Aggregate Data to Grasp the Whole Customer Journey…

Few companies can connect the dots when managing their massive amounts of customer information. According to research by Econsultancy and Ensighten, only 10 percent of marketers have successfully aggregated data from social, web analytics, customer purchase history and in-store visits and sales.

Even the necessary centralization of that data is becoming more difficult. In a recent CMO Council study, 44 percent of marketers said they believe data aggregation is crucial for completing their picture of the customer experience. Even if an organization stores, collects and aggregates all of its own site’s data, it still has a limited view of consumer behavior.

Most marketers don’t observe customers’ online activity beyond their own sites. According to Teradata, 87 percent of marketers believe data is a valuable yet largely underused tool.

Now is the time to start unleashing its full potential.

A lack of aggregation harms consumer relationships

Without a holistic view of the customer experience, conversion funnels are inefficient. Marketers who truly know their customers can better cater to their needs, convert them and then identify opportunities to upsell and cross-sell them.

For example, if an online retailer knows a customer liked a specific product on Facebook and made a similar purchase before, it can provide personalized messaging and product filtering on its site and provide relevant promo codes. Customers are getting used to this type of customized experience thanks to suggestion mechanisms such as those on Amazon and Netflix. Failure to analyze data properly leads to a lack of accurate customization options, putting the user experience at risk.

Related: Perform Powerful Personalized Marketing in 4 Easy Steps

I’ve learned that aggregating data is a fundamental step toward understanding customers. At Gap, I worked with various teams and agencies to combine paid search performance data with in-store retail purchase activity from our customers. Matching in-store transactions to paid online search activity allowed us to properly measure ROI regardless of where customers purchased and see how our online activity boosted in-store sales. Then, we expanded customer outreach by focusing on programs we may have shied away from previously.

Related: 5 Strategies for Understanding Customer Needs While Competing in Digital Marketing

Now that I’m at Jumpshot, my team uses clickstream data to set up KPI touchpoints across the internet. In today’s cookie- and pixel-driven digital world, it’s easy to measure reach, impressions, clicks and the resulting conversion events on a company’s own site.

But what about companies such as Intel that primarily sell their products through other platforms such as Amazon and Best Buy? By having data from all of these touchpoints, marketers can finally understand the complete impact campaigns have on their audience and properly allocate money to the digital channels that are truly driving business.

Where to start with data aggregation

Companies that fail to recognize the same individual across social, search, email, and website visits compromise personalization and effectiveness; they also risk decreasing campaign optimization and advertising ROI. Here are four ways to aggregate data effectively to create a holistic picture of the consumer journey:

1. Identify current data sources, and bring them together.