The rise of DIY customer data: In-house data collection and analysis
As customer experience becomes front and centre for many organisations, the collection of customer data has never been more vital. Jun Clarke, Vice President Asia Pacific at Lucid, explains how intelligent software is paving the way for more in-house data collection and analysis.
The pandemic has taught us that appropriately tracking, capturing, and analysing customer data intelligence is paramount. Customer behaviours and attitudes are always shifting, and the businesses that are best positioned to understand, reach, and market toward those shifts are the ones that will succeed in scaling revenue.
A Capgemini report (‘A new playbook for chief marketing’) found that 43 per cent of marketing teams are using data to decide a go-to-market strategy for a new product and service, while 40 per cent are using data to modify their campaign strategy. The same percentage agreed they are harnessing data to build brands with strong equity, and 35 per cent have used data to introduce new business models.
Data procurement has traditionally been viewed as a managed service. Companies hire and rely on third-party data platforms and consulting services to do the tracking, capturing, and analysing.
However, there is this notion now that data is evolving to become much less a managed service as data is everywhere, and at everyone’s fingertips. It is no longer confined to the walls of a research firm or agency. But what does this evolution mean for companies and the data industry at large?
What is DIY data?
We are at a fascinating, albeit unsettling, time in which workflow procedures have been forever disrupted and already scarce budgets and resources feel that much more crunched. This brings us to this new concept of DIY data.
Chances are that your organisation today benefits from a CRM system whether that be a well-known platform or something more homegrown. The bottom line is: most companies today understand the value behind customer interaction data and are doing whatever they can, by whatever means, to harness it.
DIY data, by definition, is the idea that organisations can collect and leverage their own data and analyse it internally to help guide future business decisions.
Today, organisations not only have the data at their fingertips, but also understand that their in-house team is going to be the group of people closest to that data, and are therefore in the best position to decipher it correctly. They understand the ins and outs of the data accrued; they have an inkling of what it may mean based on their past project knowledge and projections for future company growth.
Not only that, but implementing in-house data collection and analysis is more cost-effective and time-efficient. Why expend additional time for briefings, analysis, and reporting with an outside party if there is bandwidth to do the same in house?
Does this mean market research firms will become obsolete?
Not exactly. They, too, are going through a disruptive period one in which research technology is now top of mind.
Technology is modernising traditional market research practices, and by leveraging automation software or other advanced tools to facilitate research, platforms, agencies, and brands are able to target, deliver, and analyse their insights initiatives more quickly.
Businesses can extract specific data to pinpoint shifting sentiments and capture how their target audience demographic is feeling at any given moment, something that has emerged as a critical need in recent months.
Both in-house teams and research partners benefit from embracing new approaches to getting the consumer insights they are after. Flexibility is greater as turnaround times and overall cost of projects improve without sacrificing accuracy and quality.
The proliferation of DIY data and transformation of the market research industry is clearing the path for a future with greater access to valuable information for all.
Where does the future of data as a service lie?
Data is more readily available when accessed through software. Therefore, the future of data as a service relies on continued developments in technology through software’s ability to DIY data and make it more readily available to those who need it.
With data being truly everywhere, change is on the horizon for nearly every industry. And, no matter how businesses ultimately harness and analyse data moving forward, they must view data as their compass and foster a data driven culture in order to create an environment for business and customer experience excellence.
