Commentary

Build A Strong Online Community And "They Will Come"

According to a Forrester Consulting “thought leadership paper” commissioned by SAP, companies are trying to better leverage customer data to gain a richer understanding of their prospective customers. This study finds that marketers’ primary focus in leveraging customer data is to improve segmentation and targeting, and to help create more personalized offers. A brief summary, in the words of the study report, follows.

The study found that approximately 50% of companies are struggling to reach the right buyers and understand their customers because they don’t have the right data or don’t know how to use it properly. Key challenges include:

  • Lack of information about new buyers prior to making a purchase
  • Inability to utilize customer data effectively
  • Inability to reach the right buyers
  • Inability to reach buyers in appropriate channels

When asked what types of content businesses considered to be most valuable in supporting online purchases, user generated content (including buyer ratings and reviews and Q&A discussions thread) topped the list, says the report. Businesses recognize the impact that the peer-generated content can have in supporting purchase decisions yet user-generated content is what businesses have the hardest time connecting prospects to.

Nearly two-thirds of marketers report the greatest dropout of online prospects occurs during the product discovery, exploration, and buy phases of the buyer journey. These pre-purchase phases are the critical moments for marketers to deliver relevant messages and content that will drive purchases, says the report.

Primary Challenges In Supporting Prospects Online Purchasing Journeys

Challenge

% of Respondents

Inability to reach buyers in appropriate channels

45%

Inability to reach the right buyers

48%

Inability to utilize customer data effectively

55%

Lack of information about new buyers prior to making a purchase

59%

Source: Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP, August 2016

Marketers believe that online communities can offer a viable solution to deal with the many challenges they face, says the report, in having the right information about consumers, reaching them at the right time, and providing access to user-generated content:

  • 59% of companies believe that customers are using community-generated content when making purchases.
  • 77% of marketers agree that community-generated content accelerates buying decisions
  • 71% agree that individuals who utilize community-generated content are more likely to make a purchase those than those who don’t

Businesses recognize the value that communities can play in supporting prospects on their buyer journey. The study found businesses are prioritizing these activities as they plan to improve online engagement with prospects to support better online purchasing experiences, says the report.

Communities Play A Key Role In Improving Online Engagement (% of Respondents)

Activity

Already doing this / in process of doing this

Planning to do this

Increase awareness of branded community and social channels

49%

41%

Investing in technology to better connect the exploration and purchasing phases of the buyer journey.

49

39

Tighter integration of content between communities, product catalogs, and commerce sites

48

42

Enable easier filtering and searching of product-related content on community and commerce sites

46

39

Deepen the level of engagement with your buyers via communities

44

42

Increasing activity on branded communities to stimulate a higher volume of buyer discussions

38

48

Source: Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP, August 2016

Marketers need a deeper understanding of their customers and prospects in order to achieve greater marketing success and improve online customer experiences, concludes the report. Online communities are one specific way businesses can better understand and support current and new customers. However, just having an online community is not sufficient to accomplish these goals. To fully realize the value that online communities can offer, marketing teams must first:

  • Understand what data your business needs to support your marketing goals and align your services to capture that data
  • Leverage communities to capture greater customer insight and for driving user-generated content creation
  • Make communities more than just a single stop in the buyer journey

For more information from SAP, please visit here

 

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