Customer Behavior Analytics
“Forget 'branding' and 'positioning.' Once you understand customer behavior, everything else falls into place.” - Thomas G. Stemberg.
In this digital world, you can notice a dramatic shift in consumer behavior in a short period of time in comparison to the past decade and the time period even before that for several reasons. And those reasons include globalization, digitization, economic expansion, and many such.
In such a case, to run a profitable business, you need to tap into the details of how your customers behave with respect to your product, service, and other brand elements. And with the help of customer behavior analysis, you can understand how your customers act and what steps you need to take to improve customer experience and restructure customer-related operations.
What is Customer Behavior Analytics?
Customer behavior analytics is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data about customers' interactions with a company to understand and predict their behavior. The information from this process is used to improve the entire customer journey, increase sales, and optimize marketing efforts.
With the customer behavior analysis process, companies can gain a deeper understanding of their target market, identify trends and patterns, and make informed decisions about how to engage with customers. For example, a company might use customer behavior analytics to identify which products are most popular among certain demographic groups or to determine which marketing campaigns are most effective at driving sales.
Additionally, analyzing customer behavior assists companies in identifying potential issues that cause customers to leave. Brands can move in the right direction to address those problems and retain customers. Overall, customer behavior analytics is a powerful tool that can help companies improve their performance and better meet the needs of their customers.
One great example of a company that has used customer behavior analytics is Amazon. Amazon has used customer behavior analytics to understand its customers’ purchasing habits and preferences.
By using this data, Amazon has been able to develop personalized recommendations, tailor their marketing strategies, and create targeted advertisements. The result has been an increase in sales and customer loyalty.
Amazon has also used customer behavior analytics to improve the customer experience on its website, including making the checkout process faster and easier. As a result, Amazon has seen an increase in customer satisfaction.
Why is Customer Behavior Analytics Important for Your Business?
Customer behavior analytics allows you better understand the customers' wants and preferences, which can inform marketing and sales strategies, product development, and customer service efforts. It helps businesses to identify potential issues or areas for improvement, such as high customer churn or low engagement on social media, and work on it to get desired results.
With customer behavior insights, businesses can make better decisions about marketing campaigns, product development, pricing, and customer service. Additionally. understanding customer behavior can help businesses make predictions about future trends, allowing them to stay ahead of the competition and capture more market share.
Here are 5 major reasons why customer behavior analytics is important for your business:-
1) Personalizing Customer Experience
You can track a customer's browsing and purchase history on a website by conducting customer behavior analysis and using this information to make personalized product recommendations to the customers when they return to the site. For example, if a customer frequently purchases outdoor gear, the website could recommend new camping equipment or hiking boots to personalize the experience.
Also, you can use behavioral analytics to segment customers based on their behavior, such as how often they purchase or what type of products they are interested in that your brand provides. With customer behavior insights knowing how customers act, you can create customized email campaigns that are targeted to specific groups of customers and increase sales.
Apart from online personalization, you can also use behavioral analysis to track customers' in-store behavior in your retail stores, such as where they go and how long they spend in certain areas. Then you can tailor the in-store experience to the customers' preferences. Following this way, you can increase customer lifetime value and generate targeted profits.
2) Enhancing Customer Conversion Rate
When brands conduct customer behavior analysis, they can effortlessly identify areas where customers may be dropping off during the purchasing process. For example, if a high percentage of customers are abandoning their shopping carts at the checkout page, this could indicate a problem with the checkout process. By analyzing customer behavior data, any company could identify and address the issue immediately, leading to an increase in conversion rates.
Further, consumer behavior analytics can aid you in optimizing the design of a website to increase conversion rates. For example, heat mapping can be used to track where your customers are most active or inactive on your website. With that knowledge, you can identify which elements of the website are most engaging and which are causing customers to leave. You can then optimize your website to guide the target audience toward conversion by making adjustments based on this insight.
Your brand can also increase conversion rates by addressing the specific demands and concerns of the target audience by creating targeted marketing campaigns and promotions to retain and acquire them without much hustle. Overall, customer behavioral analysis optimizes the strategies and procedures used to convert customers and uplifts its rate for better profit generation.
3) Identifying Consumer Trends
By determining customers' behavior patterns, you can identify consumer trends, such as which products or services are most popular, how customers engage with them, and what factors influence their purchasing decisions. For instance, if your company notices a significant increase in sales of a certain product category, it could indicate that the product is becoming more popular and could be a trend that your company should capitalize on to grow the business. You can adjust inventory, marketing, and production strategies accordingly.
You can analyze customer behavior to gather appropriate customer-related information and identify trends in customer demographics. Notice the inflow of the majority of your existing customers. Pinpoint specific age groups or geographic locations, it could indicate a trend that your company should take into account when weaving marketing efforts. By understanding these trends, you can also rework your products and services to serve your target audience with the best solution.
Customer behavior analysis can also assist you in identifying patterns in consumer behavior related to any particular time of year. A company may notice that sales of certain products increase during specific seasons or holidays. So accordingly, it can plan for future inventory and marketing strategies.
Clootrack’s study on Top Factors of Customer Experience: Traditional Banks vs Neobanks reveals how customers behave with the two different types of banking structures. The report mentions the trends and patterns that customers usually show. In Traditional Banks, an easy deposit is a top factor that drives customers, whereas, for Neo Banks, it is easy management. Knowing these insights, any bank can follow and tailor its operations in a manner that delights customers.
Related Read:- 10 Must-Know Banking Trends That Will Upgrade Customer Experience In 2023.
4) Providing Relevant Customer Solutions
With consumer behavior analysis, you can figure out specific requirements and pain points of the customers. To demonstrate, if a group of customers frequently visit a particular support section of your website, it could indicate that they are experiencing difficulty with a certain aspect of the product. By analyzing their behavior, your company can proactively reach out to customers with relevant solutions to address their issues and increase customer retention rates.
Keeping track of customer behaviors can be utilized to identify gaps in a company's product offerings. In case your company notices that a large number of customers are searching for a specific type of product but it is not currently offered. You can use this as an opportunity to develop a new product to meet that need. This helps you fulfill the customer perception and stay up-to-date with the changing needs of its customers.
By analyzing customer behavior data, a company can identify which segment of customers are most profitable and which are most likely to return for future purchases. With this insight, you can create targeted marketing campaigns by understanding customer behavior and promotions to retain and increase the value of these key customers.
5) Promoting Customer-Centricity
Measure customer satisfaction with the customer behavior analysis process. Use customer surveys or Net Promoter Score (NPS) to track how satisfied customers are with your products or services. You can identify areas for improvement and take steps to address them by regularly measuring customer satisfaction, which can assist you in promoting customer-centricity and improving customer loyalty.
You can recognize how your customers interact with your company. For example, if you notice that a large number of customers are visiting your website's feedback page, it could indicate that they have feedback or complaints. By identifying and addressing the feedback quickly, your company can promote customer-centricity by showing that it values and takes action on customers' opinions.
Using consumer behavior analytics, you can identify how well the company is performing in terms of customer service. Analyze customer service interactions to identify customer segments that are struggling to receive needed services. You can boost customer retention by ensuring that customers are receiving the best possible service.
Related Read:- Build a Brilliant Customer-Centric Product Strategy Using Product Insights.
How to Perform Customer Behavior Analysis?
Customer behavior analysis provides valuable insights into areas such as customer loyalty, buying patterns, and pain points in the customer journey, which can inform business strategies and drive growth. In addition, customer behavior analysis can help to identify opportunities to increase customer engagement and reduce customer churn.
Here is a 5-step process to perform customer behavior analysis effectively:-
1) Define Objectives
Defining a clear objective when performing customer behavior analysis is critical as it helps to ensure that the analysis focuses on the most relevant information and provides actionable insights. The objective you set should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
For example, if the objective is to understand why customers are leaving the website before making a purchase, the analysis should focus on identifying the key factors that drive customer behavior and finding ways to improve the market strategy. Having a clear objective also helps to prioritize the customer data that needs to be collected and analyzed and ensures that the analysis is aligned with the overall organizational goals.
2) Specify Essential Segments
Specifying essential segments helps to break down the customer base into manageable and meaningful groups. This allows for a more in-depth and targeted analysis of each group and provides a deeper understanding of the unique behaviors, needs, and motivations of every segment.
The segments can be defined based on purchasing behavior, website interaction behavior, and other relevant factors. Specifying essential segments also helps to identify common trends and patterns within each group, which can provide valuable insights into customers' habitual buying behavior and help to inform business strategies. By focusing on the most important segments, organizations can maximize the impact of customer behavior analysis.
3) Determine the Data Source
The data used in customer behavior analytics can come from a variety of sources, including website analytics, social media, customer surveys, and point-of-sale systems. The data source should be comprehensive and relevant to the objective of the analysis.
The data source should also be reliable and up-to-date to ensure that the analysis provides accurate information regarding customer behavior. In addition, organizations should consider privacy concerns and ensure that they comply with data protection regulations. By carefully selecting the data source and ensuring the data extracted is qualitative and quantitative, you can ensure that customer behavior analysis provides meaningful insights and supports data-driven decision-making.
4) Collect and Analyze Data
“The main challenge is really getting meaningful insights from feedback and behavior from customers. The amount of data, text, etc requires additional tools and technology to make sure insights are extracted. It’s still a challenge to standardize tools and apply them efficiently,” says Susanna Baque, Senior Director Global Customer Experience, SCIEX in Clootrack's 102 CX Expert report.
The analysis of this data can be done using a variety of techniques, including machine learning, statistics, and data visualization. Also, behavioral analytics tools help you to understand the buying behavior of your customers with thorough analysis and provide offers that fulfill their expectations.
5) Identify Patterns and Apply Changes
By identifying patterns and applying changes, you can attract more customers, as you would be positioning yourself as a company that keeps its customers first. With consumer behavioral analysis, create a plan to implement the necessary changes and monitor the effectiveness.
It is important to continuously track customer behavior and make data-driven decisions based on the results of the analysis. By doing so, you can ensure that you are serving the best customer solutions according to their needs and expectations.
Improve Customer Experience With Customer Behavior Analytics
With the assistance of customer behavior analysis, you can make data-driven decisions that lead to growth and success. You can improve the overall customer experience, which leads to increased customer trust in your brand. You create a positive and memorable customer experience by understanding what customers want and need and tailoring the offerings accordingly. When customers have a positive experience with a brand, they are more likely to make repeat purchases and spread positive word-of-mouth referrals.
You can identify your most valuable customers through this analysis, and by following trends and patterns, you can make them happy. By continually improving the customer experience through the use of customer behavior analytics, you can stay ahead of the competition and retain your edge in the marketplace. In conclusion, customer behavior analytics is a crucial tool for companies looking to improve the customer experience, increase loyal customers, make better business decisions, and gain a competitive advantage.
Read More:- What are the 4 Types of Customer Buying Behavior?