In the last article of our blog we analyzed the fundamental role that evolved marketing automation tools can play in the strategy of FMCG companies.In this article we will look in detail at the importance of being able to collect and aggregate data from our consumers as well as the benefits this can bring us in terms of effectiveness and optimization of our marketing investments.
Data collection
In a field like FMCG there can be a variety of ways in which to collect data from their consumers, let’s look together at some of those that are normally used by companies:
- Point collections
- Loyalty Programs
- Sweepstakes
- Instant Win
- Content portals
- Comarketing operations
- Surveys and market research
It is always important to consider that in order to obtain information from our consumers it is essential to be able to offer a counter value that is worth enough to the consumer from convincing him to share this information with us. In studying the composition of the questionnaire we therefore try to collect, without exceeding in number, not only biographical information but also information related, for example, to: tastes, buying habits, lifestyles, purchase frequencies etc.However much the collection of this data has become digitized over time, often the aggregation of this data takes place in separate silos, perhaps managed by different entities. In the era of Big Data, however, it is more useful and necessary than ever to be able to establish a single enterprise system that can collect this data both from different sources, whether online or offline. It is therefore essential to have tools that are able to collect and normalize this large amount of data in a very agile way.
Data analysis
Once this data has been collected, it is essential to be able to analyze it and derive actionable insights that will enable us to improve our results. In fact, this data can be used both by trade marketing, in order to come up with increasingly effective consumer engagement actions, and by strategic marketing, in order to better learn the characteristics of its target audience.The initial goal is first of all to arrive at a Single Customer View that aggregates all of the individual consumer’s data, but to then make this information effectively actionable, it is essential to have a system that dynamically aggregates and analyzes this data in real time.Given the large amount of data involved, as well as the different types of data, it is necessary to equip ourselves with modern Big Data systems that work with artificial intelligence algorithms in order to understand what the common traits of our consumers are, thus being able to accurately quantify, for example, what the actual relevant targets of our customers are and how they will move over time.To learn more about these issues related to the importance of segmentation for marketing automation, we recommend reading this article.
Using the data
Once the data has been collected and analyzed, it is essential to be able to make it actionable in an automated way.The actions that can be taken depend, of course, on the channels we actually have available.By way of example only, we give three examples of what is possible:
- Personalize these consumers’ browsing experience with your digital properties
- personalize and automate communications across different channels (email, sms, social etc.) so as to engage your customers in the ideal way. Especially in case you have to manage different brands and product categories this is crucial to keep the level of consumer engagement high by giving only relevant communications.
- share these segments with external platforms such as Facebook, Google Ad Words and any DMPs.This allows you to recognize your users and engage them properly and thus greatly increasing the ROI of your ADV campaigns.
As an example, imagine that you could automatically send a consolation message on social media to all consumers who, by participating in one of your contests, did not win anything…taking the opportunity to invite them to a loyalty program, “rewarding their bad luck” with some free points. Actions of this kind, precisely because they are unexpected, help to strengthen the bond with the brand.
