As a brand marketer aiming for B2B success, you better know the right people. This doesn’t mean get in good with high-powered business execs, celebrities, and political figures. (Although it couldn’t hurt.) The folks you must know like the back of your hand are the individuals who buy your well-marketed products and services – your customers.
Of course, to know your B2B customers is to track them. By keeping these vital VIPs on company radar, marketing squads gain a source of information with which to answer important questions, such as: Where exactly is your business headed? Do you want it to stay on that course? Where are the latest cross-selling ops? How can we prioritize customers? What is their true value of each customer to us? And much, much more.
So how do you find out who your customers really are, and what makes them tick? Start by zeroing in on the three golden categories of Customer Info. They are as follows —
The Basics. This includes, surprise — name, address, and any other relevant contact info. If you don’t at least have this in your possession, somebody’s been sleeping on the job.
What and When. Products and services provide a wide-open window to customer preferences. So it’s crucial to know exactly what was purchased, what date the purchase was transacted, what method was used (website, phone, showroom, etc.), and if at all possible, why said items or services were bought.
Linking the Mix. Your company, especially if it’s on the larger side, may have multiple websites, subsidiaries, and affiliates, each of which probably generates its own type of interactions with customers. The trick is to stitch together the diverse data accumulated by all of these touch points to create one overall view of each customer. Gathering, organizing, and interpreting the endless info is definitely on somebody’s to-do list. Hey, nobody said it would be easy.
If you have any questions or comments regarding effective customer tracking to help promote your brand, or about any brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way. You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.