One customer, one profile, complete and updated in real time.
From a conversation with the store salesperson to an online purchase, to contact with customer care: even when there is only one customer or user, data and information about them multiplies at every touchpoint and every interaction with the brand.
And if, on the one hand, more and more consumers expect smooth and consistent shopping experiences regardless of the channel and context of interaction, it becomes essential for companies to have a solid data strategy that allows them to bring together all the different information in a coherent and up-to-date system.
It is the era of hyper-personalisation and this cannot do without a unified view of each individual user or customer.
Unified customer view: what is it and what are its peculiarities?
The term “unified customer view” refers to a complete, integrated and real-time updated representation of all data concerning a single user and customer.
Several times we have had the opportunity to discuss the subject of data normalisation at a single customer view level as an enabling factor for strategies aimed at personalising the customer experience.
The concept of “unified customer view” can be considered a synonym of that of “single customer view“. Again, data and information on users and customers can come from multiple sources and sources (website, point of sale, customer care service, just to mention the main ones) and, once collected, are normalised, synthesised and made accessible in a single environment.
It is precisely because of this particular aspect that the concept of a “unified customer view” outlines a very different approach compared to a more traditional data classification that involves disjointed information management centred on data silos.
A unified view thus not only allows for a complete and accurate representation of each customer and user, but also contributes to an improved customer experience across all channels and touchpoints, as well as having positive repercussions at a corporate level on operational efficiency and streamlined decision-making processes.
But what data are we talking about?
A user/customer profile is all the more valuable when it is complete and rich in information.
The data are very varied and can range over several sources: from personal details to data on browsing and purchasing behaviour on websites and APPs, from information collected at the point of sale or by the customer care service to data present in the CRM or other online and offline support, from information linked to transactional systems to the history of purchases and actions taken, up to consent preferences relating to privacy.
One customer, one profile: how to achieve the unified customer view?
From the ability to personalise a user’s interaction and purchasing experience at every touchpoint, to the ability to deploy effective up-selling and cross-selling strategies, to more targeted activities to increase the CLV of each customer and optimise the performance of retention activities: the benefits of using a unified view of the user and the customer are indeed significant, but the right technological solution must be used to implement it.
In fact, the process involves several steps that we summarise below:
- identification of data sources which, as we have anticipated, may concern both online and offline channels;
- acquisition and normalisation of collected data through the use of tech solutions capable of updating, eliminating and resolving errors in real time in order to consolidate information and allow it to be constantly updated;
- profile unification, which consists of associating the different data collected with individual identities through the use of unique IDs;
- advanced profiling and segmentation by means of collected data that become the basis on which to build filters and create user clusters that can be updated in real time.
Blendee’s Marketing Operating System enables the collection and normalisation of data from multiple channels and sources at the unified customer view level.
Demographic data, behavioural data, transactional data, qualitative information, to name but a few of the main types of data, can thus be used to create comprehensive master records.
All the information we consider useful for profiling and segmentation activities can be collected, not only by tracking user behaviour throughout the entire customer journey, but also by using engines such as smart forms and custom fields.
Raccolta, normalizzazione dei dati, ma non solo: il valore aggiunto di una Collection, normalisation of data, but not only: the added value of a solution such as Blendee lies in the possibility of activating the collected data through evolved and dynamic segmentation activities that enable winning data-driven marketing and advertising strategies.
Unified customer view in the cookieless era: the centrality of identity resolution
Given the much anticipated deprecation of third-party cookies, the need to adopt a unified customer view approach has expanded from the corporate properties traditionally referred to to paid channels.
The concept of ‘unified customer view’ was thus joined by that of “identity resolution”.
The expression “identity resolution” thus indicates the ability to know, but above all, recognise each individual user and customer, in real time, thanks to the convergence and ‘resolution’ of the different IDs attributed during the different interactions in the various channels and touchpoints.
As we have already elaborated, data and information are released at multiple touchpoints, along the entire customer journey: until now, the main technological solutions on the market in the martech and adtech scopes, only allowed for a separate management of such information, especially if it was anonymous and persistent identifiers.
Identity resolution has, in fact, made it possible to overcome this division with a view to creating a true single customer view, while preserving privacy!
Blendee is the first end-to-end solution that allows you to monitor and orchestrate the entire customer journey from first impression to post-purchase.
It is based on an effective identity resolution process (Blendee ID) that allows for the unambiguous cross-domain recognition of each individual user, in real time thanks to the convergence and resolution of the different user IDs attributed during different interactions.
With the announced deprecation of third-party cookies in the world of advertising, in particular, a fundamental tool with which to identify users in a cross-platform perspective is missing.
Blendee’s Marketing Operating System offers marketers, publishers and advertisers a unique solution that enables them effective cross-domain, cross-channel and cookieless customer experience customisation strategies.
