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Comms Axis

Know Your eCustomer – it’s time to get engaged

Quote_Sir France Bacon; knowledge powerWhen the 17th Century philosopher Sir Francis Bacon said: “knowledge is power” he couldn’t have possibly imagined the enormous volume of information that businesses in the 21st Century work with day-in, day-out.

As we’ve said many times at Comms Axis: “With the widespread adoption of Internet-based technologies we have witnessed a massive surge in the number of customer channels and touch points. This has in no small measure resulted in a huge growth in the amount of data businesses can collect regarding customers and their behaviour. And it can now be done in real-time.”

Ok, let’s take a step back. Quite clearly there’s been a macro trend: the explosion of information published outside the company firewall. Previously, companies have mined the data that resides within their firewalls, through BI, ERP, CRM solutions and so on. This demand led to the growth of some of the largest and most successful companies in the world – the likes of Oracle and SAP. But this is all introspective – highly valuable, but it stops at the firewall.

 

know-your-ecustomer-its-time-to-get-engaged

In contrast, the information outside the company firewall is describing the environment in which the company operates. It gives incredibly rich insights into a company’s customers, competitors, industry trends, stakeholders, partners and so on. Businesses must start using this wealth of information to glean what we like to call: Digital Intelligence.

Digital Revolution

Brave New eWorldUndoubtedly we have been experiencing a fascinating digital revolution. But this “Brave New eWorld” that we’re living in is not being embraced by brands and businesses as well as it should be.

Too many seem to think that they can tick the social media box simply by broadcasting their messages and content to the world. That infuriates us!

Do you really care about your customers?

Social media for businesses and brands is very much like the age-old business tenet of “know your customer”. Any organisation that really cares about their customers should listen to their opinions, pain points or feedback. If you don’t, you’ll be left behind.

Even back in the days of grocers and bakers being everywhere, they would know exactly when Joe Public would normally come in, what his preferences would be, what treats he sometimes bought himself or his family, when birthdays or significant family milestones were coming up, whether he hated raisins or brown bread, and so on. It meant the baker could then say: “Hey Joe, how about you try our freshly baked hot cross buns – I’m sure your kid would love one!” He knew all about his regular customers, and learned as much as possible about his new customers – he did this by having conversations, asking them questions, taking an interest in them…basic engagement. He really knew his customers.

communicateBack to today’s world…what does this mean? It means constantly collecting and analysing massive volumes of data – listening to what’s being said out there on the Web. Then they must use that knowledge to build 360-degree digital profiles and engage with their audience one-on-one.

All organizations can benefit from it – having real-time knowledge of what the target audience wants is incredibly powerful. It should also go way beyond the domain of the Comms & Marketing depts. Critically, it helps brands to gain intelligence and therefore improve and strengthen customer relations, feed into product development, assist HR and recruitment, track the competition, and keep on top of market trends and opinion.

Power to the People

The sheer scale of social media highlights its disruptive nature and shows how the normal rules of customer engagement have been changed forever.  Everyone can voice their opinion across a multitude of social networks and platforms – it’s truly democratised the Web. It’s the first time people are able to voice their opinions as they like, to whom they like.

For example, there are around 1 billion tweets a week, more than 800 million active Facebook users, 100s of millions of blogs…that’s a lot of people, with a lot to say!

And whether you like it or not – some of those conversations (good AND bad) are most likely about your brand.

The common expression “the customer is always right” is now even more relevant with the advent of social media and the power the consumer now has.

Putting the Customer first

CUSTOMER AT THE HEARTAs such, the customer needs to be at the heart of all online strategies. Whether this is building a 360 degree profile of an individual’s digital footprint; segmenting their online target audience in terms of demographics and geographies; building online communities to encourage debate and discussion about topical issues; or building landing pages and microsites to direct traffic to for a particular campaign; maybe a lead generation campaign to push qualified leads down the sales funnel. There really is so much that can be done.

Taking this further, social engagement should become a staple part of any social strategy diet. It’s about two-way communication. And for businesses, this means converting conversations into customers.

The rules of engagement have now become the rules of social engagement. It’s about working out the first steps a brand needs to take to engage the social public. Knowing the difference between responsive and proactive engagement – when to engage and how.

Quote_Charles Darwin; adapt to surviveBut for me, getting the process and strategy right is one thing. Most importantly, it’s about being willing, agile and bold enough to adapt to changing consumer demands.

After all, as Darwin said, if you have the knowledge to continually be able to adapt to your changing environment, you will survive, grow and prosper.

Do you know you customer? Do you know where they’re engaging online, and what about, and why? Let us know if you need help in better understanding your eCustomer – our Digital Marketing and Social Media Audit service could be just what you need!

10 Comments

  1. efecto Says:

    yeah customer first. Not glad customers and then buisnes is not working

  2. James Self Says:

    Keep coming back to this fantastic article. So many companies say they’re putting the customer first but only a very few are truly putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. I’d like to sing the praises of the company for which I work, but truth be told their acceptance of change is in its infancy. Hey, at least they’re trying -reremoving bottom-left targets in favour of customer satisfaction metrics is a fantastic move and one I expect to see mimicked. Anyway, props on a superbly-written wall of text Dan.

    • Dan Purvis Says:

      Thanks, James – means a lot! Putting the customer at the heart of any growth strategy seems obvious…but isn’t always easy, especially when it involves a complete overhaul of processes and, most significantly, mindsets…

  3. Ian Zafra Says:

    Customer is important in every business so that as providing what they want and what they need is the responsibility of the company. Adjusting to the digital revolution is important to cater their needs and to be able to communicate.

    • Dan Purvis Says:

      Thanks Ian – it seems this digital shift is not being seen by brands as an opportunity to build trust and engage with their audiences, but instead seen as a threat due to the negativity they can be on the receiving end of via Twitter etc.. This should just become a standard part of customer service but, most importantly, ensure that responses are quick and tailored to solving the problem.

  4. Matt Insardi Says:

    It’s all in the details. and taking care of your followers. Take care of them and they will do the same for you! Thanks for sharing.

  5. Hey Dan,

    Great Share!!!!

    It’s true that cpmpany always say that they treat their customers as their priority but only rare ones follow what they say.Successful Business is due to the customers.To ehance the productivity of your business it’s essental to take a closer look at customers’ rquirements, to understand point of view.

    Thanks for sharing such a great article. Keep Sharing!!!

    • Dan Purvis Says:

      Absolutely, Antoine – thanks so much for your comment.
      Keep reading and commenting!!
      Thanks
      Dan

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