The ROI of Digital Intelligence

Steering committees usually opt for innovative business tactics, provided that they boost sales with better incremental costs of acquisition and operational savings. This business dynamic is often unwritten, in order to help intrapreneurs with the internal sale of their proposals for improvement and innovation. And, in a world in the middle of a radical digital transformation – for the company as well as its intrapreneurs – a field of opportunity lies in the proper use of data regarding users’ behavior.

Through digital intelligence, we understand the systematic use of data capture that occurs on social networks (both the transactional, and the listening and monitoring of users’ conversations on our profiles and on third-party profiles) to convert them into sales opportunities or leads; to enable the improvement of processes, and of our knowledge of the perceptions of our clients, all supported in real time.

Reinventing the customer journey or consumer cycle

The aforementioned universal logic of the executive committee makes sense if there is a long-term vision to maximize the satisfaction of (i.e. the customer satisfaction index), and the degree of recommendations (Article in Spanish) made (i.e. the net promoter score) by customers, alongside culture and employee indicators. It also facilitates top-level decision-making and enables a consensus amongst the steering committee. This type of vision is enhanced and improved by data, which, as a result of digital intelligence, we can use: we can now know, with a surprising degree of immediacy, the perceptions that are generated at every point of contact with the customer; in addition, we can introduce new points which, until now, we had not considered (we are currently at moment “zero”), resulting in a much less linear and more chaotic journey than that of the past.

The investigation of consumer purchasing options begins in little spaces controlled by the company (i.e. search engines, blogs, forums, comments and photographs on numerous networks) on a trip back and forth between the online and offline world. Therefore, a direct benefit – and practically a necessity – of the digital dynamic results in the company reinventing the magic of the consumer cycle, and providing new ways to maximize customer satisfaction at each point of contact.

It is essential to understand all the levers that motivate the client, and to design effective digital transformation strategies. To do this, we must analyze and optimize each phase of the buying process from the perspective of the most demanding consumer, and we have to understand the factors responsible for providing value-added services for designing new solutions.

Reinventing and aligning the customer experience with customer demands (i.e. carrying a mobile device, tracking and comparing prices from different distributors, participating in the physical experience of the traditional retail and online stores) should be a priority objective for pioneers. It is essential to take on a transformation of processes, culture, levels of services, and systems, as well as adopting new intelligence capabilities with new indicators that provide an effective monitorship of what happens on the networks.

Bearing Kotler’s key marketing principles in mind is always good, however, if you want to win customers and maximize the levels of differentiation, you must adopt a new strategic framework for marketing.

The main objectives for a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) are as follows:

1. Maximizing turnover and profitability.
2. To generate greater market knowledge and more effective relationships with the consumer.
3. To promote appropriate messages and services with a differentiated value proposition.
4. Developing a consistent customer experience across all channels and points of contact.

Monitoring networks in real-time generates direct benefits

The experiences that Territorio creativo has had in different sectors in the last 24 months shows that digital intelligence: provides a more real-time understanding of market trends; enables a discovery of competitive advantages; endorses winning strategies; offers alternatives to optimize outbound tactics; and above all, it is the best thermometer for integrated marketing at all stages of the customer journey. It also allows us to understand the spontaneous voice of the consumer by providing key market knowledge and brand dynamics.

Real-time digital listening with advanced searches, alerts, analysis, and reliable indicators, is the best way to design effective business strategies. It is necessary to design a dashboard with key indicators of brand awareness, business acquisition, customer loyalty and brand strength. This dashboard should provide answers to the steering committee for understanding the strategic decisions to be taken, as well as all the areas for improvement in the company.

The “Social Business” Model – 8 key dimensions for the dashboard:

• Connections: Degree of “commitment” of the community
• Satisfaction: Level of satisfaction of the social consumer
• Impact: Reach of the social identity and activity
• Community: Size and evolution of the communities
• Share of voice: share of the social market (i.e. notoriety or popularity)
• Sentiment: Degree of “advocacy” of the social consumer
• Influence: social relevance and importance
• Conversion: Generation of purchases and actions of value

Each dimension provides information and indicators on the efficiency of the value proposition at all the different areas of the company. It is essential to choose each of the indicators properly, in order to understand customers, identify new market trends and verify the customer experience at every point of contact.

Companies must adopt new digital intelligence capabilities urgently if they want to bridge the gap between consumers and brands, and sell more effectively. In short, the digital intelligence is the best way to understand, and to act in real time to provide your customers with the best responses.

Digital intelligence has a direct ROI. Either because it generates sales, or because it generates insights that allow us to modify and transform the customer experience such that we increase satisfaction, loyalty, and customer return – and these are aspects that our work at Territorio creativo attempts to invigorate. Moreover, according to recent studies, companies with digital intelligence capabilities generate better business results (two times the amount of others) in their sector. In addition, they reduce risks and go-to-market investments in 64% of cases; they maximize the growth of profitability by 12x the original amount; and they increase turnover in 33% of companies. It can be said that a lack of digital intelligence is the greatest opportunity cost for any company with ambition.

“The best advertising is done by satisfied customers.”
Philip Kotler

Image Source: Tribus Creative.