When was the last time you actually paid attention to your customer? Like, actually paid attention to them, as in the actual individual behind that social media profile photo or avatar. I’m sure the answers to that question vary quite a bit, however, if we’re, to be honest with ourselves, we can always do more. After all, know your customer is your company.
With the overwhelming amount of consumer data out there, it’s easy to get caught up in the mix and lose sight of the simple fact that behind every single one of those numbers are real people, however, we’ve become so obsessed with quantitative data that we’ve forgotten to pay attention to the people behind those numbers because we’ve become so consumed with and subsequently lost in the numbers.
. Data doesn’t reach out to you.
. Metrics don’t tell you what they’re feeling at that very moment.
. Infographics don’t buy your product(s).
For a long time technology removed the human element from running a business, and much of life for that matter. And in many ways, it still does. However, in many ways, due to the customization and evolutionary intimacy of those same technologies that once removed the human element from life, technology has brought the human element back. It’s just changed its face and the mediums with which we communicate it. In fact, as an entrepreneur, marketer, and/or PR professional, you can openly engage in ways never before with know your customer, and even though digitally, it can still be done in a personalized and intimate manner, and even better for perception, other consumers can now see this engagement, so it has a natural scaling effect. Another customer witnessing high levels of engagement in a public platform such as social media is just as effective as actually engaging that customer.
Data and metrics are great and absolutely should be a key dynamic to decision making, but it should be just that, one part of a complete strategy; a strategy that must include actual consumer engagement. Your customers pay your bills, they influence other customers to either buy or not buy from you, and they are the lifeblood of your company. Combining data with actual customer feedback and emotional responses, good and bad, allows for a perfectly symbiotic approach to decision-making using qualitative and quantitative data.
Know your customer live on their mobile phones, they’re taking selfies, they’re sharing, engaging, and searching. Go find them before someone else does. How are you going to bring back the human element to consumer engagement in this mobile-first, digital economy?…