// EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //
?
SAM RICHARDSON , CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT , TWILIO
L everaging first-party customer data – i . e . data consensually given to brands by their customers or generated by their interactions with them – can be a great way to both identify relevant customers and better understand them . However , collecting and analysing such data from often disparate and siloed sources represents one of the biggest challenges for brands , often leaving customer insights untapped .
To address this , brands should consider adopting software designed to unify data from multiple sources in one place , like an AI-supported Customer Data Platform ( CDP ). Automatically pulling data from different customer engagement touchpoints – such as chatbot exchanges , live chats , WhatsApp messages , emails and voice interactions – the CDP can then clean , sort and interpret the data . Everything from purchase history , conversation styles , browsing behaviour , engagement levels , feedback , communication preferences and previous context can be consensually unearthed from such channels , building detailed customer profiles .
Every engagement channel should therefore be viewed as a source of insight to not only better understand your existing customers , but also to build a profile of patterns and trends of your prospective audience base , helping brands better identify new customer segments , too .
This real-time data can then be turned into valuable intel to inform how brands reach their customers . Brands can better segment their customer base in an incredibly granular way and hyper-personalise their outreach with great precision and relevance . Critically , it can all be on an individual basis , rather than by broad demographic categories .
From a marketing and advertising perspective , customer data insights can help create timely , personalised campaigns with tailored offers and personalised product suggestions . For example , it can run potentially millions of individual marketing campaigns at once that are hyper-targeted to the intended recipient . As a result , marketers can say goodbye to generic marketing emails sent to every customer on their mailing list that go unread and encourage unsubscribing .
Real-time insights can also be displayed to customer service teams whilst on a call or chat with customers ,
// empowering agents to deliver relevant and accurate personalisation and have a deeper customer understanding than ever before .
So , rather than providing a repetitive , universal brand experience , AI tools and CDPs provide infinite possibilities for marketing , customer service and sales teams , enabling them to ‘ design ’ their engagement strategies for every customer . This creates a customer engagement experience that is more context-driven and informed and ultimately more impactful and memorable for the end customer . �
EVERY ENGAGEMENT CHANNEL SHOULD THEREFORE BE VIEWED AS A SOURCE OF INSIGHT TO NOT ONLY BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS , BUT ALSO TO BUILD A PROFILE OF PATTERNS AND TRENDS OF YOUR PROSPECTIVE AUDIENCE BASE .
Intelligent SME . tech
23