If there’s one component to an effective marketing campaign you can’t afford to omit, it’s collecting data to direct your efforts. In the same way that cooking a memorable meal requires the freshest, most flavorful ingredients and spices, crafting an exceptional marketing campaign means curating a wide set of new, accurate, and applicable data. However, understanding the importance of data is a different task entirely from collecting it in the wild; you have likely even asked yourself how best to gather data on your consumer base.
The answer, surprisingly, is to go to your customers themselves. While you can purchase a mailing list and third-party data, the information provided to you by your consumers is more effective when you take it directly from them. From gathering data on your website from browsing customers down to follow-up communications, there are many ways to gather data from your clientele.
So to get you started, here are five approaches you should try to get your target audience to share more information about themselves.
Just Ask — And Offer an Incentive
Sometimes, all it takes to get customers to share data is to make it worth their while. In general,
clients are more willing to share personal information when they recognize some kind of benefit. One approach is to offer customers a customized, curated experience in exchange for their data; for example, a clothes retailer might entice customers with the allure of style suggestions or on-site quizzes to “learn more about their style,” offering tips once customers share what kind of clothes they like.
Other, more direct approaches might include entering clients in giveaways in exchange for surveys or feedback. Above all else, make sure to continue engaging with customers once they’ve shared information. Offer newsletters and mailing lists to keep them updated on future content or products that match their profile.
Let Address Updates Do Double Duty
The perfect time to gather information from your clients is when they’re already offering it freely, so when you ask people to update their contact information, ask them to provide other demographic or lifestyle information, too. Attaching a simple survey to the process is a great way to get clients to share their data with you, especially if you tie that survey to the offer of a personalized business experience.
Ask in the Moment
Similarly, one of the best times to gather information from your customers is when they’re already making contact with you. As clients navigate your website, reach out to them through automated, on-site chat features to gather more information. From offering to help them search for specific goods or services to offering an improved customer experience, there’s no better time to gather data from customers than during their shopping experience.
Follow Up on the Sale
Gathering data from your clients might just be as simple as asking them to share their information. As it turns out, clients love providing feedback to businesses, both positive and negative alike. When you’ve concluded your sale with a client, take a moment to follow up with a short questionnaire. On it, ask questions about their shopping experience and satisfaction with the retail process, but be sure to include questions about their lifestyle or demographic, too. Not only can you improve your storefront experience with this data, but you can also incorporate the other parts of the survey into future marketing campaign efforts.
Understand the Mindsets
When you begin organizing your marketing campaign, make sure you understand how customers perceive sharing their data. Different consumer bases have different attitudes towards sharing information, and you should reflect that in how you organize your marketing.
Regardless of what audience you are appealing to, you need to recognize that there is no ubiquitous, singular opinion towards providing data. Making sure that you’re sensitive to your clientele’s concerns towards sharing information ensures that you’ll gather more useful information across the board.
As it turns out, learning more about your target audience is an achievable goal, and sometimes, it can be as easy as just asking. So whether you’re beginning to gather information for a future marketing campaign or looking to apply data you’ve already gathered, PMI is here to help. Providing creative marketing solutions to the Bay Area, our team of professional experts has the skillset needed to build your brand’s presence through data-driven advertising. So, contact us today, and let’s start preparing your next marketing push today.
