Finding impactful ways to improve the customer experience is on every entrepreneur's mind and top experts agree that the best way to achieve nirvana is to become friends with data.
As IBM's CEO, Ginny Rometty put it, "Big data will spell the death of customer segmentation and force the marketer to understand each customer as an individual..."
In years past, we got to know customers over time - if we were lucky enough to get their attention in the first place. Gone are the golden years of cold calls, blind email blasts, and hopefully, those annoying flyers the local tax guy puts under your windshield wiper when you run into the bank for five minutes.
Today, savvy startups are using data technology from day one to maximize their customer conversion and impact. Trendy Butler is a prime example. This fashion-centric tech platform for guys allows users to create a personal "style profile." Using that info, a professional stylist selects clothing for the customer each month and sends those items to him in a slick little package.
Because fashion is so specific to the individual, the founders of this startup made it their Business to get up close and personal with their customers - and it's paying off. They currently have 7,000 active members after being in Business just a little over a year and anticipate having over 20,000 by the end of year 2.
Trendy Butler's quick success certainly illustrates that data should always be at the core of every marketing initiative in order to use limited funds efficiently and powerfully. Starting with:
When a startup's service is so broad, it's a common mistake to get very general with the marketing. Using the current example, Trendy Butler sells clothes and every guy wears clothes (we hope!). If they were to cop out and say their target demographic was simply "men"--that would be too broad and wouldn't service them well.
Businesses must have a very clear picture of their ideal customer in order to most effectively communicate with them through. Digging up as much data as possible on the demographic is the right place to start.
"We segment our marketing based on specific interests and demographics on Facebook as well as Instagram's sponsored platform," says Jeremy Barnett, co-founder of Trendy Butler.;
