This is a PSA for publishers and brands who want to survive as competition for attention heats up in the new year.
According to a study conducted by WBR Insights, 51% of US retail professionals identified website personalization as a top goal going forward. Yet a whopping 64% can only identify up to half of their website visitors, and 50% can’t identify a prospective customer across online and offline platforms.
If marketers want to continue engaging audiences in an ever-evolving digital landscape, they’re going to have to improve their ID management solutions. With comprehensive, first-party data at their fingertips, they’ll be able to gain valuable customer insights and build more effective marketing strategies.
Here’s how they can do it.
Integrate data technologies
According to the study, 38% of retail professionals are unable to integrate their technologies to combine data, and an astounding 57% don’t onboard offline CRM data as part of their ID management. As a result, they miss out on opportunities to build a comprehensive view of their customers, effectively track journeys across platforms, and deliver personalized experiences.
Those who do, however, have the benefit of using customer data to launch or enhance advanced strategies like triggered email marketing, predictive modeling, and website personalization. For example, one ecommerce brand in home furnishings customizes its website by offering discounted purchases and free delivery to seniors and people recovering from injuries.
Build a robust data aggregation strategy
Almost one-third of retail professionals have a data aggregation and enrichment strategy, but they haven’t fully deployed it or reaped its benefits yet. Once they do, they can more accurately target specific customer segments and reach them with engaging, relevant messaging on their website. One brand, for instance, uses in-store applications – soon-to-be powered by AI – to attract Gen-Z shoppers and help them personalize their shopping experiences. experiences.
Amongst the top priority segments were:
- Specific age groups like seniors, millennials, and Gen Z.
- Consumer categories like homeowners and people with good credit score
- And members of select social groups, like college students and military personnel and veterans.
Index key owned data to outside data sources
Customers don’t only interact with your website and apps. They may encounter your brand on other platforms like TV, social media, and third-party apps. By matching first-party data from your owned and operated properties with data from outside sources, retail marketers can generate richer customer insights.
And while 24% still struggle to do this, among those that could:
- 56% were able to track digital ad recipients and map these interactions back to individual customers
- 49% were able do the same for TV ad viewership
- And 29% were able to track post-purchase interactions like in-store visits, app usage, and website visits.
The major gap, however, appears when dealing with prospective customers. Half of respondents were unable to identify prospective customers across online and offline channels, meaning they’re losing major opportunities to drive leads and conversions.
Data, data, data
You might’ve noticed a common theme among these solutions. Yes: first-party data. First-party data is the key to learning about your website visitors and understanding their full customer journey. And what’s the key to tapping into the full potential of this data? Integrating technologies that are also built around first-party data that allows you to augment and scale your strategies outside your owned and operated properties.
After all, it’s 2021. It’s time to know – really know – who your customers are, so you can get to automating process, targeting audience segments, and launching engaging campaigns that drive customers to purchase.
PSA complete.
