Data & Touchpoints: Gathering Insights & Mapping Customer Interactions

Data & Touchpoints: Gathering Insights and Mapping Customer Interactions

This document explains various methods for gathering data on your customers and highlights the importance of mapping customer touchpoints to create cohesive and meaningful customer experiences.

Data Gathering Methods

To effectively market to your audience, you must first gather data, which is available from all kinds of primary and secondary sources:

Methods to Gather Data:
- Surveys: Collecting structured feedback from customers through questionnaires.
  - Simple Explanation: Asking customers to fill out a form with questions about their satisfaction, preferences, etc.
  - Real-life Example: Amazon regularly sends out surveys to its customers asking about their shopping experience, product satisfaction, and suggestions for improvement.
- Interviews: Conducting one-on-one conversations with customers to gain deeper insights.
  - Simple Explanation: Meeting people to ask them one on one about their customer experience
  - Real-life Example: Apple often conducts user interviews to test new product designs and usability, understanding how people interact with their technology.
- Social Media: Monitoring and analyzing customer conversations and activities on social media.
  - Simple Explanation: Understanding the importance of social media as a great tool.
  - Real-life Example: Netflix actively monitors Twitter and other social media platforms to understand what shows are trending and customer reactions to new releases.
- Web Analytics: Tracking website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates.
  - Simple Explanation: Seeing what pages people visit on your website and how long they stay there.
  - Real-life Example: Using Google Analytics to determine which pages on your website are most popular, identifying areas where users may be dropping off before making a purchase.
- Customer Feedback: Gathering feedback from customers through reviews, comments, and suggestions.
  - Simple Explanation: Understanding how to use customer feedback in the process
  - Real-life Example: Yelp provides a platform for customer reviews for all different businesses, where those reviews can be a tool to boost trust and brand recognition.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems:
  - Simple Explanation: Using software to keep track of all interactions you have with customers.
  - Real-life Example: Many companies use Salesforce as their CRM, including most fortune 500 companies..
- Audience Analytics Tools:
  - Simple Explanation: Tools to assess audience analytics and target customers.
  - Real-life Example: Using Facebook Audience Insights to create highly targeted, high performing ads.
- Focus Groups: Holding small discussions with a group of people who are interested in your product to understand their perspective
  - Simple Explanation: Having meetings with customers
  - Real-life Example: Before releasing new products, Proctor & Gamble relies on focus groups.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources:
- Primary Data: Data collected directly from your customers.
  - Simple Explanation: Finding out the information yourself
  - Real-life Example: A business conducts a survey
- Secondary Data: Data that comes from others already.
  - Simple Explanation: Getting your information from other sources
  - Real-life Example: A company that is planning on entering a new market may look into information provided by a research organization on customer trends.
Other Data Collection Methods:
- Observations: Simple Explanation: Observing customers while they shop or use your product.
- Textual/Content Analysis: Simple Explanation: Looking at text (like reviews or social media posts) to understand what people are saying.
- Ethnography: Simple Explanation: Studying customers in their natural settings (e.g., at home, at work).
- Transactional Tracking: Simple Explanation: Analyzing customer purchase history to see trends.
Secondary Data Sources:
1. Published Sources: Books and articles.
  - Real-life Example: The White Papers that are used by Accenture to help better provide insights in the industry
2. Online Databases: Used for analysis and research with a wide source of insights.
  - *Real-life Example: Comscore allows marketers to keep track of digital and media channels.
3. Government and Institutional Records: Government provided data to see business and population trends.
- Real-life Example: US Census Data
1. Publicly Available Data: A way to reach new customers and use social media.
- Real-life Example: Statista is used to help people better understand statistics and the world.

Mapping Customer Touchpoints: Understanding Interactions

Customer touchpoint mapping is like creating a road map of every interaction a customer has with your brand, from the first time they hear about you to long after they've made a purchase.

Importance of Mapping Customer Touchpoints and Moments-That-Matter:
- Touchpoint Mapping: Allows you to see all points of interaction and use that to help improve business
  - Real-life Example: Starbucks maps customer interactions such as mobile app usage, store visits, online ordering, and drive-through experiences to identify patterns.
- Moments-That-Matter: Identifying those key instances that have a big impact on the customer and where the experience can be improved or changed.
  - Real-life Example: Ritz-Carlton hotels emphasize "moments of truth," those interactions during a guest's stay that either make or break their loyalty, such as check-in, room service, or problem resolution.
Overview of Customer Journey Stages:
- Awareness: Simple Explanation: The first time a customer realizes you exist.
- Consideration: Simple Explanation: They research your product and see if it's right for them.
- Conversion: Simple Explanation: They decide to buy something.
- Manage: Simple Explanation: Helping them after they've made their purchase.
- Loyalty: Simple Explanation: The customer becomes a repeat buyer.
Understanding Different Layers of a Touchpoint Map:
- Value Stream: Simple Explanation: The steps your business takes to create value for the customer.
- Journey Steps: Simple Explanation: What the customer is doing in each stage of their journey.
- Touchpoints: Simple Explanation: Where the customer and your business interact.
- Performers/Departments: Simple Explanation: Who at your company is responsible for each touchpoint.
- Systems and Data: Simple Explanation: What data or technology you're using at each point.

By understanding all this information, you are more prepared to take on challenges.