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Age of the Connected Consumer: Recognizing Every Interaction is a Possibility for a Great Customer Experience
Table of Contents
What is Customer Recognition
The Challenges of Recognition
Achieving Recognition
The Value of Recognition
Trust, Privacy and Responsibility
Using Your Marketing Omniscience
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What is Customer Recognition?
Hello, Meet Lisa Molloy
We’d like you to meet a friend of ours, Lisa Molloy*.
Lisa is a 35-year-old woman with no children, at least not yet. She has been married to John for five years and has been a homeowner at 15 Elm Street for six years. Lisa is an avid social media user and frequent emailer. She owns a tablet and a home computer, and she carries a laptop that she uses for work. She and her husband both have smartphones. They have a dog named Bandit, a passion for hiking, gardening and great coffee. Lisa also has a shoe habit and is perpetually trying to get her closet organized.
She seems nice, right?
From a marketing perspective, she’s even more likable. She loves to shop, has plenty of disposable income and the time to be an informed consumer. When we look at Lisa, we see someone we might like to have a latte with, but as a business we see someone who might be in the market for an espresso machine.
If we can understand her and connect with her, we have the opportunity to offer her a meaningful, personalized experience. Today, we have the chance to provide truly beneficial marketing, at the right time and through the right channels. In doing so, we can add value to Lisa’s life and maximize her potential as a customer.
*Lisa Molloy, and the represented data, is fictitious and used for explanatory purposes only.
Which Lisa is Ours?
One of our greatest challenges to recognizing Lisa is how easily data becomes fragmented and signals get crossed. With an abundance of data things can get complicated.
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So obviously, recognizing and reaching Lisa can become difficult just based on the personal data associated with her.
Now, add to that the possibility of receiving mixed signals associated with two different consumers.
See, it turns out that in Lisa’s neighborhood, city and zip code, there happens to live another Lisa Molloy. That Lisa is approximately 55 years old, widowed, the mother of two adult children, has no interest in hiking and is allergic to dogs. This is a picture of a very different consumer.
By recognizing the right Lisa, we can avoid misconceptions. By using all of the data available to construct a more complete view of her as a consumer, we can avoid irrelevant and unnecessary marketing.
To create a meaningful connection with the right Lisa we must piece together the many fragments of data that define her. We must have the means to differentiate her from others with the same name. And we also must strive to recognize and leverage a variety of insights on her preferences. When we can do all of these things, we can give Lisa the most relevant, convenient and personalized customer experience possible.
For example:
The name on the deed to her house is Lisa O’Conner.
The name on her credit card is Lisa M. Molloy.
The name on her personal email is Lisa M.
The name on her work email is L. Molloy.
Her social media accounts are registered to Lisa Molloy (O’Conner).
Her phone number is registered to John Molloy.
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For a brand, the rewards of taking on this challenge can lead to creating our most positive and lucrative relationships. We can increase the dollar value of each customer and avoid wasting resources on ineffective targeting.
One Among Many
We’ll come back to Lisa. But let’s now take a second to look at how expansive big data actually is. Sometimes, trying to wrap our heads around the sheer volume of big data can feel like trying to understand the nature of infinite universes.
The Population Reference Bureau reports there are approximately 7.3 billion people in the world right now. On a daily basis, those 7.3 billion humans create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data according to IBM. In comparison, NASA estimates there are between 100 and 400 billion stars in our galaxy. That means that today alone our civilization will create more data than there are stars in the Milky Way.
So we generate a lot of data, but where does all of this information come from?
It stems from everything we do, from search to shopping to social. It’s every YouTube video, every Facebook post, every Tweet, every photo on Instagram and every DIY project, recipe and inspirational quote on Pinterest. It’s data created with every website session, search query, app download and online purchase. It adds up – very quickly.
There is good news, though.
All of this growing data, comprised of input coming from every imaginable source, all ties back to the actions of consumers. These consumers are your prospects. Your customers. You just need to be able to recognize them – online and offline.
What Is Customer Recognition?
Finding and following all of the threads that lead us to each of our distinct customers is the goal at the heart of all customer recognition processes. Being able to navigate and apply this complex data can be what sets you apart from all of the other businesses in your space. It may be what separates a loyal customer and a one-time purchaser. It may be the difference between a precisely allocated marketing budget and millions in wasted spend.
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Simply put, customer recognition is the act of identifying and associating personal information with a particular customer or group of customers throughout time and across channels and devices.
Age of the Empowered Consumer
In the age of the empowered consumer, one of the biggest changes is that digital mediums serve as the most likely middle ground between an offline method of awareness creation and a final purchase.
Take these findings, for instance:
In 2014, 84% of smartphone and tablet owners used their mobile devices as a second screen while watching TV.
(NIELSEN)
27% of the general population has researched information
online based on anadvertisement seen on TV.
(NIELSEN)
60% of catalogue recipients were influenced to visit
a website. (UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE)
84% 27%
60%
The thing about the digital shopping revolution is that there are a thousand new and personalized paths to a purchase.
Every point of interaction creates an opportunity. These are opportunities to build brand awareness, to cultivate relationships and to provide customized content as a result of recognizing and understanding a customer in all of the places they exist.
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Obtaining the knowledge to seize those opportunities is the ultimate goal of customer recognition. But it’s not an easy one. The multitude of data and the power customers have to dictate their own experiences have made our job as marketers more challenging.
Lisa’s Customer Journey
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Sees friend’s shoes posted on Facebook Texts friendand asks
about shoes
Researches shoes online; signs up for email specials
from DSW
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Receives 20% off coupon from DSW
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Tries onshoes in
retail store
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Purchases shoes online with coupon
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Receives shoes8
Posts picture on Facebook and tweets
You’re feeling ready to capitalize on the new buyer’s journey and all of the possibilities and insight an extended buying cycle provides. You’re amped about it. We can tell. But let’s look at some of the hurdles you may need to get over before crossing the finish line.
In one study, nearly a third of marketers cited poor data quality as one of their biggest challenges in customer recognition.
The Challenges of Recognition
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When you’re working to leverage the opportunities of the buyer’s journey, it’s important to understand how customer recognition is a constantly moving target.
The nature of life means that data records will be continually plagued with inaccuracies as our lives and habits evolve. Typical life changes and diverse methods of acquiring information make it increasingly difficult to keep up with the dynamic indicators of identity. One consumer may have multiple names, addresses, devices and digital personas. It’s possible for all of these varying signals to create confusion and misinformation.
The Only Constant in Life is Change
Nothing ever stays the same. The circumstances of our lives are changing all the time. For example:
In one day alone...
1 United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics2 United States Census Bureau3 Source: Division of Vital Statistics National Center for Health Statistics
At this rate, while you are reading this, approximately...
6,735 people will get a new job, 4,075 will get a new home, 244 marriages will begin and 92 will end.
All of this is just in a single day. Now multiply that by a week, a month, a year. The numbers become very large, very quickly. This is why approximately 25 percent of your customer data becomes obsolete every year.
161,644 people in the United States will change jobs1
97,808 people will change addresses2
5,863 people will get married3
2,229 people will get divorced3
Recognize and Act Across Channels
One of the biggest barriers to recognition is a brand’s inability to manage this profusion of data or a lack of resources dedicated to a data management solution.
Single-Channel: The customer experiences a single type of touch point or only one channel is offered.
Multi-Channel: The customer experiences multiple channels acting independently, but experience may be different in each because the channels are organizational and technical silos.
Cross-Channel: The customer experiences multiple channels when interacting with a brand. In this case there is a single customer view, but the channels do not deliver the same brand experience.
Omnichannel: The customer experiences a brand the same way across all channels. There is a single view of the customer, and he or she is serviced consistently across channels.
As a result, many companies have the ability to focus well on one channel, or even a couple of channels, while few have become truly masterful at spanning all channels. However, with all of the touch points available for buyers today, one or two channels may not be enough. Our ability to integrate knowledge and brand consistency across all channels our customers use can deeply affect a customer’s journey and their experience in taking it.
The value of accomplishing this unified experience can have a direct positive impact on the bottom line. Research indicates that 40 percent of consumers purchase more from retailers that provide a personalized shopping experience across channels. In spite of this, many marketing programs are not nearly as dynamic as the shoppers they are targeting. Most consumer marketing can typically be categorized as single-channel, multi-channel, cross-channel or omnichannel. Each one is different, and they range from limited to maximum exposure.
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To achieve this ultimate omnichannel reach, some level of recognition is required. Omnichannel marketing demands a full 360-degree view of a consumer.
When data is incomplete, disparate or in silos, there may be still be efforts to connect with customers in multiple places, but they will be less effective. Recognition is the connective data thread that reports these interactions are with the same person but using different touch points. Without recognition, the experience, the message and the personalization will be disconnected and lacking as a comprehensive cross-channel experience.
Perform regular data maintenance to make updates and consolidate
records. This process will ensure you have the most accurate and complete
information on your customers soyou have a much better chance at
achieving and acting on meaningfulcustomer recognition.
Utilize proven systems for capturingand collating all distinguishing
characteristics of user data available. We are given access to copious
information related to user preferences, behaviors and history. To glean that
critical insight, all of these tiny pieces of data must be collected and properly
attributed to the correct consumer.
STEP 1 STEP 2
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A truly omnichannel brand is one that recognizes its in-store customer online, on the phone, in an email, on social media and at home. Marketing on the most effective levels recognizes a customer and integrates key pieces of data to provide supportive options, avoid redundancies and focus on the content that will be the most compelling and relevant to that unique, specific customer.
If that goal sounds lofty, that’s because it is. It is the pinnacle of marketing. And, like any summit, skill, planning and effort are required to reach it.
With all of the potential complications to customer recognition, bringing together all of the identifying data points that represent a 360-degree view of the customer is a difficult process. Customers’ data ranges from their most basic demographic information to their offline shopping habits and digital behaviors.
Practicing Good Data Hygiene
The first step to achieving customer recognition is having a foundation of accurate, current data. To achieve this, your data must undergo regular data hygiene processes. Simply put, data hygiene is the process through which we ensure our information is “clean” – that it is normalized, correct, current and complete.
Achieving Recognition
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Connecting the Data Dots
That second step is a doozy. That’s why it helps to have the right partners and the right goals. Where it all comes together is when you are able to collect, attribute and utilize all of this insight.
That brings us back to Lisa Molloy. Remember Lisa and her family?
To be able to offer our most resonant marketing to Lisa, we need to know that she and John live in the same household. We need to be able to recognize her at an individual level while also having the ability to recognize other members of the household.
The crux of recognition is overcoming all of the obstacles to unite disparate data points to create one single, accurate view of the customer, in our case Lisa.
Connecting the Data Dots
That second step is a doozy. That’s why it helps to have the right partners and the right goals. Where it all comes together is when you are able to collect, attribute and utilize all of this insight.
That brings us back to Lisa Molloy. Remember Lisa and her family?
To be able to offer our most resonant marketing to Lisa, we need to know that she and John live in the same household. We need to be able to recognize her at an individual level while also having the ability to recognize other members of the household.
The crux of recognition is overcoming all of the obstacles to unite disparate data points to create one single, accurate view of the customer, in our case Lisa.
All of this is for the purpose of creating a compelling reason why she should become loyal to your brand.
Who she is
What she likely shops for
How she prefers to buy
Communication channel preference
This view incorporates:
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The Science of Connection
The ultimate customer experience emerges from a brand’s ability to track behaviors throughout the relationship. Our success in marketing to Lisa rests on our ability to connect the dots from the day we meet her through every interaction with our brand.
There are two primary ways of establishing individual-level recognition.
String-Based: The simpler of the two is a string-based approach where software is used to examine and compare data in multiple files or databases, examining each character one at a time. The limitation here is that only exact identifiers can be accurately matched completely. With this methodology there is an inability to connect information that is not a complete match in multiple locations.
Knowledge-Based: This is a more complete approach for more sophisticated recognition. While this method also compares data from multiple sources, it goes further by incorporating a historical repository of data that has been growing over the years. Within the knowledge-based approach, a single customer representation is created from much more varied data. Any combination of unique touch points can be used to establish an identity, including latitude and longitude, IP addresses, email addresses and physical addresses. This method ties variable attributes back to key identifiers to create a complete view of a customer that encapsulates every data point across time and life changes. So if a name is associated with multiple addresses or computers, this process can connect the differing contact information to the same consumer.
With all of the various moving parts affiliated with achieving the full scope of customer recognition, it may seem simpler to just not take the plunge.
But there is no way to avoid the acquisition of conflicting key identifiers – the infiltration of inaccuracy, the inevitability of data obsolescence or the cost of redundancy. In fact, that cost can actually be measured in terms of lost revenue. Research by The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) indicates that U.S. businesses collectively lose more than $611 billion each year due to inaccurate and inefficient data.
Even if we were willing to accept the financial losses that can result from data inaccuracy and a lack of recognition, there’s more at stake. The entire future of a modern brand relies on the ability to adapt and engage.
The Value of Recognition
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According to reports on Digital Trends, 73 percent of consumers have a preference for brands that create more relevant shopping experiences through personalization.
73%
Companies all around us are beginning to understand and capitalize on recognition and omnichannel experiences. This pushes all of us to improve in both areas, because our effectiveness as marketers depends on it.
Consistency
One of the primary advantages of recognition is the ability to offer customers a unified experience across channels and throughout their relationship with the brand.
Consistency allows you to recognize your customer and deliver that message uniformly. If an email marketing campaign incentivizes the app, then the postcard shouldn’t suggest the website. Consistency ensures people who are receiving communications about sales and short-term deals aren’t presented with conflicting information about percentages off or the end date of a sale.
Tailoring Your Marketing Message
Generic marketing messages are a throwback to the 1900s and segment-based targeting alone can result in failing to capture a prospect’s unique interests.
By recognizing your customers and understanding their associated activities, you can create messaging that speaks to the driving factors that impact their buying habits.
Timing Your Contact
With recognition, you better understand where customers are in their lives, both literally and metaphorically. When you follow-up with a customer, the message matters.
Having strong customer recognition means that you serve the most appropriate and compelling content when it will benefit them – and you – the most.
Reaching Customers through Their Preferred Channels
True customer recognition means you understand what a shopper’s history suggests about future actions and when, where and how they are likely to occur.
Knowing these preferences, you can reach customers via the medium through which they are most likely to respond. That helps you cultivate a stronger relationship by connecting with customers through their channel of choice.
These behaviors may demonstrate a preference for:
Mobile over desktop
Online shopping vs. in-store visits
An email link vs. a Facebook ad
A tangible coupon or physical catalogue
Texting over phone calls
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Accurate, comprehensive customer recognition clearly provides opportunities to improve marketing, but to what end?
In a real-life scenario, these efforts to improve have already delivered measurable positive results for those who embark on the journey.
Let’s look at one upscale department store that was able to tie online and offline actions to the specific customers making them. The retailer needed to better understand customer activity across online and offline channels to optimize the customer experience.
The company would spend weeks pulling data from various nationwide sources to create reports manually. Unfortunately, the reports still lacked the insight to connect online browsing activity to offline response.
To address this problem, the retailer partnered with Acxiom to improve its database management and accurately integrate customer data.
Together, Acxiom and the retailer implemented a single warehouse of customer information and created a streamlined system of gathering and analyzing online and offline customer data. This consolidated data created a rich, accurate record of each customer that incorporated data related to multiple browsing and buying activities. Now, the department store can recognize a customer at any touchpoint and attach all of his or her behaviors, across channels, to a single customer record.
A CASE STUDY
THE SOLUTION:
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This customer recognition solution helped the department store brand:
Attribute 30 percent of previously anonymous online behavior to specific customers.
Automate processes to provide complex reporting in minutes or hours, instead of weeks.
Create a more precise understanding of how marketing efforts are driving responses across each channel to make better decisions in utilizing its marketing budget and deliver a superior customer ex-perience.
The work to achieve customer recognition in this case has created a more complete customer portrait, improved insight, alleviated a significant burden on resources and improved overall marketing. The retailer benefited greatly from this solution, as did its customers, but the same results are achievable by brands in any consumer-focused industry.
THE RESULTS:
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Brands implementing customer recognition solutions clearly must be concerned with protecting consumer privacy. Companies with access to this kind of information have a legal and moral obligation to treat it with due care and respect.
The ability to market across channels does not equal permission to irritate consumers across multiple channels. The ethical treatment of data is crucial for everyone involved in the chain, including brands, marketers, publishers, data providers – and, above all, consumers. Research has also found that more than half of consumers are willing to provide personal information on a website when it is being used responsibly and for their benefit.
To ensure we are fulfilling the obligations of access to data, we must look at data ownership in the same way as we view the customer journey – by recognizing and ensuring the customer is in complete control.
Privacy
Consumers must be able to determine which pieces of information they want unknown.
This means allowing users to make purchases as “guests” or giving them the opportunity to block or delete tracking cookies from their computers.
Choice
Users must be allowed the right to opt in to receiving correspondence and always have the opportunity to opt out.
It is every consumer’s right to elect not to receive further communication. This ranges from emails to ads to direct mail to phone calls.
Trust, Privacy and Responsibility
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Transparency
A published privacy policy that provides clarity regarding what information is collected and for what purposes is essential.
Not only is it expected and legally requisite, it helps maintain consumer trust. It also provides an open dialogue between the company and the consumer regarding the level of intelligence a brand has about their behaviors.
Security
Any data associated with a consumer, from an email address to a purchasing preference, must be stored and guarded with intensive security measures.
This may involve secure storage and encryption as well as restricted and monitored access. Security measures also include protective features to avoid access by outside sources. This practice mandates regular internal audits and training to avoid misuse or security breaches by employees.
Above all, customer rights and security must be protected with the utmost diligence. For both legal and ethical purposes everyone involved in data gathering, utilization and maintenance must be committed to safeguarding all aspects of consumer information.
Customers are far more likely to find themselves motivated to engage with a brand that recognizes them at an individual level.
Customer recognition is made possible through the integration of data and advanced technology. This marriage allows us to reach consumers with an unprecedented level of personalization.
Using Your Marketing Omniscience
If you’re looking to better connect with your family of customers,you know what you have to do. Let’s get started!
1.888.3Acxiom
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Though the massive amount of data available can be daunting, we only need to focus, follow and unite.
FOCUS on the signals that represent the recognition and mitigating circumstances of each unique customer.
FOLLOW the connecting threads back to the consumer to create an impactful connection.
UNITE all of the signals attributable to specific customers to accurately act on their preferences and the information associated with reaching them.
The transformation of the customer journey has put the user in the driver’s seat and created a reality in which the brands that will succeed are those that can provide the best and most connected customer experience.
The age of the connected consumer is a marketing paradox. Consumers control how and when they receive messages and how they consume goods and services. However, marketers have more data, more insight and an increased ability to measure their programs’ effectiveness. Through the effective use of all that data, we can also achieve greater agility in how we reach and retain customers and how we build those long-term relationships.
How does that apply? Well, we can’t wrap up this discussion without saying goodbye to Lisa, John and Bandit. Through a commitment to achieving customer recognition, we’ve built a bond with this family. We’ve been able to spot them as our customers, connect all of the data they generate and make sure they receive content that speaks to all of the things they love most, on their favorite platforms, at a time when it’ll be most useful to them. That’s why they keep coming back.
