Marketing analytics involves collecting customer data. This should be every business’s number one priority, as it is the key to understanding and converting more customers. A way to successfully collect such data is by first anticipating your customer touch points and planning for how to capture and utilize the data available after each interaction. For example, adding Google Analytics tracking to your website will capture how much time a customer spends on a page which can help identify their interests. 

Here are some other key reasons why it’s essential to capture data from every available customer touch point:

5 Ways to Collect Useful Data from Customers 

Online surveys 

Online surveys are a highly effective means of connecting with your target audience. However, they suffer from low response rates when no incentives are involved. But whilst incentives may improve response rate, according to Survey Monkey, they may inspire biased results. So there needs to be an understanding of the kind of survey being conducted and the right incentive to use where necessary.

Direct conversations

Direct conversations from emails and messages on social media can provide a lot of insight if appropriately utilized by your business. In Nigeria where many brands operate solely on social media, most correspondence is direct between customers and owners. This is an excellent opportunity to tactfully get as much information out of the customer. Information related to why they want to buy a product or why not if they later decide to stop the transaction. 

Tracking website

A website is the best way to get as much data as possible. This is because there are many activities from the first visit until checkout. Websites usually have their own tracking metrics and dashboard. Still, some would argue that Google Analytics is superior for its unique way of measuring sessions. 

Social listening

Social listening involves paying attention to what customers say about your brand online. Larger organizations usually have a software suite that helps with mining and analyzing data for sentiment or running machine learning algorithms. A smaller business may still automate some of this process using free Google Alerts.

Image tags

Often on Instagram, your business may get tagged on pictures of customers consuming or wearing your product. As another form of social listening, you can use this image data to analyze how customers use your product. This can inform your marketing messages but is also important for how it can influence people’s opinions of your brand.

Conclusion

Protect Customer Data: It is very important for businesses to protect customers’ data collected and not misuse them or store them carelessly. Data privacy laws exist and this enforces transparency, fairness, and minimization of information collected on a subject especially personally identifiable information.

Using customer data, businesses can achieve their profit goals quicker if they understand their customers and how to convert them.