usually captures things like:
- Demographic information like age, income, geographical location, and educational background
- What sources they get news and consume media from
- Industry they work in
- Interests, hobbies, and types of activities they’re involved in
Using this kind of customer intelligence analytics information can help you craft messages that resonate better with your target audience and develop products that can bet better solutions for the challenges they face. It can help you know what they care about, which helps you create more compelling marketing. It also helps you communicate with them in the way they prefer – if you know that your target market consumes most of their information from YouTube or spend hours watching videos on Facebook, you can incorporate video strategy into your communication plan and use targeted ads in these social media spaces. In short, customer intelligence can go a long way towards helping businesses make decisions that will better serve their customers, better serve their business, and ultimately their bottom line.
How to Develop Customer Intelligence
Customer intelligence starts with asking the right questions. What information do you want or need to know about your potential customers? Will knowing how much money they likely make help you make better marketing decisions or pricing decisions? Will knowing how they prefer to communicate – via text or IM vs phone vs email – help you develop better communication strategies?
Some companies use customer intelligence software to help them organize their data. In addition to being able to sort and interpret data sets, software helps businesses gather relevant data faster. Some popular software vendors include:
- Accenture Insight Platform
- DataSift
- SAS
- SalesForce
- Intercom
- Selligent
Some businesses will assign a customer intelligence manager to work with customer intelligence tools regularly to learn as much as they can about their customer base. It’s important that companies don’t just gather and analyze their customer information once, but that it’s an ongoing task within their business that helps them create and innovate. Customer intelligence is one of the most important forms of data and analysis that a company can have.
Why is customer intelligence important? Empowered businesses are the ones who can make smart decisions based on what they know about their market. They are curious about and interested in their customers, which leads them to making more informed decisions and connecting better with their audience.
