How to Leverage Data to Better Serve Customers
Furniture World News Desk on
8/22/2016
by Jim MacKay, Marketing Director for Fortegra
It's true that marketing is an art. Strong marketing requires creativity and thinking outside the box. But the best retail professionals understand that, even more than art, marketing is a science.
One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is developing marketing plans based on assumptions or arbitrary claims, rather than data and quantified customer insights. And while using data to better serve customers might seem daunting, especially if you've never approached marketing through analysis, there's no better way to quickly boost your efforts than by using hard numbers to your advantage.
Here are five ways you can leverage data to better serve your customers.
- Use data to personalize promotions and special offers.
One of the best things you can do for your customers is make them feel uniquely appreciated. For starters, when a customer makes a purchase from you or signs up for your email list, be sure to record their birthday information so you can send a personalized discount on their special day.
But that’s just one small example. Another way to personalize promotions with data is by using purchase history to track how long it's been since a customer has made a purchase, either online or in-store. If it's been three months or more, send them a special offer to show them you miss their business and haven't forgotten about them.
- Improve your product offerings by tracking merchandise.
Wondering why certain products are always sitting on shelves collecting dust? Start tracking your merchandise to give yourself a better understanding of what's in demand and what’s not. While you might think you know exactly what customers want, only the data can tell you for sure. Start tracking that merchandise, and you'll be able to phase out products that don't sell to carry more of what goes fast.
- Analyze past data to optimize your pricing.
The way you price your products should be systematic, exact, and numbers-driven. Using past data to inform your price points is the best way to optimize a pricing model. If you repeatedly change the price of a certain product, or frequently offer promotions and discounts, you can go back into your purchase history to see what the ‘sweet spot’ was.
Maybe you sold the most units of a product when it was 15 percent off, or maybe you sold more when it was full price. You'll never know the optimum price for a product unless you go back through the data and analyze those trends.
- Look at buyer trends to identify your target customer.
Arguably the most important part of marketing is knowing who your customer is. If you don't know the basic demographics of your customer base, your marketing plan could be destined for failure. One of the best ways you can begin to identify your target consumer is by analyzing buyer trends over time.
That same purchase data that informed you on price can also slowly reveal key characteristics about your customer base. Gender, age range, life-stage, and lifestyle are all factors you can interpret via buyer trends. Start taking note of these trends and use them to better target key customer segments.
- Keep customer data up to date and easy to access.
Ever responded to a customer complaint, only to anger them more because you didn't know their customer service history?
By employing a system that maintains easily accessible, up-to-date customer data, you and your entire team can be proactive when it comes to resolving customer service concerns. Instead of issues getting lost in translation, record the info to have it at the ready, and get caught up with a customer quickly so they don't have to repeat their problem to rep after rep.
Plus, if you can see that a customer has recently worked through a service issue, consider alleviating the pain with something special like a unique discount or product offer.
Leveraging customer data should be every retailer's priority. By using data to inform your marketing decisions, you can better serve customers and increase your business in the long run.
More about Jim MacKay: Jim MacKay is Marketing Director for
Fortegra Financial Corporation, a Tiptree Financial Inc. company (NASDAQ: TIPT). Fortegra and its subsidiaries comprise a single-source insurance services provider that offers a range of consumer protection options including warranty solutions, credit insurance, and specialty underwriting programs. Delivering multifaceted coverage with an unmatched service experience for both partners and their customers, Fortegra solves immediate, everyday needs, empowering consumers to worry less and Experience More.