Integrating customer data solutions

Omnichannel has been the talk of the retail sector but is increasingly acquiring wider significance as most businesses look at connecting with their customers across wider touchpoints. So, what do you do with customer data that is increasingly becoming crucial to keep your customers engaged and your product/service relevant across multiple channels?

We took a look at what these are and the importance of effective communication with platforms like Etisalat Smart Messaging Platform

Delivering relevant, timely, personalized customer experiences is no longer just a competitive advantage – it's expected. But many marketers struggle to make the leap to a sophisticated, scalable, and effective strategy that reaches specifically targeted customers. The Digital Marketing Institute has some guidance on how to make the most out of your customer data, so we thought we would share some of the areas that allow smaller businesses to make the most of customer data.

Customer data, sometimes including personal, behavioural, and demographic, is collected by companies and departments from their customer base or from across various touchpoints and channelled through a centralised data system. This collected data is often processed through customer data platforms (CDP), a central repository for dispersed customer data that enables marketers to better understand each prospect, segment customers, and personalize their experience. Platforms like Etisalat Smart Messaging system unify, understand and use data to deliver the impactful customer engagement and loyalty. Most similar platforms often unify data across various integrations to share actionable customer insights.

Customer engagement

The customer experience is enhanced when you engage them proactively but that requires that you need the right data and how you capture that data. These can be in the form of web forms, chatbots, messages on Whatsapp or Facebook or any other social media for that matter.

Use annual surveys, random or targeted telephone calls, or online opinion tracking tools (many of which are freeware) to continuously understand and engage your customer. It will help you uncover insights into what your customers (and often your employees) like, want and expect from your company.

In the UAE, for example, effective communication is offered from tools like Etisalat Smart Messaging Platform where you can create messages that are completely customised. The solution allows businesses to effectively plan and manage instant, scheduled, personalised or template-based campaigns to create a lasting engagement through SMS, email, in-app notifications as well as chatbots. The platform offers the options of using recurring and schedule options, API-based email and SMS triggers.

A good customer engagement platform also offers the options for detailed reports with KPIs/ analytics for each channel you use. Being cloud-based, these self-service, customer engagement platforms make it easier to access from anywhere and easily integrate into CDPs and create an effective communication strategy you need

Of course, for larger businesses, there are the larger CRMs that are rapidly acknowledging the importance of the SMB sector and the changing ways we do business. There are some excellent comparison sites like Capterra that help you find the right platform for your needs but for the UAE – you need to go no further than Etisalat Smart Messaging Platform.

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