SALES & MARKETING
5 Ways Distributors Can Use Customer Data BY BRIAN BLUFF, CEO, SITE-SEEKER
N Brian Bluff is the CEO and co-founder of Site-Seeker. You can contact him by e-mail at brianbluff@site-seeker. com.
ame a keyword - any keyword - related to data. And I can almost guarantee that it’s grown in popularity and search volume over the past five years. “Customer data” “Lead intelligence” “Website data” “Consumer insight” “Sales intelligence” That’s because businesses are getting better at understanding how to gather, log, store and use data to help maximize sales and marketing efforts and close more deals. But how exactly can distributors use this type of data? And where can they get it? Let’s dig in.
BUILDING A PLAN Before you decide on what type of data you need and where it will be sourced, you should start with a plan. In doing so, you’ll be able to align your team, control your costs, and, most importantly, identify what you’re trying to accomplish (and increase the likelihood of doing so!) Here are a few tips when building your plan: • Write out your objectives and make them crystal clear. These should meet SMART criteria (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound). Ask questions to yourself when you write them. “Will the data help us improve our product offering or pricing? Will it be used to optimize our website and improve conversion rates? Will it help build our sales pipeline?” • The plan should include the same details as any other marketing or sales plan. Things like a timeline, which team members are responsible for what, and your overall budget. 106 • First Quarter 2023
• Make sure you have a team in place that understands data sourcing and management and can execute a program that uses the data. The worst investment you can make is buying into data and having it sit on your server without putting it to work. Once your plan is built and your budget approved, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.
5 PLACES TO GATHER CUSTOMER INSIGHT (AND WHAT TO DO WITH THAT DATA) Now that you’ve addressed the “why,” you’ll then focus on the “how.” Your tactics bring your plan and program to life and help ensure you’re maximizing the investment. Here are 5 important customer data sources and some ideas of what you can do with the data.
SOCIAL MEDIA Where it comes from Let’s start with the most basic: social media. One of the least talked about perks of social media is the free data that it offers businesses and brands. If you’ve been active on social media over the years and have a decent following - you’re sitting on some good intel. Platforms like Facebook (via Facebook Audience Insights) and LinkedIn (via LinkedIn Analytics) provide free data that gives you a breakdown of your fans and followers and reveals details about them. What to do with it Download the data and make sense of it (i.e., turn those huge Facebook spreadsheets into easyto-read visual charts). Your social media fan base
