Benefits and Challenges of Using Customer Data for Marketing

All personal, behavioural, and population data that the marketing companies and departments collect from their customised databases refer to customer data or consumer data. (Wikipedia Contributors, 2020)

Types of Customer Data

1. Identity Data

The first type of customer data analysis looks at the heart of database marketing, the most essential information to identify a person. It gathers the name, gender, age, telephone number, email address, occupation, social media handles, and account information of a customer. (Connext Digital, 2019)

2. Descriptive Data

Your understanding is beyond the names, age, and email addresses of your customers. To get the right feeling of your customers, you must dig deeper. Here descriptive data comes into play. The goal is to collect quantifiable data on your customers so that their actions, seasonal increases, and buying practices can be accurately predicted. For maximum effect, your predictive analysis can be aligned with your marketing and sales strategies. (Connext Digital, 2019).

3.Behavioral Data

The behavioural data is data generated by a customer's loyalty to a company or in response to it. This can include page views, email registration, or other essential actions of users. Websites, mobile apps, CRM systems, marketing automation systems, call centres, assist desks, and billing systems are familiar sources of behavioural information. (Indicative, 2015)

4. Qualitative Data

Qualitative data can be recorded and observed. This data type is not numerical in behaviour. This type of data is collected through different methods of observations, one-to-one interviews, conducting focus groups, and similar techniques. Qualitative data in statistics is defined as categorical data. Data can be arranged categorically based on the attributes and properties of a thing or a phenomenon. (QuestionPro, 2018)

Nothing is more significant to a company than happy, trusted clients. Database marketing is essential to keep customers content and keep them selecting your brand over competitors. The company is also known as the custom relationship manager.

Benefits of using Customer Data for Marketing

​1. Personalizing Through Customer Segmentation

The final aim of each marketing initiative in the database is to provide each customer with personalized and relevant messages. A good customer database is grouped into segments designed for a particular purpose or common interest and allows relevant content to be shared by people. (https://facebook.com/stirista, 2018)

2. It is a Great Source for Customer Feedback

When it comes to gaining feedback into the nature of a company's products, software, or programs, a brand framework.  Take use of this pattern and build marketing campaigns aimed at collecting customer feedback. (https://facebook.com/stirista, 2018)

3. Retargeting Website Visitors

A database for marketing is not limited to email, telephone number, and postal address. Consider building an online visitor database. It can be done by creating an anonymous list of those who visit your site by inserting cookies in browsers. (https://facebook.com/stirista, 2018)

4. Leads to an Improved User Experience

The advantages of database marketing are not just to send marketing and content by email or online advertising. Online visitors can also be a good source of information as they navigate on the company's website. (https://facebook.com/stirista, 2018)

5. Direct Channel to Customers

One of the main advantages of a customer database is that it has, in the past, acquired an entire selection of customers. The main advantage of using such names is that they are already interested in your product or service because they are verified, customers. You would like to buy from your company more than if you were looking for new customers. (SEO manager, 2019)

Challenges of Using Customer Data for Marketing

1. Segregate data

Companies collect data from a large number of sources. Not every data collection system receives the same type of data points from automated email programs to CRM systems, and it is challenging to view relevant data as a cohesive information package. While many people don't believe that there is too much data, it is not helpful if the data is not usable or processable. (Chrisos, 2019)

2. Lack of quality data

To be relevant and usable, data must be up-to-date. For example, if your data include incorrect email addresses or titles, your killer email campaign will not have a significant impact. To make sure the data used to create campaigns is current and accurate, it is essential to invest time and resources. (Chrisos, 2019)

3. Resources

Not all marketers are an experienced creative person, and not all creative individuals are a marketing data expert. You can not assume the full range of database marketing responsibilities or see the full results if your team is not sufficient to handle the strategy and implementation aspects of a marketing campaign. (Chrisos, 2019)

4. Cost

It can be a tremendous investment in time and money to implement a single-stop data resource as well as human capital required to run that resource–one which is not ready for all companies to make regardless of its marketing benefits. It also involves investing in leadership and key stakeholder support to succeed, and it can take time to develop a case and wait for the approval of the administration. (Chrisos, 2019)

Reference

• Connext Digital. (2019). 4 Types of Customer Data to Enhance Your Marketing Campaigns. [online] Available at: https://connextdigital.com/types-customer-data-enhance-marketing-campaigns-infographic/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2020].

• ‌https://facebook.com/stirista (2018). Stirista Global HQ. [online] Stirista. Available at: https://www.stirista.com/blogs/benefits-of-database-marketing [Accessed 24 Feb. 2020].

• seomanager, (2019). Five Benefits of A Customer Database | Strategic Marketing. [online] Strategic Marketing. Available at: https://thinkstrategic.com/five-benefits-of-a-customer-database/ [Accessed 22 Feb. 2020].

• ‌Chrisos, M. (2019). Database Marketing: Challenges and Actionable Solutions. [online] Techfunnel. Available at: https://www.techfunnel.com/martech/database-marketing-challenges-and-actionable-solutions/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].

• Wikipedia Contributors (2020). Customer data. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_data [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

• ‌QuestionPro. (2018). Qualitative Data- Definition, Types, Analysis, and Examples. [online] Available at: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-data/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

• ‌Indicative. (2015). What Is Behavioral Data and Behavioral Analytics? [online] Available at: https://www.indicative.com/blog/what-is-behavioral-data-and-behavioral-analytics/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2020].

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