Truly Data Driven: Closed Loops, Customer Journeys and Trust

This edition of the Truly Data Driven newsletter focuses on Customer Journey Mapping, Closed-Loop Analytics, Customer Trust and Loyalty, and the Hype of Customer Data Platforms. Featuring great content by Matt James, Pamela Parker, Manick Bhan, Phil Britt and Daniel Newman.

How to Use Enterprise Data to Build Your Customer Journey Map

Author: Matt James, Veteran Marketer and Tech Geek

The Big Idea: Customer loyalty is in flux right now. The shift could be a bonus for your brand…or for your competitors. How you use customer data to map your customer journey and personalize marketing will make a huge difference. Matt outlines how to build a more accurate customer journey map in this short but informative piece.

Our Take: Consolidating customer data makes mapping far more easy and accurate. Here’s our quick guide.

What’s Behind the Hype about Customer Data Platforms?

Author: Pamela Parker, Research Director, Content Studio at Third Door Media

The Big Idea: The CDP market is heating up, as more and more businesses realize the need for data consolidation, advanced analytics, and intelligent reporting. Pamela brings in plenty of third-party evidence to explain why CDPs are having a moment and what they can do for businesses.

Our Take: Beware: As CDPs become more popular, more vendors will claim their solution is a CDP, even if it lacks key functionality. Check out our CDP Academy for all you need to know.

Why B2B Companies Need Closed-Loop Analytics

Author: Manick Bhan, CTO and Co-Founder at LinkGraph

The Big Idea: In B2B and B2C, data silos are the enemy of good marketing. In order to know the true value and ROI of your marketing—and to improve it over time—you need to close the loop and eliminate gaps between your different analytics and reporting tools. Don’t let your CRM and your Google Analytics exist in separate worlds; they’re all part of the same journey.

Our Take: Customer data orchestration is the last piece to truly close the loop. A CDP like Treasure Data can handle data collection, analytics AND automated action.

Are You Making the Most of Customer Data?

Author: Phil Britt, Owner, S&P Enterprises, Inc

The Big Idea: Your answer to the title question is most likely “no,” and there’s no shame in it—the sheer volume of data itself makes it hard to optimize its usage. Phil offers some concrete ways to tame the data monster and focus on what matters most to the customer journey.

Our Take: Focusing on the right data (and adding smart analytics) is key to getting the most value from your customer data. It all starts with a single customer view.

Honesty, Transparency and Data Collection: Improving Customer Trust and Loyalty

Author: Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research

The Big Idea: For a few years there, brands had a sweet spot for customer data: We were able to collect a ton of it, and customers weren’t all that concerned about who had it. Now, as people grow more savvy and more concerned about their privacy, brands have to be more transparent and truly earn customer trust. Dan offers some inspiring examples of how major brands are managing customers’ privacy.

Our Take: CDPs make it easier to collect, store and analyze customer data while protecting customers’ privacy. Check out our recent interview with Jason Skelton of Acxiom for more.

What’s the next step in data driven marketing? Real-time interaction promises to profoundly transform how we all market. Check out the Forrester Wave™: Real- Time Interaction Management, Q4 2020 to understand what’s coming.

Editor’s note: This is Edition 5 of the Truly Data Driven newsletter, published biweekly on LinkedIn. Subscribe to the series here. If you have a tip on a great resource to include in a future edition of Truly Data Driven, drop a line to Tom Treanor!