Customer centricity, or the prioritization of providing customers with a unique and meaningful experience, has been an ambition for visionary marketers since the term “relationship marketing” was coined in the 1980s. While most organizations are starting to understand the value of optimizing customer experience, many are promoting a brand message with little or no personalization. In an ever-evolving digital world, collecting and analyzing customer data can be the difference between success and failure. Personalized marketing channels can quickly bridge the gap between what is available and what is desired, allowing the focus to shift to the customer’s needs and the outcome of the exchange. In this blog post, I will explore how organizations have used customer centricity to gain a competitive advantage and highlight a few simple steps that can be taken to achieve similar success.
Happy Customers
Personalized marketing can greatly enhance a customer’s experience and drive incremental business. Organizations collecting customer data can maximize customer lifetime value while also reducing customer acquisition costs by enabling customers to spend less time sifting through information they may consider irrelevant or unnecessary.
In addition to happier customers, the visualization below highlights several benefits derived from personalized marketing according to marketers worldwide. Organizations seeking to meet increasing customer expectations and bring these thoughts into practice will realize:
A larger and more loyal customer base
Greater brand awareness and brand recognition
Increase in the bottom line
Source: Neil Patel
Success Stories
Many know how industry leaders such as Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube have utilized personalized marketing to dominate their respective markets. These organizations leverage a user’s history to recommend additional items for purchase or possible content to explore. That being said, other companies such as TD Bank and Hilton Worldwide have also seen success by creating a culture centered around the customer and their needs.
TD Bank endeavors to maintain their position as “America’s Most Convenient Bank”. The American multinational bank has engaged in multiple initiatives to reward their customers for their loyalty. In 2014, the bank turned their ATMs into “Automated Thanking Machines” which provided customers with personalized gifts and experiences. Videos of these moments went viral and emphasized the bank’s drive to use emotional connections to ensure loyalty. TD Bank operates 7 days a week and listens to their customers across a variety of different channels. Operational data about customer interactions are gathered and used to connect a customer’s thought process with their journey. This approach has led to year-over-year revenue growth and over ten years as the number one company for overall customer satisfaction on J.D. Power’s annual Canadian Retail Banking Satisfaction study.
Hilton Worldwide is a dominant force in the hospitality industry and has 14 brands across multiple market segments. The organization’s loyalty program, Hilton Honors, utilizes predictive analytics to match marketing offers to customers based on various sources of data. Initially, Honors members were receiving dozens of emails weekly regarding assorted promotions in market. Many of these emails were left unopened and it was determined that a more efficient way of engaging customers was needed. Demographics and spend trends from over 5,000 properties are used to create propensity models and target customers with offers they are more likely to participate in. This has resulted in a considerable increase in the open, click-through, and click-to-open rates. The image below quantifies some of the improvements the organization has seen through personalization.
Source: MovableInk
Steps to Get Started
Organizations that make customers the focal point and understand the importance of personalized marketing channels can create a competitive advantage and attract new customers while retaining past consumers.
The image below highlights several key steps for organizations to take to realize customer centricity. First, determine who your customers are and how they are currently being targeted. Then establish if there is a way to communicate more information succinctly, providing users with more options and less confusion. Many organizations already understand the importance of customer analytics but continue to explore avenues for more robust customer information. Once companies attain user data, it is important to take time and understand where that data came from. Using data that is not accurate or has not been cleaned is as detrimental as not having robust information. Selecting a visualization and database tool is one of the final steps to ensure that a real-time strategy for customer data will result in an improvement of business. Credera frequently helps companies navigate these steps as they pursue a more customer-centric model.
Source: Anchor Computer
Final Thoughts
Personalized marketing starts with customer data and understanding who the consumers are is always the first step. A blog post written by my colleague, Greg Gough, details the growing need for actionable customer metrics and the importance of prioritizing the customer experience journey. If you would like to further discuss this topic, please reach out at findoutmore@credera.com for more detailed information on organizing data and finding the right tools.
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