Your customers know a lot about your product before they buy it. They’ve likely taken a look at your company homepage, read some feedback on review websites, and asked their social media acquaintances if they’ve used your product. With the internet, there is no limit to what prospects can learn about your goods and services before making a purchase or even directly engaging your business.
But what do you actually know about your customers? Can you tell why they would need your product? Do you know which of their problems your product provides a solution to? Are your salespeople on the ground able to pitch your goods in the best possible way, just moments after first contact? These are serious questions that every company—large and small—needs to ask itself.
The Evolving Market
The market has changed over the past two or three decades, and thanks to the power of the web and various analytics tools, businesses now have more personalized data than ever before about their customers. In years past, companies would create marketing campaigns based on an intended target audience that may have been crafted based on market research. Now, companies have access to actual data about their customers, which enables them to make highly personalized marketing campaigns.
While this can lead to better marketing efforts as a whole, it also challenges companies to be quicker on their feet. They need to make use of all the information that’s available to them to create marketing initiatives that are tailored specifically to the customer they are engaging.
FastCompany compares a business in the modern era to a fighter pilot. When engaged in a dogfight, fighter pilots have mere seconds to take a variety of different pieces of information and take action. The pilot who does this quicker, more often than not, wins the fight.
“Like a jet fighter,” the news source adds. “The more quickly your people can mash together the information they need to make good decisions, the more competitive you will be.”
To further that analogy, fighter pilots rely on the equipment within the cockpit to relay relevant information about their current situation. This data is necessary for informing the course of action fighter pilots will take.
Similarly, there are a variety of software solutions marketers can use to gather information about their leads. This data will help companies plot a better engagement plan that may ultimately enable them to achieve their goals. Just as a fighter pilot needs a state of the art jet, marketers need the best tools at their fingertips.