Companies have huge volumes of information available to help them improve their services to consumers.
The problem is that many businesses are not using this data to their advantage, said Gery Pollet, founder and executive chairman of intelligent mobile marketing company, ZapFi.
According to Pollet, organisations can influence consumer purchasing patterns and promote loyalty through actionable insights and targeted, location-based intelligent mobile marketing. But in order to do so, they need to effectively convert the data they have at their disposal to their advantage.
Actionable insights allow organisations to take what they have learnt about their customers and use that information to better meet their customers' needs, he said, which ultimately drives customer loyalty. "This goes beyond sending people promotional messages; it is about sending them things that we know they will like based on our knowledge about their tastes and preferences."
Pollet chatted to ITWeb this week during his visit to Cape Town to speak at the annual Gartner Symposium. The purpose of his visit was also to introduce SA to ZapFi, a platform that enables brands to offer visitors and customers free, secure WiFi.
This kind of platform encourages more frequent and longer visits, says Pollet, while also allowing brands to better interact with their customers and gain insight about them.
"When people start using the service, the business is able to get a better understanding of who they are based on their online behaviour. And based on that information, and their location, businesses can send targeted messages to these customers."
Talking privacy
Pollet acknowledges that privacy is always a concern when it comes to accessing customer data, but points out that platforms should comply with government legislation, as is the case with ZapFi.
He notes that the ZapFi service is based on an "opt-in" model, which means customers must agree to allow the business to access their data and use this data to target offerings at them based on their likes and dislikes. "Just as it is an 'opt-in' model, it is also an 'opt-out' model, so if the consumer is no longer interested, they can inform us and their data is destroyed.
"The market is ready for this kind of intelligent mobile marketing, and more and more customers are demanding this level of engagement," he concluded.
The ZapFi platform is currently only available in several countries across Europe, but should be available in SA in the next six months.
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