Are People at the Center of Your Marketing?

Data is a powerful tool for reaching into the world of your customers and creating meaningful connections. However, before data can fulfill its purpose, you must first create a meaningful customer experience.

According to a recent report by the CMO Council ("The Purpose-Built Experience"), 73% of CMOs say that customer centricity through each engagement, experience, and touchpoint is "nothing short of critical" to the success of their businesses. In fact, of the 59% who indicated that customer experiences had impacted their businesses, 25% attributed positive customer experiences with revenue increases of more than 5%.

Customer experience begins with how you communicate with your customers, whether through print, email, or mobile devices. Here are five steps to making sure that the experience is positive:

1. Have a strategy. Creating a positive customer experience requires more than tracking customer behavior and mailing promotions. It requires creating a human connection that makes your buyers say, "They understand me!" This effort cannot be haphazard or reactionary. It must be strategic and proactive.

2. Lead with empathy. Put on your customers' shoes. Understand where they are coming from so that you can craft messaging that is meaningful to them. Need help? Try creating buyer personas. Boardview reports that 90% of companies using personas have developed a clearer understanding of who their buyers are.

3. Understand the customer journey. Understanding the customer journey involves connecting all the customer touchpoints—both online and offline. Understanding each "point" along the continuum is essential, but stay focused on the larger experience, as well.

4. Get your data out of silos. Create a single, integrated database that encompasses all points of customer interaction, from the initial contact to the purchase. Tie together all the points of connection to improve consumers' overall experience with your brand.

5. Get human. Data and technology are critical to your marketing strategy, but unless they have humanity and relevance behind them, they lack actual effectiveness. Customer experience humanizes the marketing machine, bringing the fundamental concept of "We know and care about you" back to the customer dialogue.

When you step back and look at the bigger picture, customer-centric marketing isn't just about implementing better tactics. It's about fundamentally shifting how you view your role in the marketplace. The companies that truly excel are those that recognize that every data point represents a real person with real needs, and every touchpoint is an opportunity to build it.