Splio and ReachFive offer the results of their latest study entitled “ Data at the service of customer knowledge and experience which was produced by Opinion Way.
The main results from this study indicate that companies have poor knowledge of their customers. Although they are certain that customer data represents a strong stake, companies admit that they are behind in the knowledge and use of data. Indeed, only 9% of them consider that they have a very good level of knowledge about their customers. On the other hand, consumers have the perception of being manipulated by companies that collect and use their data. There is a real gap between consumer perceptions and actual business practices.
The real challenge of data
Customer knowledge corresponds to real business challenges. Indeed, using data makes it possible to better meet consumer expectations by personalizing offers to centers of interest.
Through the use of data, companies that were interviewed for this study noted:
- An increase in their Conversion rate (45%)
- An increase in traffic (38%)
- An increase in customer satisfaction (32%)
Data represents a challenge for companies, that's for sure: 90% recognize that the enrichment of customer data is crucial and even that their ROI is linked to their use. Nevertheless, half of the companies indicate that they do not have a very advanced strategy with regard to this data. And guess what? They are 43% do not give any importance to the traffic of their website.
Why companies do not exploit the data?
Companies are aware of the importance of data and the challenges of customer knowledge. However, not all of them have the means and resources to exploit this data. Some obstacles are indeed mentioned:
- Technical means(41%)
- Data reliability(34%)
- The know-how(31%)
In addition, companies come up against another concern due to the proliferation of distribution and communication channels: 78% of them explain that it is difficult to have a unified view of data. However, this vision of customer data across all channels appears to be an objective to be achieved for 95% of the companies questioned.
Know the customer
The data therefore allows a better knowledge of the customer as a whole but also makes it possible to create consumer profiles that can then be used to carry out segmentations and to distribute targeted offers. In this sense, understanding the affinities and areas of interest of customers is essential.
Businesses wish to refine their customer profiles, however only 27% of them have implemented solutions to reach their end. Very “banal” techniques are the most used to collect data:
- Registration forms (32%)
- Marketing campaigns (31%)
- Contacts at points of sale (31%)
However, all of these strategies do not really make it possible to collect data on centers of interest. Preference data, social data, behavioral data are the data that companies most want to obtain, but they are also the most complicated to acquire. Similarly, these are the ones that consumers are least willing to share and that pose the most privacy concerns. Ethical questions in terms of marketing are to be taken into account here.
Social Data: the future of customer knowledge?
Social data makes it possible to know consumers very precisely. This level of knowledge was hitherto unheard of. Companies have understood the opportunities of social data and 84% of them also want to better understand their consumers using data from social networks. However, still very few of them have the capacity to collect and use this social data. For example, only 6% of companies collect data using “Social Login” authentication.
Consumers are afraid for their data but are ready to distribute it to companies if the benefits are real: personalized offers, discounts, etc. Companies are thus offering more and more personalization of marketing campaigns as we can see in the graph below.
There are big differences between consumer perceptions and actual business practices. An effort of transparency on the part of companies becomes essential so that customers can develop a relationship with them.
Also, personalization is key to the customer experience. Whether online or offline, it is high time to harmonize marketing strategies. 88% of companies also believe that the use of customer data can be a real asset for in-store sales staff...
