How to Use Data Analytics to Improve the Customer Experience

TL;DR:

• When you use data analytics to improve customer experiences, you get a variety of benefits: increased customer engagement, improved customer loyalty, higher retention, better targeting, and more.
• The top three ways to improve customer experiences via data analytics include through customer journey mapping, customer segmentation, and the development of personalized experiences.
• Data analytics requires zero-party and first-party data, both of which come directly from your customers through different collection methods.
• Discover how NARS uses Jebbit to not only enhance their customer experience but also to collect invaluable zero-party data.
• To collect and analyze customer data, you’ll need powerful customer relationship management tools or a customer data platform — and there are many that integrate with Jebbit, including BlueConic, Klaviyo, Qualtrics, and more.

The customer experience (CX) is everything — and by everything, we mean that it spans every experience your customers have with your brand. It starts when consumers first become aware of your brand and products and continues on from there. You might think that the customer experience ends when people make a purchase, but since most businesses are looking for repeat purchases or brand advocates, it’s important to think about  the customer experience post-purchase. In fact, 47% of consumers enjoy personalized experiences after they’ve bought a product/service based on Forrester’s August 2022 Consumer Energy Index And Retail Pulse Survey. 

That’s the customer experience in a nutshell — and there is always room to optimize it. That’s why we’re going to show you how to use data analytics to improve the customer experience.

The Benefits of Improving Customer Experiences via Data Analytics

One study shows that 93% of marketers plan to increase investments in big data and analytics. It’s a popular topic — and there’s a very good reason why.

That’s because there’s virtually no limit to the advantages of data analytics in marketing. Using data analytics to improve your CX means examining user experiences through the lens of data — and when you do that, the insights you gain will give you the following benefits:

• Better targeting with marketing messages
• Increased customer engagement
• Improved customer retention and reduced customer churn
• Increased customer lifetime value
• Greater customer loyalty and satisfaction
• Increased conversion rates
• The ability to address pain points within the customer experience
• Valuable insights that allow you to optimize product features

Why do we say that the advantages are virtually limitless? Actually, there are two reasons. For one thing, the list above is just the beginning — you’ll find many more benefits along the way. And two, data analytics is a continuous process that allows you to keep on making improvements to the CX, so you can create even greater levels of overall customer satisfaction.

3 Ways to Use Data Analytics to Improve the Customer Experience

As you can see, customer experience analytics comes with a lot of benefits that can give you a major competitive advantage. But what’s the best way to provide better customer experiences through CX analytics? There are many techniques you can use — and we’ll show you the essentials.

1. Map the Customer Journey

Customer journey mapping is the process of identifying each stage and every touchpoint along the path that your customers take with your brand. It includes everything from the initial discovery phase through the purchase phase and beyond — since the goal is to encourage both brand advocacy and repeat purchases.

When it comes to customer experience management, customer journey mapping should be a cornerstone of your improvement plan. The reason why is because you can combine data analytics with a fully mapped customer journey to see where the pain points are and where you can optimize touchpoints for even better results. 

So here’s an example. Let’s say that you look over your customer journey map and discover that customers are dropping off during the decision-making phases of the journey. What to do? Analyze the metrics that are relevant to this particular touchpoint. 

For this use case, you can look at page views to zero in on the trouble. If people are lingering on pricing or product pages and adding things to shopping carts but not completing the purchase, that’s a good indication that something is up with the checkout process. Maybe you’re surprising customers with super high shipping costs, maybe the checkout process is clunky and cumbersome, or perhaps there’s another issue. You can dive even deeper into the data to find out — and make a data-driven decision to fix the problem.

2. Segment Your Customers

Improving the customer experience means you need to understand your customers — and if your business is like most, then your customers are a diverse group of people from all over the world and all walks of life. That’s what makes customer segmentation a super handy tool for your toolbox. 

To create customer segments, you’re going to need two things: a customer segmentation model and plenty of data to analyze. Here are a few examples of segmentation models to choose from:

• Demographic segmentation: Sort customers into groups according to demographic factors such as age, gender, or education level.
• Psychographic segmentation: Categorize customers according to psychological commonalities like belief systems or core values.
• Behavioral segmentation: Analyze what people buy, how often they buy it, and why they buy it — then group them accordingly.
• Geographic segmentation: Group people according to geographical locations.
• Transactional segmentation: Organize customers according to how they’ve interacted with your brand.
• Needs-Based Segmentation: Organize groups customers based on what they need from your product or service 

The list above details some of the most commonly used segmentation models, but there are others that can help you segment your customers to deeply understand your customer needs, and design experiences tailored to them. Choose one to start — but remember that you’re not limited to just one segmentation model. In fact, as time goes on, you’ll likely want to segment your audience using multiple models so that you can get as many customer insights as possible.

Either way, once you’ve selected a model, it’s time to dive into the analytics. Group customers according to different data points — then analyze the results to see what other commonalities reveal themselves among your datasets.

3. Deliver Personalized Experiences

Data privacy is a big concern among today’s consumers, but despite their concerns, a 2022 survey showed that 43% of online shoppers around the world are willing to share their data if it means they’ll get a more personalized experience. As you can see, personalization means a lot — so much so that many are willing to exchange customer data for it. 

Data analysis gives you the ability to provide an exceptional customer experience through personalization. To create personalized experiences, focus on the following:

• Purchase history
• Customer preferences
• Customer behavior

These three datasets will allow you to really drill down on what individual customers want and need. For example, when analyzing purchasing behavior, you may discover a subset of customers who wait for a great discount code or deal to make a purchase — and these are customers that you can target with personalized offers in the future. 

Similarly, with purchase histories and data on customer preferences, you can learn which types of products different customers want and then target them with personalized product recommendations that entice them to come back for another purchase.

The Data You’ll Need — And How to Get It

You want to deploy the strategies above to improve your CX — but you’re gonna need data to do it. What kind of data, and where can you get it? There are two main types of data that you can collect — and that’s what we’re going to talk about next.

Zero-Party Data

Zero-party data is a virtual goldmine of insights. This is the data that customers willingly give to you, including email addresses and contact information, age, birthdate, gender, location, product preferences, and other details. The primary way to get this kind of data is — well, to just ask for it! Although keep in mind that many won’t simply hand it over. It’s typically best to offer something of value in exchange for the data that you’re requesting.

The cosmetics brand NARS does this with a short quiz that’s designed to help users find the right foundation for them. Over the course of this quiz, the brand collects information on customer preferences — including skincare needs, the foundation and shades they currently use, contact information, and more. Customers are willing to trade all of these details in exchange for something they value: a quick and easy way to find a product that perfectly suits their needs.

This quiz was part of a series of 20 different interactive experiences that NARS launched through Jebbit — and since these experiences have gone live, they’ve proven an invaluable addition to the brand’s marketing campaigns. 

Up to 25% of all website visitors have engaged with at least one experience, leading to more than 183,000 questions answered. That’s a whole lot of zero-party data that NARS can use to improve their customer experience even more.

Quizzes aren’t the only way to gather zero-party data. With Jebbit, you can create all kinds of interactive experiences: polls, surveys, trivia games, and more. You can also gather this data from other sources, too, including:

• Contests and giveaways
• Customer feedback forms and reviews
• Loyalty programs and preference centers
• Customer interactions on social media

Think of it this way: Anywhere that you can ask questions or interact directly with your customer base represents a potential source for zero-party data that you can use to improve the customer experience.

First-Party Data

First-party data is data that you collect from your shoppers and site visitors. But isn’t that the same thing as zero-party data? Not quite! 

The key distinction is that customers make the conscious decision to give you zero-party data when they answer questions or fill out forms. First-party data is also willingly provided — that’s why most ecommerce sites today ask for consent to allow cookie tracking — but the actual collection process isn’t as hands-on. Once users click the consent popup on your site, automation does the rest, gathering real-time data points like pages viewed, time spent on each page, links clicked, purchases made, the geographic location of the user, and more.

5 Tools That Will Help You Analyze Your Data  

You have gathered data and you know your end goal of improving your customer experience, but how do you connect the two? Data analytics tools can help you bring all your information together, evaluate it, interpret it, and act on it.

Here are just some of the data storage and analytics tools you may want to consider — some even integrate seamlessly with Jebbit:

1. Klaviyo: This powerful CRM platform makes it simple for you to collect, store, and analyze data — and you can also use it for predictive analytics to help you spot potential future trends and opportunities.
2. BlueConic: An enterprise-grade customer data platform, BlueConic  is designed to help you make your marketing more relevant for your customer base by helping you discover segment overlaps and activating personalized experiences in real-time.
3. Qualtrics XM: This is designed to be your single system of record for experience data (which they refer to as X-data). Qualtrics XM helps you manage data to create not only better customer experiences but also better brand, employee, and product experiences.
4. Salesforce Audience Studio: With this data management platform, you can unify your data and strengthen customer relationships by improving the touchpoints throughout the customer journey.
5. Cordial: This is a great choice if you need to unify unstructured data from across a variety of platforms so that you can create audience segments and discover trends.

Each of these data analytics tools offers something a little bit different. It’s best to think carefully about your priorities — like customer segmentation, personalized experiences, or customer journey improvements — so that you can choose a tool that aligns with your business needs.

Improve Your Customer Experience with Jebbit’s Help

These days, optimizing marketing strategies isn’t enough to stay competitive. It’s all about providing a fantastic customer experience—and data analytics is a crucial part of the process. With it, you can fully map your customer journey to discover how people interact with your brand, and you can create detailed customer segments that help you better understand what motivates your audience to buy. Data analytics will also help you create the kinds of personalized experiences that take brand loyalty to new heights.

Jebbit is here to help you on two fronts. Get started by creating interactive experiences to help your customers discover products they love, or to learn more about the things they want and need. Launch them—then use the collected data to make your customer experience better and better.

Want to learn more? Schedule a strategy call to learn how Jebbit can help.