Personalization Please! Developing Qualitative Data via Social Media

Data is the key to successful marketing, right? Sure. But we need to ask ourselves as marketers, is the kind of data we are getting even worth the effort? Today, if you’re not developing a deep understanding of your customers needs, pain points, and behavior in general, you’ll be left in the dust by competitors that will eventually have much more robust data than you. What’s more: According to Walker, by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. This is why companies are starting to move toward the “purpose beyond product” model, connecting to people beyond transactions with emotionally engaging storytelling and more personalized digital experiences.

A great way to get started on developing a better and more personalized customer experience via your website and other main digital channels can be with strategic social tactics such as listening & branding[1]:

1.   Co-mingling of marketing and corporate communications

2.   Rethinking corporate brand as a social construct where control is shared with stakeholders

3.   Leveraging electronic word of mouth by complementing conversation between consumers

and conversing & sharing[2]:

1.   Knowledge generation and dissemination that develop human and social capital

2.   Incentivizing conversation

The kind of qualitative data that you can get from this type of behavior can set the foundation for understanding how to segment, target, and market contextually with a personalized experience in every other channel you operate in. According to Wordstream:

So those are some pretty compelling stats, amirite? The audience is there, you just have to start the conversation, listen, and continue to keep the conversation going through content marketing, incentivizing, and keeping close contact with your consumer. All too often, companies are monitoring social, but not really listening. What’s the difference? Ever been told “I know you heard me, but were you listening? Yeah, that. If personalization is the future of marketing, I posit the question, is data worth collecting if you aren’t connecting?

[1] Mandiviwalla, Munir and Watson, Richard. (2014).  Generating Capital From Social Media. MIS Quarterly Executive, 100-102.

[2] Mandiviwalla, Munir and Watson, Richard. (2014).  Generating Capital From Social Media. MIS Quarterly Executive, 105-107.