11 ways to get more from your user data

It’s not enough to just collect data — you have to know how to use it. You should know what to collect, and what to do with that information once you have it in order to improve the bottom line of your business.

To help you figure it out, I asked 11 successful entrepreneurs from YEC the following question:

What is the most creative way you see companies using collected user data?

1. Customized marketing content 

Using collected user data, you can leverage open source machine learning databases to find patterns in human interactions with marketing content. Using these new technologies, you can customize your content marketing strategies to create the content users are hungry for. This is a win-win because you waste less time on suboptimal content and get better results. – Brennan White, Cortex

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2. Text message reminders 

Everyone gets too many emails these days, but at the same time, they carry smartphones everywhere they go. With permission, we send text reminders of live events, new content, and nurture campaigns to encourage engagement. As a bonus, during events and speeches, the audience can text in to join the list, eliminating the need for a landing page or web form. – Kelly Azevedo, She’s Got Systems

3. Customer service 

We track the search terms users type in our knowledge base to improve existing articles and add new information. We also pass this information to our support agents so they can better assist the customer. – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

4. AI bots 

One of the most fascinating applications is with artificial intelligence. Facebook has already started to roll out customer service bots inside of messenger, and the speed and accuracy with which they can understand a user’s needs is a game-changer. Conversational language that touches on certain key phrases can pull up order info, shipping info, available flights, and even order an Uber. – Kevin Yamazaki, Sidebench Studios

5. Thought leadership articles 

Everyone is always looking for new statistics, so it’s been a good way to create a thought leadership position by compiling the data into articles or white papers that offer beneficial quantitative evidence for the industry and the audience as a whole. This can become an excellent marketing tool that shows the company has been doing its research and understands the marketplace. – Angela Ruth, Due

6. Optimizing for the individual 

For marketers, more connections and data typically means more data mayhem, presenting a bigger challenge to find insights in the noise. But data and technology are also enablers that allow for increased relevancy and personalized experiences. Toyota is one example of a brand that has been successful — creating 100 personalized video clips reflecting the specific interests of RAV4 attributes. – Ryan Stoner, Phenomenon

7. Webinars and presentations 

We have been creating webinars out of questions, concerns, common problems, etc. from our users. We take the time to collect questions that our users have and then make a presentation out of answering them. We are able to speak about specific questions, connect with users, and encourage more users to submit questions and interact with us for future presentations. – Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

8. Finding new niches and pivots 

We never know who’s visited the website or read our blogs, and often times we are surprised by how some groups of people find our products or services useful. This helps us uncover new niches or perhaps pivot from less profitable to more profitable bundles of products and services. – Andre Chandra, I Print N Mail

9. Personalization 

Website personalization based on click behavior. Through the use of platforms like Monetate and BounceExchange, companies can use personalized websites to display different types of web content and CTAs based on previous user actions combined with opt-in data like age, male/female, etc. This information can give each user a different website experience. – Dan Golden, Be Found Online

10. Tracking engagement 

There’s the old saying: “Strike while the iron is hot.” But how many marketers know when the iron is really ‘hot’ and the prospect is ready to buy? Worse yet, how do they know when a warm prospect is turning cold? Systematic marketing strategies (coupled with marketing automation) track user engagement and automatically trigger events based on your prospects and customers actions driving more sales. – Charles Gaudet, Predictable Profits

11. Sales forecasting 

By looking at the purchases made by customers, you can predict when, and what they will buy again. Based on this data, you can look at planned obsolescence and predict other products to offer to those users. If you sell fishing supplies, how long will their supplies last, so you can remarket to them? Based on their psychographics, what other interests do they have that you can market to? – Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin