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Capturing and analysing customer data has long been an essential part of developing a successful business. The right data offers crucial insight into your customer’s buyer journey, preferences, pain points, and even the success or failure of your sales and marketing strategies.
Unfortunately, collecting the right customer data is becoming more complex for business leaders. Even in a world of constant digital transformation, where new tools for data analysis and capture are emerging all the time, companies are struggling with changing compliance standards and regulations.
For instance, in January 2020, Google announced it would be phasing out third-party cookies, a change that’s primed to take place in 2024. This means 75% of companies that rely heavily on third-party cookie insights, will suddenly find themselves without the same degree of insights.
So, what exactly can you do to access essential data in 2024?
Before we discuss some of the strategies companies can use to collect customer data in the current landscape, it’s worth exploring why it’s so important to continue accessing these insights. The ultimate goal of collecting data from customers is to learn more about your audience, so you can increase sales, revenue, and customer loyalty.
Collecting the right customer data means you can:
The process of collecting customer data will no doubt change in 2024, as third-party cookies are phased out by many tech leaders, and compliance standards change. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean companies have to give up on their data-driven strategies.
As long as you’re cautious about the strategy you implement, and you’re willing to get a little creative, you can still access insights in a range of ways.
The easiest way to collect information from your customers is to ask them for it. Today’s consumers are more vocal than you might think. Around 74% of consumers say they’ve left a review for a business in the last couple of years. All you need to do is actively encourage the right feedback.
Ask your customers to review your products via a comment section on your website, or ensure your business is listed on third-party review platforms. Send surveys out to consumers automatically after they’ve completed a purchase, to gather insights into their experiences. You can even incentivise feedback, offering discounts and free gifts to those who share their reviews.
Although quantitative data doesn’t always provide the same level of insight as qualitative feedback, it can still be extremely useful. You can still collect data at the point of sale for your business, accessing insights into transaction times, where customers are coming from, and which products or services they purchase. You can even track purchasing histories and payment methods.
Collecting transactional data can give you an insight into your number of recurring customers, and level of churn. It can also showcase changing shopping trends related to your business, and help you define which customers have the highest lifetime value for your organisation.
Third-party cookies may no longer be an option for businesses in 2024, but first-party cookies are still an option, provided you use them correctly. If you conduct business via a website, you can use cookies and tracking tools to find out how customers interact with your website, which pages they visit, and even when they abandon a cart or page.
The key to success when using these tools is making sure you remain compliant with the regulations in your region, such as GDPR and CCPA. You’ll need to ensure you’re disclosing the fact that you’re collecting data from customers on your website, so they can decide whether they want to leave.
Interactive content is an excellent way to not only improve customer engagement with your marketing campaigns but also collect useful insights. Quizzes and surveys can be an excellent way to learn more about your target audience, and the products or services they need. Polls on social media can even give you an insight into which products your customers prefer.
Interactive content can be an excellent way to capture more leads for your business too. For instance, offering customers access to the results of a quiz, or a free online tool, like a calculator, can encourage them to share their contact details with your business.
Social media listening tools and brand monitoring tools are another excellent option for collecting data safely, and compliantly. These tools allow you to track all the times customers mention you, your brand, or your products, whether its on online forums, social channels, or review sites.
Many social listening tools can also give you a chance to learn more about what customers are saying about your competitors at the same time. This can be extremely helpful if you want to look for ways to differentiate your brand from other market-leading companies.
AI tools are becoming increasingly valuable to many go-to-market strategies. They can help with everything from generating customer outreach messages to analysing market trends. If you have a chatbot on your website, this can be an excellent source of insight into which questions your customers are having, as well as the problems they face.
Once again, if you’re using a chatbot, you will need to let your customers know that any information they share could be recorded. Some bots can even upload information automatically to your CRM system and other databases, supporting your employees in collecting insights.
In 2024, companies everywhere will need to rethink how they’re collecting customer data. They’ll need a new focus on compliance, and a new strategy for curating first-party insights, instead of relying on third-party cookies and similar tools.
Fortunately, even with the changes happening in the market today, there are still plenty of ways you can gather, use, and analyse valuable customer insights.
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