“Customer Data Is Not Too Valuable To Share, It Is Too Valuable To Hoard”
Companies are sitting on a treasure trove, if only they knew how to use it.
The treasure trove is the customer data that every company is collecting each time a customer buys one of its products, or even visits its website. It’s a gold mine that is destined to grow even bigger, as the “Internet of Things” sucks up an increasing amount of consumer information: how much exercise we get and how much power we use; how well we sleep and what our blood pressure is; how much we drive and what we weigh.
Companies, of course, are hardly strangers to the use of all this data. They tap it for marketing (we have recommendations for you!), for decisions about research and development, and for strategic business initiatives. But here’s the thing: All that data is too often kept behind closed doors. It is used to study and target potential customers, but is rarely shared with them.
That’s understandable. A combination of competitive anxiety and security concerns means that businesses are loath to release their wealth of data. But those fears mean they are missing the much larger opportunity that data offers. Letting customers access and use their own personal data in innovative ways offers the customers more value when they buy a company’s products and services. And sharing aggregate data helps companies build brand awareness and attract new customers.
Start with the use of personal data. Imagine a cable company, for instance, that tells me how many hours my children spend watching cartoons, and how that tracks against other families with children the same age. If my child is watching five times as many hours of “Looney Tunes” as other children his age (I wish that was a hypothetical), I’d like to know that we need to cut down. (In fact, I’ll show my son the data so he’ll understand why I’ve reduced his screen time.)
Or maybe I’ll sign up for that educational channel the cable company has been promoting, since I see that other children divide their time between watching cartoons and science shows much more than my son does.
Don’t you think the value of that cable service just went up for me? I’ll certainly choose the cable company that offers me that kind of insight over a company that just sends me a mystery bill with no details on what our family is actually watching.
Or think about grocery shopping. As things stand, my loyalty-card data may help the nearest grocery store figure out what to stock on its shelves, or to send me deals for my favorite brand of shampoo. But the data that store collects would be much more valuable if I had access to it directly, so that it could actually make my shopping easier.
Supermarkets could tell me exactly how often I buy milk, yogurt, bananas and other staples; that should help me plan my shopping trips. Better yet, they could provide that data in a form I can combine with other sources of insight—such as my fitness-tracker data, or the readouts from our electronic scale—so I can see how my weight and fitness levels relate to what I am eating. Do I eat better when I’m working out more? Am I cooking more lately, or do I seem to be eating out more often?
Once a grocery store gives me that information, I won’t make those quick stops into the convenience store when we’re running low on milk or have a craving for ice cream: I will want to bring all my business to the store that helps me track and access my shopping data.
Even businesses that don’t have a daily, weekly or even monthly relationship with their customers can get in on this. A hardware store could track my light bulb and battery purchases and show me when I’ll likely need to restock. The gardening company we use for occasional yard work could give us an online account that lists the variety of plants in our yard, and show us how fast they’ll grow in our region—then let us sign up for reminders when it’s time for a trim. Our dentist could provide us with a view of how often we make it in for a cleaning (and how often we reschedule)—so we still have teeth for them to work on! All these scenarios are about giving customers an extra layer of insight into how they buy your products and services, so that they stay in touch—and keep buying them.
Companies don’t just have to offer me an individualized look based on the data I’m providing them. Rather, they have reams of aggregate data that I would find both fascinating and useful. That data could be fueling blog posts and infographics, reports and press releases—any of which would be far more interesting, relevant and shareable than the typical content churned out by marketing teams.
So, for instance, media companies shouldn’t just suggest movies to individual subscribers based on subscribers’ past rentals. Instead, why not break down movie habits by age and gender, and release a list of the movies popular among both men and women my age. That way, instead of arguing about whether to watch the rom-com recommended for me or the zombie movie recommended for him, my husband and I can find the movies we will both enjoy. That kind of information separates the company’s brand from a vast array of competitors. I may have a dozen different ways to rent a movie, but renting from this company is now an experience I’ll associate with strengthening my relationships.
Similarly, a bookseller could tell me which elementary-school book purchases are the best predictors of enthusiastic reading in adolescence. I can get a list of children’s best sellers anywhere, but as a parent, I want to buy the books that will actually foster my child’s lifelong passion for reading. That not only helps me be a more frequent customer today (by helping me choose what to buy) but also wins my long-run loyalty to a brand that shares my values.
Or retailers can tell me about the regional or seasonal differences in what Americans buy, or the times of day when they like to go shopping. If the retailer lets me know when people buy their winter coats, I can beat my fellow shoppers to the best selection; if it tells me which cities sell more chocolate, and which cities sell more wine, I’ll know what to shop for when I am traveling.
Ultimately, the point is clear: Whether delivered customer by customer or aggregated into a big picture, sharing customer data offers businesses the opportunity to attract new customers and offer greater value to the customers they already have.
Customer data is not too valuable to share. It is too valuable to hoard.
By Alexandra Samuel (Dr. Samuel is a technology researcher and the author of “Work Smarter With Social Media.”)
Paul Ebeling, Editor
HeffX-LTN
The post “Customer Data Is Not Too Valuable To Share, It Is Too Valuable To Hoard” appeared first on Live Trading News.