COMPLACENT MARKETING
Marketing Automation : Serving The Future Customer
By Diana Obath
We all know that data is currently the most valuable commodity in marketing . As the world is increasingly shifting online and mobile data access increasing , the customers are becoming more discerning and will retract towards brands that offer them the digital solutions that they need .
The pandemic only served to accelerate the importance of data collection when designing marketing campaigns to cater to customers need for faster , more efficient e-commerce services .
Kenya however remains an unpredictable market for brands as the consumers are exposed to both local and global experiences and seek more active and engaging interactions with brands based on past interactions . Brands must therefore create more robust digital experiences based on insights gathered from both personal and behavioral customer data to create a personalized engagement strategy .
This means that companies should employ a multi-channel strategy with different touch-points that synthesize every digital and offline interaction and amalgamate the customer profile in the backend to build a unique perspective for the marketing team that can inform product development .
In this burgeoning digital era , brands are looking at their customers from a new lens and have begun to re-analyze the customer lifecycle to deliver the right communication , at the right time and right place . Only well organized and wellorchestrated data can provide valuable information about the consumer in this new era . A lot has changed about the customers over the last 12 months , with most still relying on online platforms but at the same time fatigued by the long hours that they have to be online .
Customers still leave data trails as they browse through the internet or on social media apps , or apps in general , many of which collect background data in an effort to ensure that customers are served with the right retargeted commercials . However , marketers need to untangle the website footprints and pick out the right insights about the customers for their intended market strategy . A robust automation solution is able to deliver these insights and inform delightful user
Brands must create more robust digital experiences based on insights gathered from both personal and behavioral customer data to create a personalized engagement strategy . experiences that can further define the brand .
A good marketing automation software can define a one-to-one experience for every single customer , even at scale . The growth of voice is probably driven by this automated and extremely personalized experience where the AI personal assistant - Siri or Alexa - is always listening in to your conversation and tracking your movement .
On a bright sunny day , Siri would wake you up with ‘ Good Morning Susan , the weather is beautiful for a 5KM run today .’ The app is quite aware that it has been cold , and you have not been able to take your usual 5KM morning run because of the dip in temperatures . Modern-day marketing automation solutions should be able to do the same thing for brands .
Online shopping platforms have been able to do this well . When you first log in to a shopping platform , the mobile or web experience would offer you a range of options to choose from . After one or two clicks , the site will start to serve you items that you would be looking for and begins to appear like it is in conversation with you . As you browse through , the site will assimilate data from past purchases , platform data , search history and other algorithms that will quickly work to create a customized shopping experience .
This strategy powers up to 35 % of sales on Amazon . Brands can and should do the same with a powerful marketing automation solution that can handle scale and create one-on-one data loops
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