Data is eating the world, and its sharp rise to becoming the top priority for business leaders around the globe is showing no signs of slowing down. Being data driven is critical for the success of any customer facing business, and in a time where the volume and variety of consumer insights available is only growing, it’s critical to understand how you can leverage them to supercharge your customer experience.  

Consumer insights come in all shapes and sizes

Consumer insights comes in a variety of forms and can be collected at multiple touchpoints. Some common types include: 

• Personal data – Where do they live? When were they born? What’s their mother’s maiden name? (The answer to the last question’s not information I’d be giving away in too much of a hurry)  
• Interaction data – Do they open your emails? Do they fill out forms on your website? Did they like that linked in status you posted about international dog day? (FYI this is real, and it’s happening on August 26th)  
• Behavioural data – This is more of the granular stuff. It’s data that outlines how many times your customers have purchased from you. Did they renew their subscription? What did they buy last? When did they buy last? You get the gist.  
• Attitudinal data – This is data that helps you picture what your customers really think of you. You can collect it by conducting online surveys or running focus groups. It’s real, human opinion – not just facts and figures, and it is of immense value.  

Collecting customer data can be a challenge. In a world with evolving data privacy regulations and email opt out options, designing and deploying an effective data collection strategy can seem like an arduous task. It is, however, imperative to do so to help inform and innovate your products and services. 

There are a couple of different data collection methods at your disposal, some of which include:  

• Online surveys 
• Marketing analytics 
• Website visits & heat mapping  
• Interviews/Focus groups 
• Social media monitoring  

Whatever strategy you use to collect, analyse and utilize your customer data, it’s important to make sure you’re doing so in line with prevailing GDPR laws. If you’re complying, however, go wild and tap into the goldmine of business opportunity customer data offers. 

Better customer data, better customer relationships

Billion-dollar companies across the globe regularly leverage data to bolster their customer service and diversify their revenue streams.  

Starbucks launched a wildly successful rewards program and mobile app in 2016 which enabled them to collect and capitalize on their customer data. If you’re a customer who doesn’t like sugar with their tea, Starbucks knows it, and they’ll suggest delicious unsweetened drinks to you on the app. By using data this way, they personalise their customer experiences, sweeten their customer relationships (see what I did there?) and increase their revenue potential. Nifty, huh? 

You can get creative with how you collect and use your customer data, as long as you use it in the first place. To not do so in an age where data has been proven, time and time again, to be a key driver of business success, would be a rookie error.  

Interested in learning more about customer data dos and don’ts? Join us at Customer Alpha Europe (13th May 2025, London), where we’ll be uniting experts from Marks & Spencer, eBay, National Rail, Only Fans and more to reveal the latest on customer experience, consumer behaviour, omnichannel marketing and more.