3 Experts Demystify The Connection Between Data And CX

Ask any customer relationship manager in any industry about how customer expectations are changing and you’ll hear the same thing: Customers expect more today from the brands they interact with than ever before.

These rising expectations, along with the also-increasing competition, means that fulfilling customers’ needs is no longer enough.

Instead, brands must focus on the purpose for each and every customer interaction. But to do this, they must understand the entire customer journey, from start to finish.

This is a big proposition—no doubt about it. And that’s why the brands that are leading the way are the ones using analytics to power every decision, from the strategic to the tactical. These are the brands that recognize a single valid data point could create the competitive edge that means the difference between success and failure.

But when it comes to analytics, brands have more options than they think. Google Analytics and other free options, for example, are acquisition analytics, not customer journey analytics. (That’s not to mention the fact that Google Analytics plays a huge role in informing Google’s advertising efforts and therefore boosting its revenue—it’s not exactly without its own vested interests.)  

If you want to truly understand what your customers are telling you with every click, bounce, and purchase, you need to dig deeper.

This need to dig deeper is affecting an industry-wide shift toward analytics that focus on optimizing the customer journey. Adobe Analytics is a great example of this innovation and the only program that focuses on data integration and analytics across the entire customer journey, not just the individual points.

Of course, I’m hardly the only one thinking about how analytics has to encompass a more holistic view of the modern, empowered consumer. I spoke with four other leading brand and data experts about how they’re using data to move the needle.  

Ross Quintana, Founder, Social Magnets

Organizations need to go beyond acquisition analytics because success in the future is not transactional, it's relational. Following a customer around with ads is not the type of experience that consumers are looking for. Deep personalization and delivering value at the right time and in the right context is what builds trust between brands and customers. While other solutions use data to deliver a sale, Adobe delivers an experience. Analytics can't just be data, it has to be understanding.

Scott Monty, Executive Advisor, Ford's First Head of Digital Communications

With so many points of contact with customers (SMS, web, app, email, social media, phone, in person, etc.), there are data silos galore. Customer service owns some, sales has its own, marketing has even more, etc. And you know what? The customer doesn't care who they're talking to. To the customer, they're talking to the brand. And when you silo your data, you risk missing cues about customers that can guide your next interaction. Even worse, you can give them an inconsistent brand experience, leading to the impression that you're disorganized or that you don't care about them.

When you own your data and have a seamless end-to-end integrated set of analytics internally, the result is smarter teams, more well-informed decisions, and ultimately, better experiences for customers. And that translates to an improved bottom line.

Kerry O'Shea Gorgone, NBC News Legal Expert, MarketingProfs

Every interaction is an opportunity for a brand to dazzle me or disappoint me. And knowing all the data brands have access to today, I'm easily disappointed. The smart play is to gather data strategically—not just on how you got me to buy, but holistic data on my entire customer journey. Then, use that data to make every one of my experiences with your brand more personalized and relevant.

You don't even have to do much: just align my experience with where you know I am in the customer journey and I'll be dazzled! Other companies have set the bar really low: you can easily outperform them and turn me into a loyal brand advocate!

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Shama Hyder is CEO of Zen Media, a leading marketing and new media consultancy, a best-selling author, and an internationally renowned keynote speaker.

As seen previously on Forbes.