Closed loop marketing probably wasn’t a terminology taught at Pace University or other fine schools with a focus on accounting. But it probably should have been.
With time to focus on things other than late tax filings, closed loop marketing is a great follow up our article on Relationship Management. Remember the discussion about data, and how it can be utilized? Closed loop marketing is the best way to take data and create revenues. The more data you collect and segment, the more you can understand behaviors of targeted groups. Dissecting and segmenting small bits of data can create a large picture of what your customer types really look like.pile of junk mail
Closed loop marketing; using internal and external customer data to personalize marketing campaigns, to tie every bit of visitor activity to the marketing initiative is the step to take to make that data collection produce and ROI. Closed loop marketing is the way to develop deeper, more meaningful relationships with existing and newly acquired ones, improving advocacy and building referrals.
Last week we also discussed how a CRM software solution can automate parts or all of your online marketing efforts. This can be as simple as email campaigns to elaborate online ad placement for re-advertising (automated method for moving your ads to similar product/service offerings) your spot on multiple sites as the viewer scans the net.
Everything can be automated!
Because of automation life is less stressful and more productive.
Automation for closed loop marketing is a bit more intricate than an email campaign, but is equally as effective. Your marketing can be set to recognize certain triggers, so that delivered content is personalized. This can automate some of the segmentation, or provide yet more data as visitors to the site seek more information.
Remember, our goal should always be to convert website visitors to customers, but like everything, there is a defined process for this to happen. The ancillary payoff besides a new customer from a visitor is the collection of data; lots of data. As mentioned, the more data we can glean from everyone that interacts with us, the better our marketing can evolve.
Let’s take a look at a simple explanation of how closed loop marketing works.
- Your website has been optimized, contains tracking “cookies” to log the page which the visitor enters the site (they might just be surfing, brought in from a link somewhere else, through a specific keyword search, or from your email campaign). With the ability to track and record this information, you can glean specific behaviors and effectiveness of your other marketing efforts.
- We can learn where the visitor originated, what pages they visited, how long they remained on each page, and if they clicked on any specific “more information” tabs, and things of that nature.
- Capturing this type of data can lead to the development of more customer-centric offerings for the future, streamlining the effectiveness of the advancement steps and bringing about conversion more quickly. Time is money and the easier and quicker we can make the buying decision happen, the better. Getting the visitor behavior tracking integrated with the lead once they have gone from a visitor to a lead to a customer is difficult, but not impossible. We use and recommend HubSpot®, which offers a superb reporting tool for just that. Implementing a closed loop reporting system as part of your marketing can be a boon to your overall success.
- The use and collection of contact details is critical to conversion, so you will need an opt-in strategy. The visitor will (or will not) leave their contact information signaling that they have some level of interest. This information will be the tip of the spear so to speak when it comes to tying data to customers (potential, existing or former). As another part of the marketing automation, this data form can be created in-house with a variety of software, but it is easiest to be created within your email opt-in service. It should contain name and email address at a minimum, but be careful. Asking or making information beyond that required can dismay some, thereby losing potential opportunities.
- This data collection offers a variety of services for the visitor; downloading information, requesting contact or enrolling in further communications like a newsletter or promotions listings. The contact information is logged into the system and categorized according to some form of lead scoring, for future follow up.
Diversify From Tradition
Without the ability to collect, segment, score and otherwise utilize data, marketing falls back to the traditional form. As we all know, the consumer has grown tired of messages thrust in their face, and has turned to the Internet instead. By embracing technology and what it offers, we can effectively grow our business in to grow our businesses by relating to today’s consumer.
