By 2020, people with a digital profile on the internet will generate an average of 1.7 Mb of data per second. This is estimated by Domo’s Data Never Sleeps report. This is thanks to the advancement of technology, the use of more interconnected devices and the adoption of new online consumption habits.
This short-term outlook on the generation of data in quantities never seen before, nor processed, represents a great challenge for companies, but also an unprecedented opportunity to discover and better understand the digital profiles of their customers and potential customers.
What are digital profiles of potential customers?
A digital profile is a theoretical and analytical model that defines the characteristics of the types of people who use the internet. Each profile designed represents a specific category of users who are related to each other through certain commonalities.
Identifying these commonalities for the design of digital profiles is possible by collecting and analysing millions of data from thousands of users surfing the web.
The use and consumption of content on social networks, websites, mobile applications, streaming platforms, among others, are sources that constantly generate data about people. This data is used to discover their:
- characteristics,
- behavioural patterns,
- consumption habits,
- desires,
- needs,
- likes and dislikes
- likes, dislikes and other identifying factors.
Such identifying factors are used to establish relationships between users and, thus, design digital profiles.
In this sense, the digital profile of your potential customers is a scheme of information, previously gathered and analysed, that allows you to know how they behave when they are surfing the internet.
Why is it necessary to establish a digital profile of your potential customers?
Discovering and understanding how your potential customers behave online is essential for you to identify and target them online. With this, you can deploy personalised online marketing campaigns at the lowest possible cost. You do not waste advertising investment on users who do not meet the characteristics of being your potential customers.
Therefore, designing specific and detailed digital profiles brings you, among others, the following benefits:
- Segment with a very high level of precision the users of your commercial interest.
- Optimise all buyer journey processes for a better shopping experience.
- Better understand pain points and design tailor-made solutions.
- You reduce friction points to a minimum and avoid abandonment in the buying process.
- Personalise online touch points for greater positive impact.
According to research conducted by Luth Research and Google, the average car buyer interacts with more than 900 touch points online before closing the purchase. Therefore, designing a digital profile on this type of buyer allows you to create online tactics that accelerate and ensure sales success.
In short, digital profiling allows you to have a 360° view of your potential customers. With this, you can deploy highly effective and economical sales, loyalty and attraction strategies.
4 steps to identify your potential customers on the internet
Identifying and locating your potential customers on the internet should be a methodical process supported by high-performance data management technologies. This process should focus on designing a digital profile for each type of customer.
Thus, the steps you should follow are:
- Collect your customers’ online data.
- Unify and homogenise online data.
- Analyse data, identify relationships and create digital profiles.
- Segment and search for users based on digital profiles.
1. Collect your customers’ online data
To create digital profiles of your potential customers and identify them on the internet, you should collect as much data as possible from those people who, in one way or another, come into contact with your company online. Whether they are already established customers or new visitors.
In this respect, it is necessary to develop IT methods and use platforms that allow you to extract online user data from different sources. For example, Google Analytics for tracking your website, CRM tools and social media measurement systems such as Facebook Analytics and Twitter Analytics.
2. Unify and homogenise digital data
The data collected tends to have different formats, sizes and characteristics, as well as coming from a variety of online sources. Therefore, heterogeneous and diverse databases are generated.
In order to be able to manage and process all the information together, it is necessary to integrate and homogenise the different databases through a Customer Database Platform (CDP). A system that receives all the data and applies the rules for the unification of records in order to avoid duplicates.
3. Analyse data, identify relationships and create digital profiles.
Having the information easily accessible, unified and homogenised, the next step is to interpret it and find patterns, trends and relationships between the behaviours of all online users.
The analysis of this data allows you to draw conclusions and strategic inferences, with which you should design the digital profile models. Also taking into account the commercial objectives of your business.
4. Segment and target users based on digital profiles.
This last step actually represents the first step of a new strategic cycle. It consists of starting the execution of the marketing or sales campaign, aimed exclusively at the market niche that matches the digital profiles designed.
To do this, it is necessary to use different platforms that allow you to automate the segmentation of internet users according to a series of personalised values. These values are the ones you have previously established in each digital profile.
Although it may seem idyllic, this type of business intelligence is feasible if you have the right people and the right tools. That is why at Cognodata we accompany you throughout the process of designing and executing high-impact digital campaigns at the lowest possible cost.
We have developed state-of-the-art technological solutions to apply advanced analytical and automation techniques. Each of them with the ability to adapt to the needs, objectives and requirements of each particular business. This in order to guarantee the commercial success of our clients.