Single Customer View

Current customers require a more personal, timely and relevant mode of communication with brands. It is difficult to create any marketing strategy according to the specific likes of the customer without having any prior knowledge about the customer or how they interact with the brand. This problem can be fixed by implementing a 'Single Customer View' (SCV) by the organization.

SCV is an approach that allows an organization build a relationship with one customer or prospect. Basically, customer information is gathered, reviewed, cleansed and improved by linking all departments, marketing and communication to consolidate all available information into one place, thus giving a 360-degree view of the customer.

SCV is not just a random collection of data. It matches the customer with the huge amounts of data collected in the database. It also conducts necessary cleansing and enhancement procedures, which helps to make sense of the information collected.

Top 5 reasons why organizations should opt for SCV:

1. It creates a regular brand experience for the customer.Smart consumers live in a multichannel world, which means the company must establish its presence on multiple platforms that work seamlessly together. This will in turn create dependable and loyal customers.
2. Instill strong customer connect.Most brands falter at creating a bond with the customer’s habits and actions at both virtual and physical sources. An SCV will allow brands to take a detailed approach to study each of their customer interactions and estimate how and why they favor different media platforms.
3. Understand critical data.Important information can be lost if data cannot be connected and understood accurately. Simply put an organization will lose essential business building opportunities when it can’t make sense of its data.
4. Boost customers’ life value.Assembling valuable customer data received from different platforms into one record helps any retailer to construct strong and useful marketing campaigns that ultimately develops each customer’s lifetime value.
5. Build detailed taste profiles and predictive marketing.An SCV can be used to build detailed profile of a customer, which will help the retailer identify their most preferred products. It can also assist brands to devise campaigns or strategies to promote their products.

Once taste profiles are made for different customers, it becomes easier to predict their search and purchase pattern. Brands can easily forecast the type of products the customers will be most interested in. This also helps in customer–centric advertising of their products.

It is possible to achieve SCV in three main stages:

First step, collecting data from varied sources.In this stage you have to connect each data source to import relevant data. Data can range from demographic data, behavior data, device data, marketing interaction data etc. Relevant data can be imported using cookie tracking, email service provider, social ad clicks, third party advertising platforms etc.

Step two, cleaning and unify all available dataIn this step you must merge any duplicate data entries and match up different data to create an SCV.

Step three, making your data usefulAt this stage, your data needs to be made into usable format where it can be easily sorted, studied and separated according to relevance.

While this may seem simple, in reality, there are a number of challenges associated with creating a unified customer profile. You can use other third party software to assist you in this.A blog published by Econsultancy talks about Clarins cosmetics company, which set up ‘Club Clarins’ to bridge the gap between online and retail customers, ultimately building an SCV. The scheme is a simple but effective way to incentivize customers to hand over purchase-history data online after they've purchased a Clarins product in a department store.Club Clarins then offers the opportunity to redeem special gifts and sample sets reserved just for ‘VIPs’, track your purchases, rewards, and earn points.

Single Customer View is a powerful tool for any business seeking to engage customers on a digital platform and retain durable relationships with them. The data collected from various marketing channels can help a company analyze their target market’s behaviors, their time and money spent with the brand and can respond to them appropriately.

Furthermore, using SCV, corporations can promote interconnectivity between their different media offices, whether traditional or online. Effective Single Customer view can help disseminate information to a larger customer base, while still allowing those same customers to communicate with businesses in the way they feel is most convenient. SCV is a key stepping stone for businesses entering the realm of digital marketing; without it, companies can alienate their users with uncoordinated and disjointed advertising. It is a vital, meaningful, and purposeful tool, and, if used correctly - powerful one.

- Rajat Thaker and Sharon Abraham