Audience of 1: Pipe Dream or Perfection?

Businesses today collect plenty of customer data. But how they analyse and use the data determines whether the information will give them the competitive edge they seek.

As competition intensifies and customers become pickier, it’s only those businesses that personalise user experience that capture their customers’ attention.

When it comes to personalising customer experiences based on data, the audience of one concept stands out as the best strategy.

So, is the audience of one concept a pipe dream?

The short answer is no. The audience of one concept is a reality and is a strategy practised by many organisations.

The audience of one concept allows organisations to:

• Form relationships with their customers
• Collaborate with their customers
• Understand their customer’s needs
• Find solutions to their customer’s specific needs

What is it?

The audience of one concept goes by different names in the data management realm. Some of its alternative names include:

• 360-degree customer view
• Unified customer view
• Single customer view

It’s a technique of collecting a client’s or prospect’s data and placing it into a single data file. Central storage allows all teams to instantly and easily access the information whenever needed.

By consolidating all the information about one targeted client into a centralised record, an organisation acquires a powerful overview of all the client’s online, mobile, and offline activities.

The data used to realise the audience of one concept

An organisation needs to collect various types of data about its clients from multiple sources to actualise the audience of one concept.

In most cases, the required data is scattered in different organisational departments that deal with customer data, including customer service, marketing, and sales.

The data needed to actualise the audience of one concept include:

• Behavioural data from mobile and web devices. This information is located by examining the products examined by a user, the ones they saved, and the ones they purchased. Data analytics tools collect this information by investigating the client’s scrolls, clicks, and time spent looking at a product.
• Transactional systems. Data from transactional systems include information on items purchased offline and online, their value, and the orders and products abandoned.
• CRM sources. These sources include the client’s postal address, email address, telephone number, and social network data.
• GDPR consents. This is sourced from the data the client has consented to its collection.

Is the audience of one concept perfection?

For now, yes. The audience of one is the closest thing to the perfect way to handle and use customer data.

Any organisation that desires to succeed in today’s competitive business environment must make the audience of one central to its business operations. Focusing on an audience of one enables an organisation to access all the data it requires to enhance its performance.

For example, possessing specific data about particular customers provides business executives with accurate information to make informed decisions.

It also provides marketers with information to execute profitable campaigns. Similarly, the audience of one concept empowers customer support staff with the data to resolve customer complaints faster.

Indeed, looking at its advantages, it’s easy to see why this is the ideal way of collecting and using customer data.

It helps businesses deliver personalised marketing campaigns across different channels

Focusing on one audience makes it much easier to deliver personalised marketing messages to the targeted audience. It enables the organisation to realise the message that resonates with the client’s preferences and design campaigns to capture their targeted audience’s attention.

The audience of one concept allows an organisation to view each client in real time. The organisation can then confidently use the captured data to tailor its marketing campaign for each customer.

Capturing real-time data prevents organisations from using outdated or incomplete data, making it easier to deliver a customised campaign.

Delivering the marketing message in the right way and time makes the client feel understood, listened to, and valued. These perceptions encourage enhanced levels of loyalty and repeat business.

It facilitates better understanding of customers

Pursuing the audience of one concept allows organisations to classify clients correctly using segmentation and analysis. For instance, it allows an organisation to identify customers even when they enter their system using different user names.

Segmentation is similar to labelling customers and replacing or modifying them as the organisation gets to know them better.

For instance, the first time a client visits a site, the system will label them a prospective customer. When they purchase cutlery, the system will categorise them under the group of customers interested in cutlery. Alternatively, the system may label them as a client that abandoned their cart.

With time, if they continue purchasing different items, the system will christen them as high-value clients.

These labels allow an organisation to analyse client behaviour and offer tailored offers, recommendations, and services based on the collected information.

It helps provide outstanding customer service

As more organisations move towards a customer-centric approach to business, the audience of one approach can help them get ahead of the pack by delivering exceptional customer services.

This strategy helps the organisation observe its client’s previous interactions and current actions and use this information to proactively and quickly satisfy their client’s needs.

Let’s take an example of a customer trying to contact the support team via live chat after failing to place an order for an item they are interested in purchasing. The unified customer views will show the customer support team details about the customer and their previous transactions.

The customer services agent can then utilise this data to provide a quick solution before the customer explains their problem.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the audience of one concept crucial in marketing?

The audience of one concept is useful in marketing because it helps organisations understand their customers better to provide a personalised marketing campaign. Personalised marketing will likely encourage customer loyalty because it helps them feel understood and appreciated.

How can an organisation collect the data it needs to set up an audience of one campaign?

An organisation uses data analytics tools to collect and analyse data. The analysed data can then be categorised to understand the customer better.

Which type of data is used for generating an audience of one strategy?

The data useful for creating an audience of one strategy is the client’s online and offline activities. These include behavioural data, mobile data, and CRM data. Transactional system data and information on GDPR consent are also helpful for realising personalised experiences realised by the audience of one concept.