What is customer analytics, and how does it work?
As a business owner or manager, you have to know who your customers are, what they need, and how they prefer to engage. Customer analytics is one of the most effective ways to gain insight into your customers’ behavior and preferences. In this post, we’ll explore:
- What is customer analytics?
- What you can do with customer analytics
- How to get started with customer analytics
What is customer analytics?
Customer analytics is the process of collecting and analyzing customer data to identify trends and patterns that can help businesses improve their customer experience. It gives you a deeper understanding of your customers and helps you make data-driven decisions that can increase customer satisfaction and sales.
What you can do with customer analytics
According to McKinsey & Company, companies that use customer analytics are twice as profitable as companies that do not. By delving into the data and getting to know your customer base better, you can develop a more nuanced and personalized approach to your marketing and ecommerce efforts.
While customer analytics are most associated with sales and marketing, they can also be used to inform and enhance other areas of business. For example, customer service can use analytics to better understand and resolve customer complaints, while product development can use it to create products that better meet customer needs and IT can use it to optimize technical components such as a website or mobile app.
Customer data is the key to mapping and optimizing the customer journey. By collecting and analyzing data about how customers interact with your business at each stage of the journey, you get insights into their behaviors, preferences, and pain points. This, in turn, improves your ability to target your ideal customers and deliver more compelling customer journeys that inspire loyalty and increase the likelihood of purchasing from your business.
For example, analyzing data about how customers discover your business and navigate your website helps you identify where the user experience could be improved — perhaps you need to add more intuitive navigation or clearer calls to action. You can also use customer data to segment your audience and personalize their experience with tailored product recommendations or services. Customer data can also help you identify the sales and marketing strategies that drive the most engagement and revenue.
Here are more ways customer analytics give businesses advantages:
- Knowing the most profitable revenue channels. This allows businesses to allocate resources effectively.
- Reducing campaign costs. Businesses can save money and maximize their marketing budget.
- Segmenting and targeting the right customers. Doing so increases the likelihood of conversion and retention.
- Delivering the right message. Targeted messaging ensures customers receive relevant and personalized content.
- Increasing response rates. Businesses can engage with more customers and generate more revenue.
- Acquiring new customers. When businesses expand their customer base, they reach new markets.
- Boosting user engagement. More engagement means greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Growing customer retention. Customer loyalty increases long-term profitability and reduces customer acquisition costs.
How to get started with customer analytics
Customer analytics helps you understand your customers better, so you can make informed decisions, acquire new customers, increase engagement, and retain existing customers. To get started, you’ll need a tool that can help you collect and analyze your data.
One tool that we recommend is Adobe Customer Journey Analytics. Built on Adobe Experience Platform, it allows you to break down, filter, and query years’ worth of data from every channel into a single interface.
Watch a demo video to see how real-time, omnichannel analysis and visualization can help you make better decisions and create winning customer journeys that satisfy expectations and inspire loyalty.