The amount of data collected over the internet everyday continues to grow at a rapid speed. Whether you are pulling demographics from your website visitors, collecting email addresses with newsletter subscriptions, or organizing a list of IP addresses, you should be using customer data as often as possible. If you have the data, but don’t know what to do with it, it’s time to figure out how it adds value to your business.

Clients will often ask us how we use and store data to boost sales. There are many ways data collection can add a competitive edge to your sales strategy, but the overall goal is to design a user experience that translates into the needs of your users. Defining your specific target audience and uncovering the way they behave online will give you the power to improve how your product or service is being delivered and will get those products into the right hands.

Ways to Optimize User Data

Now that you understand why you need data, you will want to strategize ways to obtain it. With technology becoming so personalized, tightening your communication strategy is a good place to start.

• Customer Service – When you open up the channels of communication from targeted PPC ads to email marketing, you get the opportunity to speak directly with the consumer. Sending personalized inbox messages when your customers view, click, or purchase an item, makes them feel like they are being helped to make a purchasing decision. With the data you collect, you will be able to further determine your customer’s interest in your product or service and send them suggestions in the future. This tailored approach improves the user experience to a personal level, connecting emotion to your brand.
• Builds Your Database – Simple strategies such as including a free guide related to your industry, How-To’s, or e-books are a great way to funnel consumer email addresses and IP addresses. We have found this tactic to be quite helpful in obtaining information for our clients, as it only requires a one-time activation. Having this information gives you the opportunity to reach out to those consumers with sales, events, and brand update in the future. Not only will you have somewhere to send the information, but you now have a list of interested buyers. Having the attention of your target audience will gain you longer customer retention rates and feed your sales funnel.
• Social Media Interaction – You spend so much time prepping your social media strategy, why wouldn’t you reap the benefits of the information it provides? As you establish a sense of trust and transparency with your customers through social media channels, you will begin to see more engagement with your posts. Understanding what consumers are reacting to will help you improve your marketing strategy in the future. By studying the data provided, you will learn which platforms your customers prefer, more detailed information about the average buyer persona, and how they like to interact with your brand. Having the details in the data will help you narrow down the audience you spend marketing dollars on and save money in the long run.

There is a lot to consider when deciding how you will use the data you receive. Organizing the information by where you receive it will help keep your business on track for retaining most customers you find through data collection. Keep in mind that you will need to follow federal and state regulations on how you are using and storing the information you receive. You can find these regulations at the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and CAN-SPAM Act regulation websites.

How is your business currently using data?