From a better knowledge of one’s audience pass the best campaigns, the most effective ones: in many articles of our blog we have repeatedly addressed the topic related to audience profiling and segmentation, pointing out how crucial it is to give life to a successful marketing strategy.
The right message, to the right person, at the most opportune time: this is where the secret of a customer-focused marketing strategy, which makes the personalization of the customer experience the cornerstone.
But what data is really interesting to best profile users? What are the best strategies to deploy in both B2B and B2C? Let’s find out together.
User profiling and data driven approach: no strategy without information
If effective audience profiling and segmentation is the basis of a successful marketing strategy, it cannot be separated from careful data analysis and collection: the more information you can track, collect and normalize at the single customer view level, the more in-depth you will know about the habits, interests, buying behavior and browsing of your target users.
In such a context, the value of a Customer Data Platform, we have already seen in a previous article, is critical precisely because of its ability to aggregate user data from multiple sources and touchpoints, both physical and digital.
The advantage? The ability not only to reconstruct the user’s entire customer journey, analyzing every aspect and interaction, but also to predict their future interests and needs based on the study of the behavior of similar users. It is, in fact, on the data collected that artificial intelligence unleashes its full potential: machine learning and predictive capabilities make it possible to analyze and predict very accurately what the rewarding behaviors or solicitations will be for each individual user belonging to each identified cluster.
Audience profiling: what data and information to start with
The more data and information we can collect about our audience, the more ways of advanced profiling and segmentation we can deploy. But while for many data it is sufficient to track the user’s browsing and purchasing behavior in digital properties, for others it is necessary to consider integration with external systems such as CRM, ticketing systems, POS, just to name the most common sources, or to field activities of advanced profiling through forms or surveys.
In general, however, the user information that can be used, at least for a simpler profiling mode, can be ascribed to the following macro-categories:
- demographic data i.e. all information such as first name, last name, gender, address, phone, email, company, profession, etc. This is mostly demographic information that can also be enriched according to one’s target business;
- behavioral data i.e., related to user behavior (e.g., pages visited, days since the last newsletter was opened, messages and content viewed);
- real-time data that is, real-time information about user behavior within a site or eCommerce;
- data on purchasing behavior i.e., number of products purchased, spending thresholds, etc., etc.
- qualitative data collected through integration with external services, imagine for example that of customer care, or through direct user inquiry with forms and surveys.
Evolved profiling and segmentation in eCommerce
In addition to the different types of data and information, given above, in eCommerce it is particularly effective to also proceed with the profiling and segmentation of one’s audience through user lifecycle analysis and the RFM matrix.
Newly registered user, first-time buyer, occasional buyer or frequent buyer? Segmenting your audience based on the user lifecycle is critical to understanding who you are dealing with and choosing the best strategy to engage or reward users in order to increase their value over time while optimizing initial acquisition costs.
Analysis of customer lifetime value but not only that: the other analysis model aimed at audience profiling that is particularly interesting in eCommerce is the RFM matrix which combines the evaluation of the time aspect with the monetary aspect and the aspect related to the recency of the user’s own actions.
Expanding the cluster of users who buy more often, who spend more and whose purchases are more recent is every marketer’s dream: it is, in fact, this cluster that is worth investing resources and energy in as it is the most profitable for the company. Very often, however, this cluster consists of a limited number of users, and it is by identifying it and the users who are not yet part of it that the right strategy can be put in place to increase its reach.
Here is where RFM analysis can be crucial in order to design a targeted business offer and communication proposal for effective marketing retention and customer loyalty strategies.
Progressive profiling and tagging: profiling and segmentation in the B2B environment
Dynamic audience profiling and segmentation is undoubtedly the winning key to an effective marketing strategy even in the B2B sphere where the quality of the contacts initially collected and their progressive “nurturing” are the keys to the very success of the strategy.
If 50 percent of leads, however interested, in a product/service, on average, do not purchase it at the time they release data and contact information, it is clear that all activities must be geared toward turning those leads into customers.
A lead nurturing strategy then becomes necessary, but for it to work and be able to provide the potential customer with the information needed to guide him or her to purchase, it must be based on effective profiling.
In addition to the collection of biographical and behavioral data, it is therefore recommended to adopt a progressive profiling strategy through two methods:
- through tags to identify sections consulted, content clicked, fairs or events attended, to name a few examples;
- Through dynamic profiling forms that can collect data and information in multiple steps.
The implementation of dynamic profiling and segmentation will thus be the key to planning personal and profitable activities aimed at more easily turning a lead into a customer.
In an environment where advertising costs have an increasing impact, creating a solid base of loyal customers becomes crucial to strengthening one’s business.
But to do this you need to know your customer base in depth, only then can you focus on personalizing the customer experience and successful marketing strategies!
