As the foundation of all marketing operations, customer analytics includes methods such as statistical modeling, data processing, information management, and segmentation. In today's ultra-competitive industry, all corporate executives need to base their decisions on sound research, evidence, and information.
Therefore, any choice they make will be focused on rational decisions and will be more likely to help them prosper and survive. Top executives, product managers, and customer analytics managers are committed to collecting big data and analyzing their customer base and competition trends.
What is customer analytics?
Customer analytics is a mechanism that helps you to use data derived from the actions of your consumers to make wise and well-informed business decisions. y way of customer analytics, companies can apply market segmentation and predictive analytics to their business activities to monitor the interaction with the consumer base; beyond marketing purposes, it is also used for product forecasting, new product releases to product ideas.
The way consumers use a website or use software/dashboards, or the way they view real-life consumer products, which brand they like, which apps they use and for how long, and so on — this is the kind of data that companies rely on to segment their user base into various groups of customers. Customer analytics helps them to predict the behavior of potential customers based on these distinguishing variables.
Here's why customer analytics matters to businesses:
Review analysis
Reviews are another excellent resource worth taking advantage of. Reviews are valuable as they give you a lot of customer service and satisfaction statistics, and more importantly, they also represent the customer's voice. Customers express their opinions and feelings — which may be positive, neutral, or negative — giving an insight into their experience, and also impacting the business by either recommending it or criticizing it publicly.
Predictive analysis to predict customer needs
Customer analytics has been a slower process until recently and has therefore been used to analyze the past. Currently, there are a number of tools that allow using the data in real-time. But instead of thinking backward, managers use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning software to predict what those consumers will expect in the future.
Many executives, particularly in the e-commerce sector, are already applying this analytical software to their websites. When consumers buy online, these tools will monitor their browsing actions, their buying preferences, their favorite items, and so on; they will forecast which products consumers may be interested in and when they may choose to re-purchase an item. Beauty companies are known to use this kind of technology. Predictive customer analytics uses vast quantities of consumer data to anticipate consumer desires and enhance their experience by personalizing them.
Net promoter score (NPS)
The net promoter score (NPS) is a very popular and effective method of conducting customer experience analysis and measuring customer satisfaction. As the name suggests, this is a numerical score that is determined by telling consumers how likely they are to recommend the brand or company to a friend/colleague on a scale from 1 to 10.
Campaign management is key to the effective execution of a marketing strategy. Marketing is a focused marketing activity. It is typically based on a special, coherent marketing campaign distributed through a variety of platforms and is designed to accomplish a particular business target. It is the method of preparing, carrying out, recording, assessing, and improving these campaigns.
Types of customer analytics solutions:
Brand and campaign management
Campaign management is key to the effective execution of a marketing strategy. Marketing is a focused marketing effort. It is usually focused on a unique, consistent marketing message spread across a number of channels and is intended to achieve a specific business goal. It is the process of planning, carrying out, monitoring, analyzing, and optimizing such campaigns.
With the ever-increasing importance and sophistication of digital marketing, mapping the consumer experience is becoming increasingly relevant. This phenomenon is especially helpful in describing and identifying the differing but important contact environment in various areas of the customer's journey.
Customer behavioral analysis and churn management
Today, companies can capture data points across multiple attributes of customer engagement. The introduction of advanced artificial intelligence and data analytics strategies would further help to exploit this rich data to tackle churn in a much more efficient manner. Most organizations today, especially in the B2C region, are planning unique initiatives to address churn.
Customer experience management tools have a vital role to play in helping companies transform the way they interact with their consumers and protect the interest of their consumers. This is clear from the fact that 55% of customers can pay more for better service. Recently, companies have also been looking for CEM solutions that can deploy technologies that have only been leveraged by mega-business companies.
Product management
Product management is now getting more data-driven, whether or not project managers and marketing leaders want it. They may not be too keen on the thought of evading vast volumes of data, but the fact is that, without evidence, successful product management is just not feasible.
It's not just the marketing department of a company who will learn when it comes to the actions of its consumers and clients. Product developers will also be aware and, most critically, consider that their consumers and customers are purchasing their goods and how they are using the items they have bought. It is not enough to know what consumers are thinking about the product; what they are doing with the product is even more relevant.
Industries that are adopting customer analytics solutions:
Healthcare
Health data analytics should be used to cultivate a patient-physician partnership that enables patient-centered treatment. While the use of big data does not necessarily have an immediate effect on sales, it has many uses, from advising health promotion campaigns to personalizing the clinical experience.
Big data has a huge potential to have a positive impact on the healthcare sector. At the end of the day, engaging in data collection, convergence, healing, and strengthening technologies supports the healthcare system. Physicians are well trained to do their work to reach out to customers in positive ways – to cultivating personal relationships with customers would make healthcare business more important and profitable in the long run.
Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI)
Customer analytics is one of the main areas of focus for banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies. The BFSI industry is betting heavily on data analytics to improve corporate efficiency, raise revenues, simplify company processes, minimize risks, and deliver seamless services to its customers.
Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies represent their customers through various platforms. Customers demand the service at all touchpoints, including internet, app, IVR banking, in-person banking, and personal banking, among others, which is not only smooth but also highly customized. Following the advent of digital platforms, millions of customers often visit bank branches to carry out various forms of transactions, including withdrawing or transfer of money, upgrading their passbooks, opening a fixed deposit or trading account, or borrowing.
Retail and e-commerce
The retail sector is undergoing a significant transformation with the use of data analytics and Big Data technology. With the rise of e-commerce, internet shopping, and increasing pressure for customer loyalty, retailers are using customer analytics to stay competitive on the market. Throughout the retail industry, Big Data Analytics is used at any stage of the retail process to consider consumer behavior, forecast demand, and optimize pricing.
Most of the retail customer applications are for system-wide cost reduction, improved online and in-store customer experience, data-driven adaptive supply chains, and real-time analysis and targeting. In terms of use, big data analytics in the retail industry was categorized as merchandising & supply chain analytics, social media analytics, consumer analytics & operational intelligence found in small and medium-sized businesses to large-scale organizations.
Current trends and future potential for customer analytics
The potential of the customer analytics sector has promised an ever-increasing growth for the industry and its applications. In the coming years, businesses will be able to merge data sources. For example, they will be able to take their user experience data and merge it with their phone call research, customer service, and use it to make more precise judgments on customer behaviour.
Further, artificial intelligence and machine learning will increasingly be used to customize products and services and to tailor the user experience to the specific needs of the customer. The amalgamation of an increasingly complicated environment, the enormous proliferation of data and the growing need to stay at the forefront of competition have driven organizations to focus on using analytics to guide strategic business decisions.
Free Valuable Insights: Global Customer Analytics Market to reach a market size of USD 29.8 billion by 2026
Business analytics helps managers understand their company dynamics, predict market trends, and manage risks. Instead of going with the gut when managing inventory, pricing strategies, or hiring talent, businesses adopt analytics and rigorous statistical analysis to make decisions that boost performance, risk management, and profits.
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