Sometimes it is difficult to tie the loose ends together, but for those of us in market research, this is what we do for our colleagues in marketing, sales and customer service. A recent new vehicle purchase has made this abundantly clear to me.
Major purchase transactions, as far as milestone events go, generate a great deal of data that is useful to marketers. This data comes from numerous sources including:
- Address information (which can be used to append geo-demographic data including Prizm cluster)
- Conversations with sales and customer service associates
- Trade-in or prior purchase data
- Social media
- Pre and post-sale survey data
Each of these points has strong application to follow-up marketing efforts. However, only the diligent will be able to fully leverage these sources. For example, with my recent car purchase the dealer we bought from knew the specifics of our trade in, and could then leverage this information in post-sale communications. Case in point, we traded in a four-cylinder vehicle for a V6. This generally leads to a decline in fuel economy (and more money going out for gas). The talking points then become centered on ways to improve fuel economy.
Information from surveys and points gleaned through unstructured data from customer/prospect interactions with your staff can also be used to drive communication strategy. Major transactions generate a level of tension in the buyer. This tension arises from concerns around whether or not they made the right purchase. Buyer’s remorse, or more formally known as cognitive dissonance, is a real concern and it can impact a consumer’s willingness to refer or come back for repeat purchases. CD, pardon the pun, can be mitigated with targeted communications and promotional offers timed intervals after the purchase.
Helping our marketing brethren in tying up loose ends in consumer data can be a big help, not to mention increase the efficiency of your marketing efforts.
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