Intent-driven marketing: how do you attract that potential customer?

[jrineakter]

As an organization within B2B and B2C, you naturally want to be relevant to your target group. And preferably at the right time. Brands such as The North Face and Snickers get the most out of their data streams with intent-driven marketing and are therefore relevant when the consumer really asks for it. We want to show you how you can work on a desired customer experience for the coming years.


In our previous article we discussed the three biggest digital developments ; extreme connectivity and a social sharing economy (1), data-driven ecosystems (2) and customer focus (3). The digital transformation in which the customer is truly central does not happen in one day. It requires business changes, new tools and other platforms. But the most important thing is the customer journey . In this, individual preferences and the lifecycle of the customer are central to everything you do as a company.

Customer centricity
Everything we touch as consumers produces, uses or sends information. And with the enormous growth in the number of connected devices , the number of customer contact moments (also known as touchpoints ) is also increasing considerably. This means that more information about the potential customer can be austria telegram number list retrieved, and that will continue to increase. Think of information about the potential customer in terms of text, audio and video, but also sensor and contextual information. In a data-driven ecosystem, these data sources come together, they can communicate with each other and ultimately an effective and efficient advice is rolled out. An advice (also known as a prescription ) ensures that the most relevant content is offered, which best matches the customer journey of the customer.

What is intent-driven marketing?
We live in a world where information is accessible at any time, literally within seconds. We immediately reach for our smartphone when we need something; a better price, location of a restaurant or the time of a movie. It has become a habit, a reflex. As a user, we want the right information immediately.

The customer journey has changed completely in less than five years. Consumers are convinced that they can make the right decision at the moment they have that need. It is precisely those small intentions when consumers actively search to learn, discover, find or buy something that are important. These are crucial moments for companies to be present and ensure that the (mobile) digital experience is in order.

The intention is leading
Intent-driven marketing is an addition; extra data, to the data-driven ecosystem. Of course, there are already companies that work this way, but before it becomes ' mainstream ', we will be a few years further. Intent-driven marketing enables companies to gain better insights into the needs and desires, but especially into the intentions of the consumer. A company that can map this has the opportunity to really deliver added value to the consumer.

Three points within the purchasing decision process
Intent-driven data is real-time information about the activities and behavior of your (potential) customers. This provides dynamic and powerful signals around preferences, information needs, the intention to take action and ultimately the intention to make a purchase. And it is precisely in that (purchase) decision-making process that the consumer expects three things that you as a company must meet: the intention (which company can meet my needs?), the context (in my current situation) and the speed (who can deliver this the fastest?). It is important that the intention, context and speed can take different forms. Below are a few more examples.

1. Intention
As a consumer, you may have the intention to buy something, but you may also only have the intention to obtain information.

2. Context
The context can also take different forms. For example, the consumer may already be in a particular store, or simply walking down a street.

3. Speed
Different forms of speed can be: delivery time, the loading time of a website or the reservation.

It is the combination of these three factors that makes intent-driven marketing so powerful. In response to a certain intention of the consumer, you as a company must activate an advertisement. For example, on the intention: 'I want a flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona'. You must have the advertisement ready that matches at the moment the consumer asks for it. For example on the website: 'see flights from Amsterdam to Barcelona'.

Intent-driven marketing is literally meeting the demand of your consumer in real time with the right product, in the right place and at the right time. In order to meet this, content is one of the most important factors. And the role of content plays an important role in this process.

Example 1: the intention to buy sunglasses
Sophie is standing on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam with her smartphone in her hands and wants to know which store nearby sells the 'Ray Ban Clubmaster' sunglasses, but also which store has these glasses in stock.

Company X can 'capture' this intention. The data-driven ecosystem of company X recognizes Sophie ( IoT , location, CRM system), automatically checks whether the sunglasses are in stock (sales data, webshop data, store data) and sees that there are two more in stock. R eal-time advertising shows the content to Sophie: 'company X still has two Ray Ban Clubmaster sunglasses in stock'. Sophie opens the web page, gets useful information and decides to go to the store. With Google Maps, Sophie sees the fastest route to the store. When she arrives at the store, Sophie is recognized again (sensor, IoT, phone) and Sophie receives a push message: 'especially for you today 10 percent discount on the Ray Ban Clubmaster'. She tries on the glasses, is enthusiastic and buys the glasses.