CPG companies have many challenges in improving customer acquisition. The data collected from past customers tells a limited story. For those CPG companies that sell through other retailer websites, customer data can be non-existent. This is where data enrichment can be used to generate new insights to expand the efficacy and reach of customer acquisition efforts.
What is Data Enrichment?
Data enrichment is the practice of adding behavioral data to a CPG company’s existing data sources in order to better understand consumer behaviors and interests. Behavioral data is obtained from external data providers who have information on consumer lifestyle, brand, and product interest. It can also include information on a customer’s journey as they express their needs and wants via online signals. Combining this type of data with first-party data results in a more complete view of consumers.
Data enrichment can alert marketers when needs are changing or expanding, as well as help them identify the right time to offer an additional product or service. This article will cover four key ways that CPG companies can use behavioral data to improve audience engagement and drive revenue.
Data Enrichment Use Case #1 – Flag When to Engage or Send an Offer
A typical goal for CPG marketers is to establish a direct connection with consumers, collect first-party data, use it to personalize their experience, and optimize business processes and strategies. The hard part is at the beginning—figuring out where consumers are and how to capture their attention.
Data enrichment can help CPG companies gain consumer insights on behavior to help determine when a potential buyer has interest and where they can be found to make an offer. Here are some examples of real companies using data enrichment for timely offers:
- A food company uses behavioral interest data to target consumers showing interest in vegan, keto, and gluten-free products in the US.
- A brand uses behavioral data to understand how consumers shop for a category of products across different geographies to then optimize the purchase journey—sending different offers to different geographies as appropriate.
In order to meet consumers where they really are and capture demand by optimizing consumer intent, data enrichment is a must-have.
Data Enrichment Use Case #2 – Indicate Other Products to Send Offers For
Data enrichment can also identify when consumers are interested in a related product that CPG companies could offer for additional revenue. More advanced applications of data enrichment can even trigger an automated email campaign to individual customers based on the related interests they demonstrated in online behavior.
Here are some great examples of companies using data enrichment to re-engage customers with different product offerings:
- A personal care company uses data enrichment to gain additional insights about consumers re-visiting their website to then trigger a personalized experience with exclusive offers for products they are considering, researching elsewhere, or that relate to a recent purchase.
- A women’s clothing company uses data enrichment to identify travel destinations returning customers are interested in visiting, then sends personalized offers for specific items based on that knowledge. For instance, offering a promotion on bikinis to someone researching Hawaii tourist attractions, despite their primary residence in a cold city.
Behavior and interest data help CPG marketers cut through the noise of irrelevant offers to get consumers products that are right for their current needs, all while increasing brand loyalty.
Data Enrichment Use Case #3 – Identify Opportunities to Produce New Products
Data enrichment can also be used to help identify where there are opportunities to produce new products or partner with other companies to add the offering. CPG companies use insights from interest trends to prioritize R&D product investment. Discovering related interests can also highlight co-marketing or channel selling opportunities.
Having access to consumer trends is incredibly important for product development. For instance:
- A beverage company uses data enrichment to get product development insights like this recent report on beverage trends from a data enrichment provider that showed a 55% increase in zero-proof (non-alcoholic) drinks.
- A cosmetic company uses data enrichment to map cross-interests among consumers to make development decisions that take advantage of trends, like this beauty and cosmetics insight report showing a 37% increase in pimple patches.
Product development takes time and the earlier that CPG companies can see changing trends, the faster they can act for better ROI on their R&D investment.
Data Enrichment Use Case #4 – Find Ways to Engage More Directly with Consumers
When a CPG company sells through other online retailers, they miss out on first-party data and lack a clear understanding of their customers. Adding behavioral data can provide consumer insights, and even help build direct relationships and inspire loyalty.
Content personalization can be applied to email nurture, but can also apply to the type of messaging used on websites and blog posts. Matching topics, as well as writing style, is just as important as knowing a customer’s birth date to send an offer. Here are a few examples of CPG companies using data enrichment to improve engagement:
- A CPG company uses behavioral data to map the channels consumers visit before making a purchase through online retailers, triggering more strategic efforts to nurture a direct relationship with them across channels.
- A CPG company provides its Identity Solution with consumer IDs to a data enrichment provider in order to match and get insights into their online activities and interests so they can find ways to personalize messaging.
Data enrichment can drastically improve customer engagement for indirect sellers and it can also help CPG companies with direct relationships gain a better understanding of consumer behavior.
The Benefits of Data Enrichment for CPG Companies
Data enrichment helps CPG companies achieve customization at scale. Historical data and research are quickly outdated in the fast-paced world of CPG market trends. CPGs need data enrichment to gain a real-time understanding of what consumers are doing right now and how that translates into revenue opportunities. Real-time online behavioral data is the key to finally unlocking a new level of predictiveness in the CPG industry, providing the accuracy and immediacy that companies so desperately need, in such a competitive market, to succeed.
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