You’re likely aware that over the past decade, the utilization of customer data has been the driving force behind a company’s success. The average customer is no longer just going to pop into a store and hope to find what they’re looking for. With increasing access to unlimited information, most buyers research solutions to their problems and search for the very best product that provides value.
Whether you have adapted to this change in your marketing strategy can make or break your credibility. The most successful businesses are ones that become industry leaders — educating potential customers not only on their product, but on other solutions for their personalized needs.
Because the shopping experience has changed drastically, so must marketing strategies. No longer do traditional, one-size-fits-all, marketing practices apply. Instead, data and analytics to learn as much about their customers to provide a valuable, personalized experience.
But to find success with utilizing customer data, you have to make sure you’re following best practices and not making stupid mistakes.
Sounds simple, right? There’s a lot more to it than you might think.
Whether you’re using pop-ups, Facebook posts, or email blasts, there are some easy to forget mistakes you must remember to avoid.
Here are the top 3 stupid, yet painfully simple mistakes you might be making.
1. Inundating visitors with the same, silly questions.
Imagine that you’ve been seeing the same doctor for years, and you go in to visit because you think you have bronchitis.
Instead of pulling up your chart and asking you questions based on your symptoms and information he already has, he introduces himself to you, gives you a 15-minute speech about his background, and asks you the same questions he did on your first visit.
Annoyed and likely offended that he treated you like a stranger, you decide to start looking for a new primary care physician. Say sayonara to Doctor Careless!
When you give your visitors the same each time, they feel just as annoyed about getting the introductory tour.
They want a personalized experience.
Whether your website visitors are loyal customers or brand new leads, you need to tailor their experience based on what you already know about them.
You wouldn’t treat your best friend like a stranger every time you meet, would you? No, you wouldn’t. So, don’t treat your website leads and customers like strangers!
With Alpheid, your leads will have a personalized experience that will follow them through the buyer’s journey.
2. Wasting visitors’ time with the wrong information.
It’s time to buy a new car, and you’re looking for an automatic used SUV with towing capacity. You spend a lot of time driving on the highway, so you also need something that’s fuel efficient and environmentally friendly.
You go to the car dealership in search of your next vehicle. The friendly saleswoman asks if you need help finding anything. Before you get to tell her what features you’re looking for, she’s trying to sell you a brand new sports car with a sun roof.
Twenty minutes later, your visit to the car dealership has not added any value.
During the time she showed you the car you obviously did not want, she could have saved both of you time by asking questions to learn what you were looking for, given you a personalized experience, and you could have driven off with your dream car.
The only resource more valuable than money is time. Just like you, your customers are never going to earn their precious hours back. When looking for a solution, they want to make an informed decision as quickly as possible.
Just as any salesperson knows, you can’t assume you already know what visitors are looking for — you need to gather as much information on their needs as you can. Each visitor has their own personal experience at each point in the Buyer’s Journey, and will have their own unique questions about your product.
But how are you going to know which questions to answer?
By gathering as much information about your visitors as possible, you can learn where they are in their journey, what they like, what problems they’re having, and possibly even predict future needs. Alpheid provides the tools you need to learn who your customers are.
Give visitors the right personalized information at the right time, and you can establish yourself as an industry expert and quickly convert leads into loyal customers.
3. Being complacent.
So, you’re not actively doing anything wrong in your marketing strategy. Your current strategy seems to be working, as it’s what you’ve been doing for years. Everything is going well and you don’t have to worry about anything. Right?
Wrong!
One of the biggest business killers is the failure to adapt. Something your marketing department has been doing for ages that once brought success might be costing you down the road.
Take for example Blockbuster, what used to be America’s number one resource for movie rentals. During its years in business, Blockbuster would rent movies on VHS to its customers, and transitioned to renting DVDs.
As technology progressed and streaming services like Netflix proved to be easier and cheaper for movie lovers, fewer customers were going to Blockbuster to pick up the newest DVDs. Why choose the hassle of going to the store and rush around to avoid paying late fees, when you can just watch whatever you want with a click of a button?
Because they were out of touch with the changing times, Blockbuster never caught on to streaming and went out of business in 2013.
To stay relevant and one step ahead, you need to be in tune with your customers. Just as fashion trends come and go, so do the demands for certain products and reasons for purchasing.
With Alpheid, you can stay on top by knowing what your potential customers are looking for and what your current customers will want in the future.
It’s so easy to get caught up in your own strategy that you forget to think ahead, ask the right questions, and really think about what your leads and customers are experiencing with you.
As the new buyer’s journey is forcing marketing strategies to focus on inbound methods, it’s vital to use what information you can get to attract the right customers — the very people who are looking for you. Click To TweetWhether you’re developing a strategy for a brand new start-up or are looking to spice up your tried and true methods, Alpheid can help you get to know your customers better.
Be adaptable. Be efficient. Be curious.