Many companies have started realizing as of late they have been missing some key information regarding their target audience to be able to meet their needs more effectively, or to even market to them. There are various reasons why companies have a lack of data on their customers, but fortunately, there are a few different ways for them to improve their data strategies.
First party data
With the prevalence and number of social media platforms, it’s no surprise that most companies use these platforms to gather more data on their target audiences. However, the biggest problem with generating data from social media platforms is the fact that companies won’t have all of the information they need to be able to target their audiences better. Not only that, but companies also can’t use the data they have on one platform, to market to audiences on another platform, because each platform these days operates in a silo.
However, the best way to go about getting the right type of data from customers is for companies to start relying on first-party data. After all, with the latest data privacy regulations being introduced, as well as the fact that search engines are phasing out third-party cookies, companies will have no other choice, but to rely on the data that they can collect from their websites, email, and surveys from their customers. Fortunately, the type of data that comes directly from the audience provides a lot more high-quality insights about the customers, which allows companies to better meet their needs.
Source
Around a third of all companies have stated that all of their data regarding their customers have been fully integrated with various tools and systems—however, a lot of these tools and systems, such as social media platforms, operate in silos, which means that data can’t be transferred from one tool or platform to another.
This type of disconnect in data is a big problem because companies don’t know the full context that they need to be able to make better business decisions that are going to be data-driven. Fortunately, companies can rely on a single source to connect all of the different data points that they’ve generated from each tool or platform, which means the data is going to be a lot easier to access, as well as ensure that the company has the right information it needs.
Refreshing
Finally, with how quickly the lives of consumers are changing, companies have also been struggling to keep up with all of those changes in their purchasing behaviors and habits. That means companies will have to refresh the data that they have already generated on the target audience to be able to meet their needs in the coming months and years more regularly.
