#NewWay ToEngage

The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Commerce

Leveraging Analytics and Insights to Transform the

Customer JourneyInterview with Stan Phelps, @9INCHmarketing

Founder of 9INCH Marketing

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Introduction

The rise of big data and analytics allows organizations to understand the customer

journey like never before. Customers are no longer traveling a single path to purchase.

Sophisticated analytics tools are providing greater visibility into understanding all the

different places that buyers are entering the marketing funnel.

More personalized and relevant offerings can be presented – across multiple channels

– allowing buyers to meet their specific purchasing needs, from nearly any device or

location. But with customers requiring more engaging, meaningful and consistent

brand experiences, across all channels, how can enterprises leverage big data and

analytics to deliver these experiences?

Stan Phelps was recently interviewed to shed light on these challenges and unveil what

the coming years hold for the future of commerce.

About Stan Phelps

Stan Phelps sees a future where predictive and cognitive analytics transform the customer

journey and experience.

Stan Phelps is a best-selling author, speaker and consultant. He believes that marketing

must focus on meaningful differentiation in order to win the hearts of both employees

and customers.

He is a contributor to Forbes, and his insights have been featured

on leading sites such as Customer Think, MENG Blend, Switch &

Shift and Business 2 Community.

Follow Stan on Twitter @9INCHmarketing or connect with him

on LinkedIn.

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The analytics tools of today are exciting because they allow for a much better

understanding of the entire customer journey, when in the past we saw only pieces of

the puzzle. Being able to see this information allows for optimization based on insights.

Qualitative analytics will be key moving forward because you can do only so much from

a quantitative perspective. While quantitative information offers diagnostics about “what”

happened, when you talk about qualitative, that is really focused on the “why.” Focusing

on the why allows you to be more prescriptive in terms of fixing that journey and helping

improve the customer experience moving forward.

Seeing the entire customer journey allows for optimization based on insights.

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Focus on Optimization

How will the introduction of more sophisticated analytics tools change our understanding of the customer journey? And what has been the impact of being able to harness qualitative analytics?

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There are massive amounts of data available today. The companies that are going to “get it”

will understand that it’s not only about big data. It’s about useful data and pulling the things

into the customer journey they find are key to improve the overall experience. As we move

forward, companies will get much better and smarter about using analytics to drive insights

and putting those insights into action.

Predictive and cognitive analytics will also play an important role in the future. They will

be a game changer, because everything that we have currently is all about adding

responsiveness. So it’s about understanding more about the customer and getting to

a state of readiness. You can be predictive about what the customer wants, and you

can also understand their needs based on prior behaviors and cater to those needs.

This is what’s so exciting about the future of analytics.

It’s about moving from a reactive to a proactive state. And because of this, I think marketing

will be more effective, and customers will be more enthused about their experiences.

Uncovering Key Insights

How do you predict companies will take advantage of personalized marketing efforts in the future with so much customer data available now? And what role will predictive and cognitive analytics play?

Predictive and cognitive analytics are about getting to a state of readiness.

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There is no single path for customers, and that is the challenge. Customers are

traveling through a variety of different channels when purchasing products and services.

What’s going to be interesting is that an improved omni-channel experience allows

companies to gain greater visibility into all the pieces of the puzzle. They can see what

the optimal path to purchase is and customize that journey moving forward.

An area that many organizations struggle with is social. With this channel, it’s not only

about the quantitative information, but also about the qualitative — not just seeing what’s

been said socially, but also judging the sentiment and the context. That’s always going to

be the greatest challenge.

Greater Visibility

How can analytics empower an organization to deliver a seamless omni-channel experience? And which channels are organizations struggling with the most?

Improved omni-channel experiences help companies optimize the path to purchase.

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One of the things I love about data is that data doesn’t lie. Data doesn’t have bias.

The analogy I like to use is when we videotape ourselves when we speak, we joke

and say that “Mr. Canon,” the video camera, never lies.

Utilizing data as a business adviser allows you to get the straight truth, and it’s

unvarnished. But you have to be able to accept that, park your biases at the door

and put those insights into action for your business.

Unvarnished Truth

What if your data talked to you like a trusted business adviser? How would that help your business?

Utilizing data as a business adviser allows you to get the straight truth.

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Moving into the Future

The future will offer a powerful understanding of the customer journey as we’ve never

understood it before. We’ll move from being reactive to being proactive. And companies

will venture beyond big data as they undercover insights that create authentic and

meaningful experiences for customers.

But moreover, we’ll start to fully appreciate that it’s not all

about the customer; it’s also about employees. Because

it’s impossible to have happy customers unless you have

happy, engaged and satisfied employees.

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IBM Commerce Can Help

There is an alarming gap between what brands believe they deliver and what customers actually experience. Eighty-one percent of consumer brands say they have a holistic view of their customers while only 37 percent of consumers believe their favorite retailer understands them.

IBM Marketing Cloud helps close the customer experience gap-making it easier to understand and design meaningful customer experiences across applications, devices and time to accelerate today’s results and tomorrow’s ambitions. It powers the delivery of exceptional experiences for customers across the buyer journey by leveraging customer data, providing analytical insights and automating relevant cross-channel interactions.

• Quickly design and automate consistent cross-channel experiences

• Make better decisions and deepen customer engagement with purpose-built analytics inside

• Gain faster time to ROI and increased agility through a cloud-based digital marketing platform that integrates easily with other customer data sources and applications

To learn more about IBM Marketing Cloud solutions, go to IBM.com/NewWayToEngage

Also, join the conversation on Twitter with Futurists like Stan Phelps using #NewWayToEngage

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