MKT - Organizing Customer Data [LESSON]

Organizing Customer Data

In this lesson, you will learn about the various ways to organize customer data and how to use that data to target specific customers for marketing campaigns.

Knowledge Point

In the last lesson, you learned about the many ways a target market can be segmented. To be successful at market segmentation, businesses need to gather large amounts of information about their customers. All this information needs to be well organized. Having well-organized data has many benefits including:

  • Having the ability to identify and target your best customers and marketing strategies
  • Optimizing information shared by multiple employees and departments (i.e. sales, billing, accounts receivable, etc.)
  • Providing customers with the highest level of customer service
  • Helping employees identify customer needs and build relationships with customers

Small businesses usually organize their customer data with the use of a database. A database is a structured collection of data that is stored electronically. For small businesses, a database might contain important data and details related to the business’s customers. Some of the data stored in the database might include personal information like email addresses and phone numbers, last purchase, last interaction, buying patterns, and/or demographic information.

Access Database | Video

Watch the video below to learn more about database software and how it can be used to organize data. As you watch the video, answer the following questions:

❓ What are the four simple objects that make up a Microsoft Access database?

❓ What is the function of tables in a database?

❓ How are records represented in a table?

❓ What can queries help you do in a database?

❓ How can reports be useful in a database?

OER Source: GCFGlobal “Access – Introduction to Objects Links to an external site.” Used according to terms of use.

Now that you have learned about the important components of a database, let’s discuss how everything fits together. Remember that each object (query, form, report, table) uses the same data. In other words, all data in a query, form, or report is stored in one of the database tables.

An infographic with the following four blocks with the information: Tables, Forms, Queries, and Reports.

Let’s look at a simple example to help you understand the relationship. Imagine there is a database that is built to manage student information. In the Students Table there is information for each student including student ID, student name, grade level, date of birth, grade level, and home address. In the Courses Table there is information regarding the various courses offered at the school including course ID number, course name, teacher name, and room number. In this example, each student can be enrolled in multiple courses, and each course can have multiple students. Therefore, this is a many-to-many relationship. Let’s assume we need to run a query to retrieve specific information from our database. We need to find all the courses a specific student is enrolled in. The search terms are entered into a form. The information that is entered into the form for the specific student and the courses the student is enrolled in is used to create and run a query. Once the query is run, it will search the two tables (Students Table and Courses Table) to locate the courses for the specific student. The student course schedule can then be printed out. The printed student schedule is an example of a report. 

Let’s now imagine how you would create a student schedule for a specific student without the use of a database. The information you would need to create a specific student schedule would be spread among several tables. In order to determine which courses the student is enrolled in, you would need to search through various tables and records to locate the information. It is easy to see how challenging and time-consuming this process could be. This is where the power of database objects becomes evident. They make the search for information much more manageable and reduce the chances of errors.

While databases are a great way to manage and organize data, larger businesses might choose to use Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, to help manage customer data and customer relationships. CRM systems continuously collect data about customers.

Larger businesses, on the other hand, might choose to use Customer Relationship Management or CRM, to help manage customer data and customer relationships. A good CRM system brings everything together in one place so everyone in the business can see and access needed customer data.

Traits of CRM System | Video Presentation

Use the presentation below to find out about the traits of a good CRM system.

crestthreads fictional business logo

 

 

Let’s practice what you have learned about organizing customer data and using customer data for specific purposes.

Consider the following situation: CrestThreads has been gathering customer data for several years. Some of the data that has been collected includes customer names, ages, gender, location, income level, buying history, and participated promotions. 

 

 

 

Customer Data | Practice Activity

Consider each scenario and then decide which customer data might be the most useful. Read each scenario and select 'reveal' to see the answer, click the arrow button on the bottom right to continue.

Reflection

Databases and CRMs are tools that businesses use to organize customer data. A good organizational system helps businesses to quickly access needed data and use that data to improve their marketing strategies as well as their products/services.

[CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Links to an external site.] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION - INTENDED ONLY FOR USE WITHIN LESSON.