Believe it or not, understanding your customers doesn’t have to involve guesswork, crossed fingers or attempting to read minds through a laptop screen!
Customer insights can help businesses understand what people need, what influences their decisions and what may be stopping them from making a purchase.
By collecting and analysing the right information, businesses can make smarter decisions about their products, services, marketing and customer experience.
What do we mean by customer insights?
Customer insights are useful conclusions drawn from customer behaviour, feedback and data.
They can reveal:
• What customers want
• Why they choose one product over another
• What frustrates them
• Which features they value
• Why they abandon a purchase
• What might encourage them to return
Good customer insights combine quantitative and qualitative information.
Quantitative information involves measurable figures, such as sales numbers, conversion rates and website traffic. Qualitative information focuses on opinions, motivations and experiences, such as survey responses, reviews and customer interviews.
The numbers tell you what’s happening, while customer feedback tells you why.
Why are customer insights important?
Customer insights help businesses make decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
For example, a business may notice that plenty of people visit a product page, but very few complete a purchase. Website data could identify where visitors leave, while customer feedback might reveal that delivery costs are unclear.
Without that insight, the business might change its prices, redesign the entire website or blame Mercury being in retrograde. Only one of those responses is likely to solve the problem.
Insights can help improve products, create more relevant marketing campaigns, personalise customer communications and increase loyalty. They can also highlight gaps that competitors have overlooked.
Where can you find customer insights?
Useful information can come from several sources.
Online and competitor reviews
Reviews reveal what customers like, dislike and complain about.
Competitor reviews can also uncover opportunities. If people repeatedly mention a missing feature or poor service, your business may be able to offer a better alternative.
Purchase data
Order histories can show popular products, seasonal trends and repeat buying habits. An online retailer might discover that certain products are often purchased together, creating an opportunity for bundles or personalised recommendations.
Customer feedback
Surveys, interviews and website feedback forms allow customers the chance to explain their experience directly.
Website and social media data
Website analytics, through free tools like Google Analytics, can show how visitors find a business, which pages they view and where they leave.
Heatmaps, on the other hand, provide a visual representation of where people click, scroll and move on a page. Tools like Microsoft Clarity, which is also free, can reveal this information.
Social media comments, polls and mentions can also reveal customer interests, questions and frustrations.
Customer service conversations
Support tickets, emails and live chats are packed with useful information. If customers repeatedly ask the same question, the website may need clearer information, a guide or a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section.
Turning information into action
Collecting data is only useful when something is done with it.
Look for repeated patterns rather than reacting to one unusual comment. Combine information from several sources, identify the issue with the greatest impact and make a focused improvement. You can then measure the results to see whether the change worked.
Need help making sense of it all?
Customer insights can shape stronger content, more effective campaigns and a smoother online experience. Get in touch with our team at Engage Web to discover how a marketing strategy built around your own customers’ behaviour can help your business attract, engage and convert more of the right people.
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