'The devil is in the detail' is an expression that basically means whatever you do, do it thoroughly. It’s a great expression and it sums up what obsession is to us when it comes to customer insights at Transmission.
We’ve learnt that the more granular we can be with our research, the more useful our insights are to our programmes and our clients. Great customer insights are the bedrock and foundation of a successful endeavour. They are what allow you to differentiate, customise and personalise what you do to make a difference.
In many instances (as a B2B marketing agency) we are talking about driving better engagement through thought leadership, demand generation or account-based marketing programmes on behalf of our clients. In pretty much every case, the more you know about your customer, their role, their organisation and their market, the better you can tailor what you do and the better engagement you get. This starts with the message, which drives the creative & content and ultimately the make-up of the outreach – whether it’s a single blog or a 4-year account-based marketing programme.
Great insights need sources of data that can describe the market, the organisation and the individual stakeholder. In the last 15 years of digitisation, the footprint created by each of these has gotten bigger and more accessible. For example, an organisation’s online behaviour can be used to determine their “intent” and self-published data through social platforms helps to build a better profile of an individual. The result is a richer picture of when and how to engage with them, increasing the chances of getting a positive reaction to any outreach.
To be successful you must have a good understanding of the evolving digital landscape and the tools that can be used to harvest the data (as well as the platforms providing data as a service). Then it requires the ability to turn the raw data into customer insights, to drive great analysis.
But what makes it obsessive? It’s possibly the focus and tenacity of the analyst, driving on for a better and richer understanding of the customer with each new project. It’s definitely about the organisation and having a culture with a desire to learn and challenge the status quo.
I like to think it’s both, but if you can put the customer at the heart of your research, thinking, planning and doing, then there is a natural progression through any project or endeavour.
In a recent campaign we ran, we received a social post back from a CEO contact that congratulated our client for taking the time and effort to learn about their business, and then to subsequently reflect it in their engagement. That’s why we do it.
Find out how Transmission can support your B2B customer experience here.
