Given that consumer data powers the ability to create personalized experiences, capturing extensive information about customers, on an ongoing basis, is increasingly important. Surprisingly, however, a 2016 Forrester study found most companies don’t regularly measure customer experience (CX) quality, citing:

• 39% don’t regularly ask customers for feedback about their interactions—the most basic form of CX measurement
• 77% say that they don’t model the drivers of CX quality regularly, leaving them in the dark about what matters most to their customers
• 60% don’t regularly track operational data that reveals what really happened during interactions to help explain why customers felt the way that they did

Market Segmentation Leads to Precise Customer Targets

Since not all customers are the same, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing to them. One of the best uses of data is to segment customers. Segmenting enables you to focus on a more homogenous group of customers, and therefore much more precisely tailored products or services. Segmentation can add several layers of intelligence based on key differentials, including:

• Demographic information—age, gender, race, employment status, marital status
• Socio-economic status—income, wealth, occupation, education
• Geographical location
• Purchasing habits

Target marketing reduces costs, because you’re not wasting resources trying to please everyone, and it increases revenue because people buy products that are “suited for them.” So, instead of creating generic products and messaging that doesn’t “speak” to anyone, you’re creating targeted solutions designed to “delight” a smaller group.

Product Customization

Mining customer data is perfect for creating custom products and features designed for specific market segments. However, truly innovative products are created when you look at your customer data and spot gaps that customers are demanding be filled. The most innovative companies start with a pain point they’ve uncovered from their data and then build a viable product that will solve that problem. Do this and you will easily stay ahead of your competitors.

easyJet Transforms Customer Data into Emotional Stories

British low-cost carrier easyJet was founded in 1995 and successfully leveraged its innovative low-cost business model to disrupt the marketplace for the next two decades. It is now the largest airline in the United Kingdom and has successfully enhanced its value proposition beyond low cost by becoming a truly customer-centric brand.

In 2010, easyJet wanted to use its 20th birthday as a means to communicate its appreciation to all of its customers. The goal was to tell their story in a way that would resonate personally and emotionally with each customer, and avoid the typical self-congratulatory communications.

“How 20 Years Has Flown”

The subsequent campaign successfully shifted the focus from the airline to their customers by celebrating their experiences over the last 20 years, highlighting easyJet’s evolution from low-cost airline to a market-leading airline brand. Leveraging their data, easyJet created fully personalized emails with dynamic copy, images and links to tell each customer’s story from their first flight—to recommended future flights. The story spoke for customers who had only flown once, to those who have traveled hundreds of times and inspired the emotion of nostalgia and the excitement of future trips.

The Results

easyJet sent 12,473,608 unique emails that enjoyed open rates more than 100% higher than their average newsletter, and 25% higher click-through rates. They immediately saw an overwhelmingly positive response across social media with an estimated reach of 685,000 people and more than 1.1 million impressions. Hundreds of customers posted about receiving their story; sentiments were 78% positive with “love” the most commonly used word—not results experienced with a typical email campaign. Across all markets, 7.5% of easyJet customers who received the fully personalized version made a booking in the next 30 days.

Gathering Customer Data

Customer experience professionals routinely depend on surveys for voice of the customer (VoC) and customer experience (CX) measurement. With Sogolytics’s robust capabilities, it’s easy to analyze customer satisfaction, customer feedback, and customer experience data. Our full-featured APIs allow you to automate the survey process and integrate survey data with your systems. The unique Rules & Alerts feature keeps you on top of customer satisfaction concerns in real time, giving you the opportunity to be proactive and address customer complaints before they are publicized on social media.

Your business’ success hinges on placing your customers at the heart of what you do— and data plays a powerful role. Customer data is an undeniable must-have to improve your offerings, but critical to your success is understanding how to use that data to deliver a better customer experience.