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The Customer Master Data Management Top 10 for 2024

There is a logical progression of concepts that build upon each other to articulate the comprehensive benefits of Customer Master Data Management (CMDM).

This starts with the foundational importance of data quality in a solution like the Pretectum CMDM. Data quality serves as the bedrock upon which all subsequent benefits rely. Without accurate and reliable customer data, organizations cannot effectively streamline operations, make informed decisions, or enhance the customer experience. Therefore, it’s crucial to establish data quality as a primary focus of any CMDM program.

CMDM streamlines customer data management operations. By centralizing and unifying customer data, organizations can eliminate inefficiencies associated with managing disparate data sources. This streamlined approach not only reduces operational costs but also lays the groundwork for more effective decision-making and customer engagement.

With operations streamlined, the question then, is how CMDM empowers organizations to make better decisions. By providing comprehensive insights into customer behavior and preferences, CMDM enables decision-makers to formulate more targeted strategies and initiatives. This, in turn, leads to more impactful customer interactions and ultimately drives business success.

Building upon the theme of decision-making, CMDM enhances the customer experience. Organizations can deliver personalized interactions and seamless experiences across all touchpoints by leveraging deep insights into customer data. This not only fosters customer satisfaction but also strengthens brand loyalty and advocacy.

Everything is done in pursuit of driving revenue growth. By optimizing operations, decision-making, and customer experience, CMDM enables organizations to capitalize on revenue opportunities and maximize customer lifetime value. This solidifies the value proposition of CMDM as a strategic imperative for organizations looking to achieve sustainable growth and success in today’s competitive business landscape.

Enhanced Data Quality

Ensuring superior data quality is fundamental for any organization leveraging a Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) solution. It is the cornerstone of all customer-related initiatives, ensuring that every interaction, analysis, and decision is based on accurate and consistent customer information. By meticulously identifying and rectifying discrepancies, purging redundancies, and maintaining data integrity across customer datasets, CMDM guarantees that businesses have a reliable foundation for their customer-centric strategies. This commitment to data quality not only instills trust in customer data but also minimizes the risk of errors, misinformation, and misguided decisions, ultimately leading to more effective customer engagement and sustained business success.

Streamlined Operations

Streamlining operations through Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) is essential for organizations aiming to enhance efficiency and agility in customer-facing activities. By establishing a unified and centralized repository of customer information, CMDM eliminates the complexities and inefficiencies associated with managing disparate customer data sources. This unified approach not only accelerates customer-related processes but also reduces operational costs stemming from data redundancy, manual reconciliation efforts, and inconsistent workflows. With streamlined operations enabled by CMDM, organizations can respond more swiftly to customer needs, deliver personalized experiences, and seize market opportunities, thereby maintaining a competitive edge and driving business growth.

Improved Decision-Making

Enhanced decision-making facilitated by Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) is critical for organizations seeking to optimize customer interactions and drive sustainable growth. By providing decision-makers with comprehensive and accurate insights into customer behavior, preferences, and interactions across various channels, CMDM empowers them to make informed decisions with confidence. This holistic view of customer data enables executives to identify trends, forecast demand, and anticipate customer needs more accurately. As a result, organizations can develop targeted marketing strategies, optimize resource allocation, and deliver personalized experiences that resonate with their customers, ultimately driving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability.

An Ability to Drive New Customer Experiences

Elevating the customer experience through Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) is paramount for businesses aiming to build enduring relationships and foster brand loyalty. Only by consolidating and centralizing customer data from disparate sources, CMDM systems enable organizations to gain a holistic understanding of their customer’s preferences, behaviors, and interactions. Armed with this comprehensive insight, businesses can personalize interactions, tailor products and services, and deliver seamless experiences across touchpoints, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and fostering long-term loyalty. Moreover, by leveraging CMDM to anticipate and address customer needs proactively, organizations can differentiate themselves in the market and position themselves as trusted advisors, driving customer advocacy and revenue growth.

Increased Revenue

Driving revenue growth through Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) is a strategic imperative for businesses seeking to capitalize on customer insights and market opportunities. By leveraging CMDM to analyze customer data, segment audiences, and target the right customers with personalized offerings, organizations can enhance conversion rates, increase sales performance, and maximize customer lifetime value. Additionally, by delivering consistent and compelling experiences across channels, CMDM helps organizations cultivate customer loyalty and advocacy, driving repeat business and revenue growth.

Customer Benefits

Based on their significance in directly impacting the customer experience and fostering long-term relationships with customers, consider these important customer benefits when you focus on your customer master data management.

Personalization is a key driver of customer satisfaction and loyalty. When businesses understand their customers’ preferences and tailor interactions accordingly, it creates a more engaging and meaningful experience for the customer, ultimately leading to higher satisfaction and repeat business.

Customers expect businesses to have accurate information about them. By ensuring data accuracy, businesses can make informed decisions that directly impact the customer experience. For example, offering relevant products or services based on accurate customer data leads to more positive interactions and increased trust.

Quick and effective customer support is crucial for resolving issues and building trust with customers. By providing support representatives with a holistic view of the customer and any journeys with the customer, an organization can address relationship needs more efficiently, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

Customers appreciate relevant and appropriate suggestions and recommendations at the right and best time to cater to their interests preferences and situations. Leveraging customer data, an organization’s teams and applications can make more precise, targeted, and accurate recommendations, businesses can enhance the shopping experience, increase sales, and build stronger relationships with customers.

I f your organization is in the business of selling goods, or services, or simply having a relationship with consumers; targeted marketing campaigns are more effective in engaging than generic messaging. By segmenting customers based on their characteristics and behaviors, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts to specific audience segments, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates.

These five benefits directly contribute to a positive customer experience by providing personalized interactions, accurate information, efficient support, relevant recommendations, and targeted marketing efforts. By focusing on these areas, organizations can strengthen their relationships with consumers and audiences and drive long-term loyalty and satisfaction.

The value proposition of a Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) system like the Pretectum CMDM, lies in its ability to holistically enhance the entire customer experience journey.

By ensuring superior data quality, streamlining operations, improving decision-making, enabling new customer experiences, and driving increased revenue, CMDM becomes a strategic imperative for organizations. The system provides personalized interactions, accurate information, efficient support, relevant recommendations, and targeted marketing efforts, ultimately fostering enduring relationships, customer loyalty, and satisfaction in today’s competitive business landscape.

Pretectum CMDM serves as the foundation for businesses seeking sustainable growth and success by leveraging comprehensive customer insights and delivering exceptional experiences across touchpoints; Pretectum CMDM serves up the single customer view, integrates it with your business sources and analytics platforms, and provides your personnel with a unified view of the customer with data that can be as rich and comprehensive as your imagination permits.

The Rise and Importance of Identity Verification

Establishing and Verifying Identity in a modern and more connected world

In the expansion of our digital world, the management of identities has become a critical concern. Personally, for individuals, and more holistically for organizations in many sectors, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and government.

The proliferation of online services and the constant threat of cyberattacks and identity theft have underscored the importance of robust identity verification systems.

Digital Transformation and Identity Management

A more digital society has brought numerous conveniences, enabling the individual, to access services, conduct transactions, and communicate seamlessly across the globe. This digital evolution has also given rise to new challenges, primarily in the realm of identity management and verification.

The many online services have created a demand for efficient and secure identity verification systems. People now perform a myriad of activities online, from shopping and banking to social networking and e-health consultation.

As more personal information is stored online, bad actors and cybercriminals have increasingly targeted individuals’ identities for malicious purposes. Identity theft and fraud pose significant threats to both the individual and the many organizations that they potentially engage with.

Governments and regulatory bodies have recognized the importance of safeguarding personal information. Regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements in the financial and health sector emphasize the need for robust identity verification.

Users expect seamless and user-friendly experiences when interacting with online services and the cumbersome identity verification processes and systems of yesteryear can lead to user frustration and disengagement.

The rise of digital identity and IVS

Identity verification systems (IVS) have emerged as a vital component of modern digital ecosystems. They play a pivotal role in confirming the identity of individuals, enabling secure access to online services, and mitigating the risk of identity-related fraud.

IVS plays a crucial role in various sectors, including finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and government, to ensure that users are who they claim to be, enhance security, and comply with regulatory requirements.

For the public, organizations that rely on establishing a strong identity verification process foster increased trust between the user and the service providers. Users are more likely to engage with services they trust, leading to increased customer retention and loyalty.

Efficiency in the identity verification process also streamlines onboarding processes and reduces the need for manual verification, lowering operational costs for organizations.

Verified identities also provide improved opportunities for personalized experiences and recommendations, enhancing user engagement and satisfaction.

E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new opportunities for more direct and convenient citizen access to government and for government provision of services directly to citizens. Effective E-government is more easily achieved through the establishment of IVS.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the tax authority in the United Kingdom. HMRC uses a digital identity verification system to ensure secure access to its online services. Similarly, the US IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is the tax authority in the United States. It has implemented various digital identity verification systems to protect taxpayers’ information and prevent fraud.

Singpass is Singapore’s national digital identity system. It provides residents with a trusted digital identity for secure transactions with over 2,700 services offered by more than 800 government agencies and businesses. The Singpass National Digital Identity (NDI) scheme allows residents to seamlessly access government services and third-party apps, such as banks, colleges, professional bodies, and insurance companies.

Estonia has built one of the world’s leading e-governments with a robust digital identity verification system. Estonia’s digital public infrastructure delivers automated and reusable government services in a human-centric, secure, and private way. The country has made its building blocks open-source, available as global digital public goods for others to use. Estonia’s digital services have played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling citizens to access services online without the need for physical presence

ID.me offers a US-based identity proofing and group affiliation verification that also meets the federal standards for consumer authentication. NIST 800-63-3 IAL2 and AAL2 conformant and EPCS standards, amongst others.

ID.me’s digital wallet and identity verification service simplifies how over 112M individuals discover and access benefits and services through a single login and verified identity from over 600 partners. It provides users with a trusted digital ID card to access government services and benefits. or example, you can use your verified digital ID card to manage your IRS online account, access Social Security Administration benefits and services, manage unemployment benefits and services from various state departments of labor. ID.me also offers discounts and cashback from over 5,000 stores. ID.me also provides an Rx Card that can help you save up to $95 per prescription at participating pharmacies.

ID.me’s simplicity is that it reaches out to consumers to promote the simplicity of proving their identity online, as well as helping businesses provide marketing promotions and bonuses to verified eligible users. Under the hood, it checks to see whether the customer belongs to an eligible group and triggers an invitation to the promotion. The ID.me mission statement stresses “No Identity Left Behind” promising to enable this functionality to everyone, regardless of background or banked status.

Identity Verification Approaches

The establishment and verification of identity are multifaceted processes that require careful consideration of various factors. Several approaches and technologies are employed to verify identities effectively.

In some instances the eGovernment services provide a means of identity verification that a business can leverage however these services may not be available or authorized for commercial use.

Biometrics for identity verification uses physiological characteristics to identify individuals. Biometric features may include facial recognition, fingerprints, iris or retina scans, voice recognition, hand geometry, or even behavioral traits such as typing patterns or walking gait. Such features are captured by sensors and compared with pre-existing biometric data stored in a database to confirm or deny the identity of the person. Biometric authentication systems are increasingly popular in areas such as banking, security, and mobile devices since they are considered to be more secure than traditional methods of identification, such as passwords or personal identification numbers (PINs), they are much harder to forge or steal.

Document scanning of ID documents such as passports or driver’s licenses for identity verification is a common practice in various contexts. Organizations and agencies may use ID scanning to take electronic copies of documents that prove your identity, such as driver’s licenses. ID scanning can help verify the authenticity of government-issued identifications and streamline identity verification processes.

Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) is an authentication method that verifies user identity by asking specific security questions. When setting up a new account, users are often required to create a password and choose security questions and answers, such as “What is your mother’s maiden name?”. During login or other actions, users are prompted to answer these security questions based on personal information. KBA can be categorized into two types: Static Knowledge-Based Authentication (SKBA) and Dynamic Knowledge-Based Authentication (DKBA).

Static Knowledge-Based Authentication requires users to provide answers to one or more security questions during account creation. The answers can be accurate or made up, as long as the user remembers them when prompted later. Enterprises need to be cautious when selecting the type and number of questions to avoid being intrusive or excessive.

Dynamic Knowledge-Based Authentication (DKBA) provides a higher level of security but is used less frequently. It relies on information collected from different data sources to generate real-time questions. For example, a user may be asked, “Which of the following companies did you not work for?” and presented with a list of former employers and one incorrect answer.

While KBA is still widely used, it has certain limitations. Personal information used for KBA can often be discovered or stolen through research, phishing, social engineering, or data breaches. People also freely share the same information on social media sites, reducing its security value. Passwords can be shared, stolen, or cracked using password-cracking tools. To enhance security, enterprises relying on KBA should reinforce it with more secure methods like MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication).

SMS or Email Codes are increasingly popular for identity verification, wherein users receive a one-time code via SMS or email, which they must enter to complete the verification process. These are extensions to older, but still popular methods like tokens; where physical devices or mobile device software generates time-based or event-based codes for authentication.

Contemporary blockchain technology offers a decentralized and tamper-resistant approach to identity verification, allowing users to control their identity data securely.

Challenges in Identity Verification

Biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial scans, is highly personal and sensitive. If not adequately protected, it can be vulnerable to data breaches or unauthorized access. Further, storing biometric data in centralized databases can create a single point of failure and increase the risk of identity theft or misuse.

Organizations must comply with local, regional, and national data protection regulations when collecting, storing, and processing biometric and other personal data. There needs to be proper consent, secure storage, and appropriate retention periods for identity and other personally identifiable information.

Biometric systems may have false acceptance or false rejection rates, leading to incorrect identification or denial of access. Factors such as changes in physical appearance, injuries, or aging can affect the accuracy of biometric matching. Denial of service or access can prove challenging under such circumstances. Compromised credentials and stolen devices present the same risks. Some of these approaches may also not work equally well for everyone. Factors such as skin color, gender, age, or disabilities can impact the accuracy and inclusivity of biometric identification systems, for example. Biases in training data or algorithms can also result in discriminatory outcomes.

Ultimately, users should have control over their biometric and other data and be able to provide informed consent for its collection and use. Organizations should be transparent about how individuals’ data is used and allow them to opt-out if desired.

IVS Market offerings

Identity verification systems have risen to prominence due to the digital transformation and the growing importance of securing personal information in the digital age. These systems provide enhanced security, regulatory compliance, improved user trust, and operational efficiencies. Various approaches, including biometric authentication, document verification, and blockchain-based solutions, are employed to establish and verify identity.

Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) primarily revolves around managing and maintaining customer data within the organization. Its core purpose is to create a unified and accurate view of customer information, ensuring consistency and reliability across various systems and departments. The Pretectum CMDM achieves this through data integration, quality management, governance practices, and consolidation efforts. Its use cases span a wide spectrum, from improving customer relationship management to enhancing data analytics and supporting marketing campaigns, sales, and customer service. Customer MDM aggregates customer data from diverse sources within your organization, amongst them, CRM, ERP. CDP, marketing and sales systems, and databases.

In contrast, IVS is tailored specifically for the critical task of verifying the identity of individuals accessing online services or systems. Its primary objective is to confirm that the person claiming to be a customer is indeed who they claim to be. IVS accomplishes this through a range of methods. IVS finds applications in online services, financial institutions, government agencies, and any organization that requires secure user authentication. Its role is to prevent fraud, secure access to sensitive data, and adhere to regulatory mandates such as Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. IVS primarily relies on data provided by users during the verification process, including biometric data, scanned identification documents, or responses to security questions.

When comparing CMDM and IVS, several distinctions and intersections emerge. CMDM is more encompassing in scope, addressing all facets of customer data management, including data quality, integration, and governance. IVS, conversely, maintains a narrower focus on identity verification. Both CMDM and IVS contribute to regulatory compliance, with CMDM ensuring data accuracy and consistency, which is vital for adhering to data protection regulations, while IVS plays a pivotal role in identity verification and KYC compliance.

In essence, CMDM and IVS are complementary elements in the digital ecosystem. CMDM like the Pretectum Customer MDM aids in maintaining data accuracy and providing a holistic view of customer data for internal purposes within an organization, while IVS specializes in the crucial task of verifying the identity of users for the sake of security and controlled access. Both are indispensable for ensuring data accuracy, safeguarding digital interactions, and aligning with regulatory requirements. While their scopes and functions differ, they work in tandem to support trustworthy and efficient digital operations in an increasingly connected world.

Organizations must navigate the many challenges related to privacy, user experience, false positives/negatives, scalability, regulatory compliance, and continuous monitoring by appropriately selecting technologies and practices aligned with their specific operational needs.

By adopting appropriate identity verification and data management approaches, organizations can build trust with their users, enhance security, and deliver seamless digital experiences in an increasingly interconnected world. The adoption of appropriate customer master data management and identity verification systems can shape the way customers interact with organizations for their joint success and confidence in dealing with one another in the years to come.

The Significance of Consumer Data Verification, Consent Management, and Privacy Regulations: Safeguarding Consumer Privacy in the Digital Era

Consumer data has become a valuable asset for digitally-minded businesses across the globe. Companies are able to collect and analyze vast amounts of data in the pursuit of a better understanding of consumers and their behavior.

Through consumer insights, businesses are able to better tailor their products and services, and personalize marketing efforts. However, with the increasing concerns surrounding privacy and data protection, consumer data verification and obtaining explicit consent have emerged as crucial elements in maintaining consumer trust and complying with privacy regulations.

Pretectum, feel that managing your customer data with verification and consent is equally important and here they try to explore the concept of consumer data verification, highlight the importance of consumer consent, and examine the significance of consent management in relation to consumer privacy and global privacy acts.

Consumer Data Verification: Ensuring Accuracy and Authenticity

Consumer data verification refers to the process of confirming the accuracy, reliability, and authenticity of consumer information collected by businesses.

With the abundance of data often already in place or available for collection, ensuring its quality and veracity is critical. Data verification involves various techniques such as cross-referencing information with trusted sources, validating identities, and detecting fraudulent or misleading data. By verifying consumer data, businesses can enhance the quality of their databases, improve decision-making processes, and mitigate potential risks associated with incorrect or unreliable information.

Global Privacy Acts and Consent

Privacy acts around the world, such as the GDPR and CCPA, have significantly influenced data protection practices and highlighted the importance of consumer consent.

These acts set a precedent for privacy regulations worldwide, emphasizing the need for businesses to obtain explicit consent and respect consumer rights.

Implementing consent management not only ensures compliance with these regulations but also reflects an organization’s commitment to respecting privacy and building consumer trust.

The Importance of Consumer Consent

While data verification ensures the accuracy of consumer information, obtaining consumer consent is equally vital. Consumer consent refers to the explicit permission granted by individuals for businesses to collect, store, process, and use their personal data for specific purposes.

Consent is the cornerstone of data protection and privacy regulations, as it empowers individuals with control over their personal information. It ensures that businesses operate transparently and responsibly, respecting consumer privacy rights.

Consumer Consent and Privacy Regulations

In recent years, privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have been enacted to safeguard consumer privacy and provide individuals with greater control over their data.

These regulations emphasize the importance of obtaining informed consent from consumers before collecting and processing their personal information. Consent must be freely given, specific, and unambiguous, enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their data.

An example of Data Verification within the Pretectum CMDM

The Role of Consent Management

While many data-gathering solutions and systems overlook consent management, its inclusion is an important aspect for businesses to ensure compliance and strengthen consumer trust.

Consent management encompasses the processes and mechanisms through which businesses obtain, document, and manage consumer consent. It involves obtaining consent in a clear and concise manner, providing individuals with meaningful choices, and enabling them to withdraw or modify their consent easily.

By implementing robust consent management practices, like those offered by the Pretectum CMDM, businesses can demonstrate accountability, foster transparency, and build long-term relationships with consumers.

Verification requests can be batched or on demand for specific records

The Impact on Consumer Master Data

Consumer master data refers to the comprehensive and accurate information about individuals that businesses possess. When consent management is incorporated into consumer data gathering, it transforms the value and significance of consumer master data.

With verified and consented data, businesses can confidently engage with consumers, deliver personalized experiences, and create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with individuals’ preferences and interests.

Moreover, businesses can proactively manage data breaches, comply with privacy regulations, and establish a reputation for responsible data handling.

Consumer data verification and obtaining consent are integral components of ethical data practices in the modern business landscape.

By verifying data for accuracy and authenticity, businesses can enhance the reliability of their databases.

Simultaneously, obtaining consumer consent is crucial for ensuring transparency, respecting privacy rights, and complying with privacy regulations. Consent Management like that offered by the Pretectum CMDM serves as a vital tool for businesses, enabling them to establish trust, foster transparency, and leverage accurate and consented consumer master data.

As privacy regulations continue to evolve globally, organizations must prioritize consumer consent and embrace robust consent management practices to safeguard consumer privacy and maintain a competitive edge.

Unlocking Business Value with Customer Master Data Management Solutions

Do you know what your customers purchased from your company last month?

Can you predict what they will purchase next month?

If you have some difficulty answering these questions, your company may be missing out on additional opportunities. Most companies witness an uplift in transactional conversion rates from customization of the user experience. Customers want, and expect, a customized and relevant experience when working with your company, and whether or not you can deliver this depends on how much your company knows about them.

The extent to which your company knows your customers depends on the content and quality of your customer MDM. Customizing the customer experience becomes difficult if the data you would use lives in many disconnected systems and departments that do not or cannot interact with each other directly. A customer-centric element of master data management, customer MDM is the focal point of driving new business opportunities by allowing companies to find, merge, and link customer data across the organization.

Customer MDM makes it easy to link and integrate systems like CRM and ERP and provides a single, centralized view of your customers in a holistic way. Companies that understand the substantial benefits of connecting the data they hold in the master data management platform can understand the business value that could be attained from appropriately wide access to customer data. Customer master data management tools can assist in harnessing and boosting CRM functions like sales, marketing, customer service, and e-commerce.

The CRM leaders who avoid customer master data management land up with flawed results that could upset customers. An integrated CRM strategy enabled by customer master data management links the entire customer journey from sales and marketing to customer service and e-commerce to provide you with a 100% overview of customer history and communication.

To have a holistic customer data view, you need to integrate operational master data for every customer. The data must then be cleansed, verified for duplicates, and maintained. Automating this process through data quality operations that match and connect the data, provides you with a set of correct and reliable records.

Marketing teams run campaigns with a better chance of success by targeting contacts on a more personal and relevant level. Sales teams generate offers and promotions based on historical engagement, delivering better predictability of response and outcomes.

Customer MDM makes it all possible by providing a single point of entry for customer data accessible enterprise-wide. This can improve the customer experience by reducing the time your service teams spend finding customer records and digging into customer problems.

A broad view of your company’s customer data makes the segmentation process simple and more accurate, as you have insights gained from their integrated historical behavior and purchasing patterns. You gain a comprehensive understanding of how your customers are expected to act, enabling you to generate products and services that they actually want and increase the likelihood of them purchasing from you.

As you get a complete and holistic overview of customer activity across your company, customer interaction patterns may begin to surface. Eventually, companies can appropriately cross-sell and up-sell more products and services by providing incentives based on previous patterns. Most consumers appreciate emails from retailers suggesting promotions, products, and services aligned with past behavior.

Companies can create new products and develop more targeted marketing campaigns based on what they currently know about their customers’ behavior. And, of course, they have the insights to deliver a lot more customized service to individuals with centralized offers and promotions. Companies can identify customers who may start looking elsewhere and hopefully retain them by offering customized incentives to stay with you.

Taking a customer-centric approach to master data creation and service delivery enables your organization to fulfill the actual needs of your customers and add value. Consider the sources of insight and how you can leverage these to best effect.

Contact us to learn more about you could leverage the Pretectum CMDM to unlock more value from your Customer master data.

Customer lifetime value modelling

A customer lifetime value (CLV) is one of the most important metrics in marketing, outlining the total value a company is expected to reap from a customer relationship. But how can a marketer determine a customer’s lifetime value? And what modelling provides the best outcome? Rokas Salasevicius and Justas Jankunas from management consultancy CIVITTA shed light on the topic. 

While there are different definitions of customer lifetime value, at CIVITTA we follow the following definition: “Customer lifetime value is a concept which estimates how much money the customer is going to bring to a company in the long run.”

Calculating and tracking customer lifetime value is of huge importance for marketers, for a number of reasons. First, it enables marketers to observe the business – CLV is used as one of the KPIs that provide information about the health of the business and customer base. CLV allows understanding how strong the current customer base is and track how it is changing over time, as well as identify reasons why it is changing.

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Calculating Customer Lifetime Value Is Tricky

A customer’s lifetime value is more important for an organization than the profits on the first, or perhaps even the first several sales.

Many companies offer discounts — sometimes steep ones — to obtain the customer’s initial business. Some may even make the first sale at a loss, with the idea of making it up on subsequent sales. But to determine if a discount will pay off in the future, a company needs to know how to accurately calculate customer lifetime value (CLTV). It’s not as easy as it might first seem.

Attracting and retaining the highest value customers is key for every business. Knowing your customer’s lifetime value can help you make sound marketing decisions.

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How to measure your sales enablement ROI

Sales reps need to wear many hats and have a lot to juggle during a working day. With so many demands on reps today and having to navigate long B2B sales cycles, a tool that can help sellers along the way is welcomed.

Sales enablement and using enablement technology is becoming increasingly important for B2B organizations. According to research released by McKinsey & Company, “roughly two in three buyers prefer remote human interaction or digital self-service.

But if you are using an enablement platform now, or are considering it, have you done an ROI calculation to quantify how much time and money you could save by having one?

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The ROI of email and why it matters

The email has long been an essential weapon in the marketer’s arsenal and many businesses have increased their reliance on the channel during the pandemic.

In Validity and the DMA’s Marketer Email Tracker 2021, almost three-quarters (72%) of brands reported that email is their preferred and most used channel to engage with customers across the customer journey, compared to 66% who said social media.

While email’s popularity and effectiveness aren’t disputed, calculating exactly how valuable it is as a marketing channel can be tricky. In fact, Validity found that one in three marketers aren’t confident calculating the ROI of email, which presents a significant challenge when it comes to reporting on performance and securing budget and resources ongoing. (This can become a vicious cycle – with less budget and resources, performance is likely to decline).

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How Manufacturers Can Get Started Selling Directly To Consumers

Let’s face it: Manufacturers’ traditional sales models can hurt both the company and the customer. Because of the pandemic causing havoc on supply chains, selling direct has become a more popular option for many manufacturers. 

Looking forward to the 2020s, the old model of selling through a distribution/broker/retailer channel may still be alive, but many company leaders are finding that their customers prefer to buy directly from them. On top of that, restrictive middleman margins can increasingly put a chokehold on manufacturers’ profits.

When Covid-19 hit, people ran to the internet to shop for just about everything. I think manufacturing as an industry reached a tipping point between the pandemic, a global supply chain malfunction where production halted and even stopped for some companies, and some online retailers refusing to change policies to adapt to these situations.

These factors led many manufacturers to ramp up and increase their investments in a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, where they have 100% control over pricing, inventory levels, and — increasingly — access to critical customer data. As the co-founder of a company that creates digital sales channels for manufacturers, I have some advice for those just getting started with selling directly to consumers.

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Customer Data’s impact on Digital Transformation

When we hear the words “digital transformation”, the first thought that might come into your mind might be the shift from a traditional manual office environment into one that is leveraging all things digital.

That perspective is valid to some extent. Many companies and businesses shift from traditional physical business practices to more modern digital ones to improve not just operational efficiency but also to accentuate their digital presence.

They might do this either by creating a mobile app, revamping or launching their website to support e-commerce or even by ramping up their social media presence. All of these decisions and behaviours fall under the umbrella of digital transformation initiatives.

Continue reading at Pretectum.com

Net Promoter 3.0

As a consumer, you’ve probably encountered this sort of question dozens of times—after an online purchase, at the end of a customer service interaction, or even after a hospital stay.

If you work at one of the thousands of companies that ask this question of their customers, you’re familiar with the Net Promoter System (NPS), which Reichheld invented and first wrote about in HBR almost 20 years ago. (See “The One Number You Need to Grow,” December 2003.)

NPS has spread rapidly around the world. It has become the predominant customer success framework—used today by two-thirds of the Fortune 1000. Why has it been embraced so enthusiastically?

Because it solves a vital challenge that our financial systems fail to address.

Financials can easily tell us when we have extracted $1 million from our customers’ wallets, but they can’t tell us when our work has improved customers’ lives.

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How To Calculate (And Improve) Lifetime Value

Lifetime value (LTV) is a significant metric that helps estimate the growth of a company.

By comparing LTV to customer acquisition cost, the results can help make crucial decisions. This might include devising your advertising and marketing budget, for example.

Businesses can use LTV to acquire and retain high-profile customers.

This means more income, thus scaling. But, if customer acquisition costs are higher than LTV, scaling is impossible.

For you to predict and improve customer lifetime value successfully, you’ll need to know how to measure customer lifetime value.

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The Key Factor in Marketing to Hispanics This Holiday Season

With more than $1.5T buying power on the line, brands must understand what matters most to the Hispanic and Latinx community

A look at Americans of Hispanic origins, three-fourths (77%) of surveyed Hispanic adults in the U.S. stated strong familiarity with their origins and 71% stated that they felt a “strong connection” to their roots—nearly double that of white adults surveyed from Pew Research

The data comes as no shock to those of us who are either part of, or at the very least familiar with the Latinx communities in the U.S. As Cynthia Correa says “Our roots cross every element of our lives, from our tastes in food and music, to the sports we love, the hobbies we enjoy and the holidays we celebrate with loved ones. It’s a core part of our identity, a sentiment I’ve long known but Pew has given us the data to back it up.

Read more at Adweek

In 2021, the data breaches just keep on coming

If you’ve wondered how hackers have found the virtual keys to your Facebook and financial accounts, security experts say one of the answers to that question is found in data breaches.

“I’m a security person. My information has been leaked in nearly 20 data breaches, by my estimate,” says Christopher Budd, director of threat communications for Avast Antivirus.

Budd says hackers can buy login data for next to nothing.

“There’s so many out there that the cyber criminals can go out, pay a few cents per record – literally – and get information that they can use to turn around and log in,” says Budd.

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1,355 NUS Society members’ personal data stolen, possibly put on sale on Dark Web

SINGAPORE – The personal data of 1,355 National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) members has been stolen after the society’s website was hacked early last month, NUSS said on Monday (Nov 1).

When asked by The Straits Times, the university graduate club did not say whether the data involved was encrypted. But it said that affected members had their full NRIC numbers stolen.

Asked if the names of members were also stolen, NUSS would only say that “NRIC numbers which match the names of 1,355 members” had been accessed.

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How News Corp and Near are innovating with first-party data

Data is the new ‘glue’ that will hold together the evolution of marketing and this future, itself, is being redefined at a breakneck speed. The fast-evolving trends on data and privacy are keeping marketers on their toes constantly as they get ready for a cookie-less world.

This fireside chat at The Drum Digital Summit untangles this multi-faceted theme and helps marketers to get future-ready. The panel features Suzie Cardwell, general manager client product and strategy, News Corp Australia and Shobhit Shukla, co-founder, and president of Near. The session looks into the ways in which businesses can future proof themselves using data, with insights from News Corp and Near.

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Every racial and ethnic minority group in America is making financial gains but not at equal rates

Multicultural Economy Report from the University of Georgia : Selig Center’s Multicultural Economy Report shows minority groups have a combined buying power of $3.9 trillion

The combined buying power of African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans is estimated to be $2.4 trillion, while the nation’s Hispanics command $1.5 trillion in spending power—larger than the GDP of Australia.

African American buying power has seen impressive gains since the end of the last economic downturn, jumping from $961 billion in 2010 to an estimated $1.3 trillion in 2018. Since 2000, the African American market has seen a 114 percent increase in buying power.

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