Tips, and tricks to connect with your customers

Welcome to our new series, "Now YOUKNOW How," where we provide step-by-step guides on leveraging global martech to gain valuable insights. In today's tutorial, we'll explore GWI (the world's largest online consumer research survey) and demonstrate how to build an instant audience, focusing on South African millennials.

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Whether you need quick research for a pitch or need new insights into your target market, this guide will help you unlock the potential of GWI. Join our Marketing Insights Lead, Ryan Brunyee, as he shows us how to build a GWI audience in under 3 minutes!

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Step 1: Create an Audience

To get started, log in to the GWI platform and navigate to the Audience tab.

• Click on the pink button labelled 'Create a new audience.'
• Then, select' Add attributes' in the box labelled 'Define your audience'. This is where you will begin your journey of defining your audience.

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Step 2: Define your Audience

In this example, we'll focus on building a basic millennial audience. Follow these steps within the attribute window:

• Choose and refine the demographic attribute by selecting personal demographics - age - age groups - generations - Gen Y (millennials).

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• Once fully defined, it will open you back onto the Audience tab with a newly built (millennial) audience.
• Save this audience by clicking the pink 'Save' button in the top right-hand corner.

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Step 3: Gather Instant Insights

Let's explore this millennial audience by uncovering their favourite social media channels.

• Access the Charts tab in the top left corner.
• Click 'Question Charts' and choose your desired dataset, such as GWI Core.
• Select a topic relevant to your inquiry, such as 'social media'. This is where we start to build our specific chart to understand millennials' preferred social media platforms.

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• Further refine your exploration by delving into specific areas, such as social and messaging usage and frequency of visits or usage.
• Refine the data by further filtering the data by location, data waves (timeline) and which GWI data set (GWI, kids, custom and USA)
• Add the audience you built earlier by clicking the pink "Apply an audience" button.

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Step 4: Analyse your Data

• You can sort your data further on the right-hand side, such as segmenting by, adding metrics, and changing the chart view.
• Customise the question chart by adjusting the frequency options (e.g. more than once a day, daily, monthly, or weekly).

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And within just a few minutes, you've gained key insights into South African millennials, such as their most used social media platforms.

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This step-by-step guide has demonstrated how GWI empowers marketers to uncover valuable insights about their target audience's social media preferences and usage habits. Stay tuned for more data-driven videos in our "Now YOUKNOW How" series!

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If you want to watch this step-by-step tutorial, head to our Youtube channel: Now YOUKNOW How | Learn how to build an audience on GWI in under 3 minutes

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To learn more about GWI or request further assistance, contact Ryan. For additional clever ways to acquire data-driven insights, connect with our experts here.

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Let us know on LinkedIn if there are specific topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes.

Customer personalisation took centre stage at this year's Datacon Africa event, bringing together industry experts to discuss the key strategies for unlocking the potential of personalisation and harnessing customer data to create seamless experiences and drive business growth. Among the distinguished panellists were Kelvin Jonck, CEO of YOUKNOW, Terishia Reddy, Executive of Customer Insights & Analytics at Massmart, Vukosi Sambo, Executive – Head of Business Data Insights at Medscheme, and Pendo Manjele, Data & Analytics Senior Specialist at ZANACO.

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Harnessing Customer Data for Personalisation

The panel delved into the importance of utilising customer data to improve personalisation, offering valuable insights into how businesses can create personalised customer experiences using first-party data. Here are the key takeaways for successfully implementing customer personalisation strategies:

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Develop Advanced Customer Insights for Actionable Personalisation

In the absence of third-party data, brands must adopt first party data tools like mParticle to unlock the true potential of customer personalisation and stay competitive. 

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To create meaningful personalisation, it is essential to build on diverse data sources and leverage advanced techniques such as predictive analytics and machine learning. Gathering rich first-party data through surveys, interviews, social media monitoring, and data analytics allows brands to gain comprehensive customer insights to then offer tailored experiences.

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Another great tip is to understand the power of segmenting your data properly. Segmenting customer data solely on demographics falls short of delivering personalised experiences. It is crucial to delve deeper into customer needs, preferences, and behaviours to create truly customised and relevant interactions.

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In summary, these are the key points on how to Develop Advanced Customer Insights for Actionable Personalisation: 

• Adopt first-party data tools like mParticle or DOMO. You can read more about the first party data revolution here.
• Leverage predictive analytics and machine learning
• Gather rich first-party data through surveys, interviews, social media monitoring, and data analytics
• Create customised and relevant interactions beyond demographic segmentation

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Integrate Customer-Centric Data Strategies for Seamless Engagement

To create seamless and frictionless customer engagement, businesses need to establish a unified view of the customer across multiple touchpoints, including websites, mobile apps, social media, and offline interactions. By integrating these insights into marketing funnels, brands can curate personalised customer experiences at every step of the customer journey.

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Investing in real-time data platforms and automation empowers brands to be proactive. By analysing trends and understanding customer behaviour in detail, businesses can anticipate their needs and deliver personalised journeys that resonate with individual preferences.

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Building trust is paramount in acquiring and utilising customer data. Prioritising data quality and governance ensures compliance and builds a strong foundation for long-term success.

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In summary, these are the key points on how to Integrate Customer-Centric Data Strategies for Seamless Engagement:

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• Establish a unified view of the customer across multiple touchpoints
• Integrate insights into marketing funnels for personalised experiences
• Utilise real-time data and automation to anticipate customer needs
• Prioritise data quality and governance to build trust

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Create an Agile Architecture to Scale Personalised Experiences

In today's digital landscape, scale and agility are essential for driving personalised customer experiences. Cloud computing and big data technologies provide the infrastructure needed to connect with customers in real time, enabling the creation of relationships and communities built on first-party data.

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To meet the evolving needs of customers, brands must unify the customer experience by adapting to their preferred channels, timing, and communication methods. By leveraging the right data integrations and insights, businesses can swiftly respond to changing expectations and requirements, ensuring continued satisfaction.

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Successful brands understand the dynamic nature of consumer preferences. By immersing themselves in the customer's shoes, they gain valuable insights into changing expectations, enabling them to adapt their offerings effectively.

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In summary, these are the key points on how to Create an Agile Architecture to Scale Personalised Experiences:

• Leverage cloud computing and big data technologies for real-time connections
• Adapt to evolving customer preferences and communication channels
• Gain insights into changing expectations to tailor offerings effectively

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Unlock Your Personalisation Potential with YOUKNOW Technologies

The power of personalised customer experiences cannot be underestimated in today's competitive landscape. As you strive to harness customer data and create seamless interactions, we understand that building the right technology stack for your business can be overwhelming. If you find yourself unsure of where to start or how to navigate this complex process, we are here to help- Chat to one of our experts.

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At YOUKNOW Technologies, our team of local experts specialises in guiding African businesses through the intricacies of building a robust technology stack that empowers personalised customer journeys and in-depth data insights.

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In summary, these are the key points on how to Unlock Your Personalisation Potential with YOUKNOW Technologies: 

• Expert guidance in building a robust technology stack for personalised customer experiences
• Drive growth and customer satisfaction through effective data integration
• Take the first step and chat with our experts at YOUKNOW Technologies

Top Twitter Analytics Tools: Hootsuite, Brandwatch, and Twitter

Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 330 million monthly active users. It is a powerful tool for businesses and individuals to connect with their audience and promote their brands. However, to make the most of Twitter, you need to be able to measure the impact of your tweets and track your performance over time. In this blog, we'll take a closer look at three of the top Twitter analytics tools: Hootsuite, Brandwatch, and Twitter itself.

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Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows you to manage and measure your social media presence across multiple platforms, including Twitter. Hootsuite's Twitter analytics tool provides a range of metrics to help you track your performance on the platform, including engagement rate, follower growth, and click-through rate. You can also track your top-performing tweets and hashtags, as well as monitor your competitor's activity on Twitter. Hootsuite's analytics dashboard is easy to use and provides actionable insights that can help you optimise your Twitter strategy.

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Brandwatch

Brandwatch is a social media listening and analytics tool that allows you to monitor your brand's social media presence and track conversations about your brand on Twitter and other platforms. Brandwatch's Twitter analytics tool provides a range of metrics to help you measure the impact of your tweets, including sentiment analysis, reach, and engagement. You can also track mentions of your brand and monitor conversations about your competitors on Twitter. Brandwatch's analytics dashboard provides real-time insights that can help you identify trends and opportunities to engage with your audience on Twitter.

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Twitter Analytics

Twitter Analytics is a free analytics tool provided by Twitter itself. It provides a range of metrics to help you track your performance on the platform, including impressions, engagement rate, and follower growth. You can also track your top-performing tweets and monitor your audience demographics, including their age, gender, and location. Twitter Analytics is easy to use and provides valuable insights into your Twitter performance.

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In conclusion, Twitter analytics tools are essential for businesses and individuals who want to make the most of their presence on the platform. Hootsuite, Brandwatch, and Twitter Analytics are three of the top Twitter analytics tools available today. Each tool provides a range of metrics to help you track your performance and optimize your Twitter strategy. Whether you're a small business owner or a social media manager for a large brand, these tools can help you measure the impact of your tweets and engage with your audience more effectively on Twitter.

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to achieve sustainable growth. Traditional marketing methods, while still valuable, are no longer enough to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of consumers. When it comes to traditional forms of marketing versus growth marketing, the latter comes out on top. 

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What is growth marketing?

Growth marketing is a data-driven, customer-centric approach to marketing that focuses on achieving sustainable, scalable growth for businesses. It leverages a combination of digital marketing channels, such as content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, to acquire new customers, retain existing customers and increase customer lifetime value.

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Braze, a customer engagement platform built for the mobile-first era, seamlessly integrates with a growth marketing approach. It provides marketers with the tools and data needed to personalise customer experiences, automate journeys and analyse campaign performance at every stage. Here's how Braze bolsters growth marketing endeavours:

1. Hyper-personalisation for customer acquisition and retention
2. Data-driven insights for continuous optimisation

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The power of data-driven marketing

At the heart of growth marketing lies data. Growth marketers rely on data to understand their target audience, track campaign performance and measure the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing efforts. This data-driven approach allows growth marketers to make informed decisions about where to allocate their resources and how to optimise their campaigns for maximum impact.

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The benefits of growth marketing

There are many benefits to adopting a growth marketing mindset, including:

• Increased efficiency: Growth marketing focuses on using data to identify and target the most promising marketing channels, which can lead to increased efficiency and cost savings.
• Improved ROI: By tracking and measuring the results of their campaigns, growth marketers can ensure that they are getting the most out of their marketing budget.
• Faster growth: Growth marketing's focus on data and experimentation allows businesses to identify and replicate what works, which can lead to faster growth.
• Customer-centricity: Growth marketing puts the customer at the centre of everything, which can lead to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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Steps to create a successful growth marketing campaign

If you're looking to unlock the power of growth marketing for your business, here are a few steps to get you started:

1. Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with your growth marketing campaign? Be specific and measurable.
2. Identify your target audience: Who are you trying to reach with your marketing message?
3. Choose your marketing channels: Select the marketing channels that are most likely to reach your target audience and achieve your goals.
4. Create compelling content: Develop content that is relevant, informative and engaging for your target audience.
5. Track and measure your results: Use data to track the performance of your campaigns and make adjustments as needed.

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Unlocking the potential of growth marketing with Braze

Growth marketing is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes achieve sustainable growth. By embracing a data-driven, customer-centric approach, businesses can identify and replicate what works, leading to faster growth, improved ROI and increased customer satisfaction.

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By providing a platform for personalised customer engagement, data-driven insights and continuous optimisation, Braze acts as a powerful tool in every growth marketer's arsenal. It fuels customer acquisition, strengthens retention and ultimately paves the way for sustainable business growth in the dynamic digital landscape. 

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Ready to experience the power of growth marketing?

• Schedule a personalised demo: See how Braze can tailor campaigns to your unique needs.
• Chat with our experts: Discuss your goals and get a custom ROI analysis.

YOUKNOW, a leading provider of data-driven marketing solutions, announced today the launch of its First Party Data Centre of Excellence. The new centre will provide clients with access to advanced data management strategies and education programs designed to help them leverage the power of first-party data.

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As part of the launch, YOUKNOW has partnered with mParticle, the leading Customer Data Platform (CDP), to make it easier for clients to leverage the latest tools and technologies for collecting, managing, and activating first-party data."We are excited to partner with mParticle to offer our clients best-in-class solutions for managing and activating first-party data," said Kelvin Jonck, CEO of YOUKNOW. "Our First Party Data Centre of Excellence will help clients unlock the full potential of a 360-degree view of the customer and drive better business outcomes."

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About mParticle

mParticle makes it easy to manage customer data along the entire product and customer lifecycle. Teams across companies like Starbucks, NBCUniversal, Spotify and Airbnb use mParticle to deliver great customer experiences and accelerate growth by solving the foundational challenges that impede success at scale. Founded in 2013, mParticle is headquartered in New York City with employees around the globe.

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“Implementing a first-party data strategy is critical for building strong customer relationships and supporting data privacy,” said Paul McCord, Senior Director of EMEA Partnerships at mParticle. “YOUKNOW’s First Party Data Centre of Excellence will help organisations develop their first-party data set and partner with data platforms such as mParticle to unlock the value of their data.”

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In addition to its partnership with mParticle, YOUKNOW offers First Party Data Strategy workshops designed to help clients develop comprehensive customer data management and activation plans. These workshops will cover a range of topics, including potential data sources, data governance, data quality, and data activation.

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Finally, YOUKNOW is launching a C-Suite Education series focused on the “First Party Data Revolution”. This series will provide senior executives with the knowledge and tools they need to lead their organisations through:

• understanding why these kinds of First Party Data strategies are more important now than ever,
• how to show a return, by focusing on existing and returning customers,
• how to find new audiences, by understanding your current customers better, and
• navigating the transition to a zero/first-party data-driven model.

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"We believe that understanding your customers through the data that they share with you on a daily basis is the heart of creating the perfect relationship with them," said Jonck. "Our First Party Data Centre of Excellence is designed to help our clients stay ahead of the curve and leapfrog their competition."

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For more information about YOUKNOW’s First Party Data Centre of Excellence, reach out to centreofexcellence@youknow.co.za

How Third-party cookies are being killed off by privacy legislation and how advertisers are seeking alternative ad-targeting methods:

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Cookies in your browser have long been the primary driver of online client acquisition until privacy legislation put an end to third-party data. For marketing departments, the appeal of cookies was that they went unnoticed for a very long period. Consumers were unaware that their online behaviour and preferences were recorded and shared with online advertisers, thankfully, usually anonymously. 

Companies rushed to win the data battle, 'He who has the most data wins'. The rallying cry of the gold rush that followed, and it is nearly certain that the industry put its requirements for expansion ahead of the rights of its online customers. As a result, customer and brand trust declined as the voracious train of personal data consumption continued.

Governments and massive platform providers like Google soon felt the need to intervene. Additionally, browser developers began to provide security; several already prohibit or restrict third-party cookies, and even Google is ending support for Chrome in 2023. 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is already in effect in Europe. South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act is now in effect (POPI Act). Other African nations are considering it or are already following suit. Cookies no longer exist.

Now that third-party data is no more, it's not all bad. The good news for marketers is that there is already another option available.

The next steps into a First-Party Data world

Companies relying on customary digital marketing tools and strategies to gain new clients have suffered a fatal blow. The loss of support for third-party cookies in the first sentence will significantly in how your brand approaches its marketing initiatives.

It implies that it will be more difficult than ever for your company's Gen Y and Gen Z marketing teams to find new, relevant audiences through Paid Ads. This holds the opportunity for a much-needed transformation in the relationship.

Finding new audiences to market to will get more difficult. Since March 2020, marketing budgets have been decreasing, so you will notice that your colleagues and competitors are concentrating much more on the audiences they already know: their current clients and prospective clients actively engaging with them.

So what’s next?

I refer to this shift in focus as the "First-Party Data Revolution." The need to keep clients, boost their business's worth, and maximise their Lifetime Value (LTV) will be much more pronounced.

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The most economical marketing tactic will be a CX Strategy since it will be simpler to market to people you already know. This will manifest as:

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• Ask them frequently for further details about themselves.
• listening intently across a variety of channels to consumer needs.
• establishing efficient procedures to provide solutions faster than the competition
• figuring out ways to make additional customers want to join the "family" or "community" that is your business
• Optimize the customer experience and journey constantly to remove all obstacles and give them no reason to switch to a rival.
• investing more in customer testimonials and reviews and using them in product development
• Upsells and cross-sells could be added to the mix to be more valuable than new business acquisitions.

If you're an avid market observer, you can already witness these changes in enterprise strategy in:

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• Programs for subscription and loyalty are expanding.
• the incorporation of important professionals, including Chief Experience Officers, who are now widespread
• With programs like Vitality's Running Club and the rise in businesses using their own online communities, like Notion and Pipedrive, community-building is becoming more obvious
• increased investment in specialised technology related to customer data platforms, single voice of the customer, and journey orchestration.

Let's say you aren't consciously using this tactic. In that situation, my recommendation is to keep an eye on the privacy discussion and the transition to first-party cookies to enhance user experiences online. Don't let this opportunity pass you by and let the competition innovate how they interact with their clients. This catalyst can compel your company to achieve some of the customer-centricity objectives you had established years earlier but had yet to follow through on.

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From growing our internal teams, brand awareness and more partner wins, we have reached maturity as a business but it doesn't stop there. Our vision is still the same, ensuring that African organisations get access to the best global technology with local expertise. To keep the momentum going, we are building relationships with more African businesses, expanding our offering and helping businesses streamline their needs with the best software solutions.

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We have started this year off with a bang, rejuvenating our offering, updating our website and developing our marketing and sales team, even opening up offices in Cape Town. Just as fast as our partner's software evolves, so do we and our CEO, Kelvin Jonck couldn't have said it better: “As the industry has morphed and the need to understand more about consumers has developed, we have grown to accommodate that”.

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Growing an Organisation

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We have experienced tremendous growth since our founding in 2013 and our team has steadily expanded to meet our customers’ diverse technical requirements. Our key objective in our continuous team expansion is to ensure that each new member shares our vision of helping African digital professionals leapfrog their competition by expertly leveraging the world’s top technology in the local context.

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"We're aiming to achieve accelerated growth in 2022 through a strategy of continued new customer acquisition and strategic partnerships throughout South Africa and the rest of the continent,” Chief Growth Officer, Don Packett. We want to solidify our Customer Success processes to ensure seamless engagement and support for our customers. We’re also aggressively ramping up our marketing efforts through our new marketing team and revamped website.

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As a company firmly rooted in the digital world, our existing and future customers first experience with us is often through our website. As such, we regularly evaluate whether it meets our customer satisfaction requirements. Our new website is bold and user-friendly, with efficient functions and important information on Market Research, Social Media Management, and Digital Consumer Intelligence.

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Partnerships that drive success

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Strong partnerships are a cornerstone of who we are, allowing us to leverage awareness of the successful brands our partners have built, offering clients the best technological solutions. We appreciate that our partners’ wins provide more opportunities for us and a stronger position in the Martech industry.

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The growth and evolution that YOUKNOW has seen over the last eight years has closely mirrored that of our clients – both agencies and individual brands – as well as our technology partners.For years, there’s been a strong desire from our clients to win in the social media space. We’ve been able to become experts at this and assist our clients in leveraging the best technology in the world to win.

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Recently, our technological partners have been doing some amazing things. Social media management platform Hootsuite has just released their most extensive Global Digital Report yet, offering a comprehensive look at the state of the internet, mobile devices, social media, advertising, e-commerce, and more.

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Earlier this month, one of our partners, digital consumer intelligence company Brandwatch, made it onto two of G2’s Top 50 software lists. This firmly places them as a top provider of Enterprise and Marketing products in South Africa. Another partner, audience insights company GWI raised over $180 million in Series B funding to continue building the future of audience insights technology. We are is proud to be associated with such innovative and successful brands. And, there are even more partnerships in the pipeline to look out for.

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We’ve added some great new brands to our client list over the past few months, which – for us – says we’re doing things right. It’s an incredibly exciting time in YOUKNOW’s journey, and we’re only getting started.

Technological innovation is taking place at an incredible rate. And with the ongoing pandemic, businesses of all shapes, sizes, and sectors are turning to digital marketing and marketing technology (martech) to recover, keep their companies afloat, and continue to be agile in the face of change. Martech can help you automate, optimise, and ideate your marketing efforts – the right tools can unlock elevated marketing capabilities and campaigns, improve customer experiences, and ultimately transform your business. 

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But what brilliant tech solutions does your specific business need in order to thrive? And what trends will make an impact in the marketing industry in 2022 and beyond? Here are four martech trends and tools I believe you can use to your competitive advantage. 

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The overwhelming importance of customer experience 

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A recent study profiling 1,920 business professionals found that almost 46% have named customer experience (CX) as their top business priority for the next five years, beating product and pricing. The same research also revealed that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a great CX – emphasising that their loyalty is now directly linked to the experience they receive.

The logic behind this is simple: A happy customer is a returning customer.

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As there is a saturation of brands that offer similar products and services on the market, businesses that want to stand out need to invest time and money into getting their CX to the highest level possible to retain and build long-lasting customer loyalty. Therefore, personal touchpoints between the brand and consumer should constantly be improved and amplified. When this is done correctly, it can create loyal brand advocates – customers who will happily return for more without being reminded and refer their friends and family to the brand. 

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As these touchpoints increase and customers come to expect more from their chosen brands, technology plays a critical role in shortening the distance between the consumer and the business, enhancing these relationships, and dramatically improving CX. Martech solutions make processes easier, more effective, and more efficient. Ultimately, these tools simplify how you connect with your customers, building personal, considered customer journeys that keep them coming back for more. 

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Martech trends and tools for CX success  

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The following four technologies all hinge on how customers experience your brand. By adding these concepts and tools to your martech stack, you’ll be prioritising CX and setting your business up for growth. 

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Trend 1: Increased personalisation - Treating customers as individuals first 

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As more customers expect tailored experiences, there’s rising pressure on businesses to deliver engaging and personalised content that builds a connection with them, treating them as individuals rather than just another number. In fact, according to Salesforce, 66% of customers expect brands to understand their individual needs and expectations, with only 34% feeling that companies treat them as unique individuals. The value of personalisation in today’s changing world can’t be overemphasised enough – McKinsey projects it has the potential to create trillions of dollars in business revenue. 

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But throwing together personalised emails and calling it a day is not enough anymore – more needs to be done to truly connect with your customers and make them feel valued. An omnichannel approach is one personalisation tactic that can help your customers feel more connected to your business. Creative automation tools can also assist marketers in managing, tracking, and understanding customer data to then create more personalised campaigns and unique product recommendations. 

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Whichever personalisation tactics or tools you opt for, be sure to make it clear that you’re not just after a customer’s money but are there to keep them happy and improve their lives.  

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Trend 2: Data and analytics - Fundamental building blocks for personalisation 

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Customising customer experiences starts with data and analytics. If you’re not taking advantage of learning more about your current and prospective customers, you’re missing out on massive business opportunities. Not only on reaching them more strategically but also on nurturing relationships with them and building loyalty.

From insights into buyer behaviours and preferences to better-informed decisions for improved lead generation and conversion rates, marketing data and analytics tools can help you unlock a host of benefits. Most importantly, data is the only business resource that can keep up with customers in real-time, translating to predictive analytics that empower your brand to be proactive rather than reactive.

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Trend 3: The shift to a single view of customers 

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Just as your customers are connected to each other and your brand, your data should be too. Siloed customer data prevents you from tapping into true personalisation because the different puzzle pieces of customer relationships aren’t put together, and ultimately, the end-to-end CX puzzle falls short. 

To solve this, businesses need a central repository for customer data that combines, collates, and analyses various sources of information (social, survey responses, chatbot conversations, and voice transcripts). An effective customer data platform (CDP) can go a long way in providing a unified, complete view of your customers, helping you to understand their changing needs and serve them more effectively. This also means personalised engagement and more meaningful connections.

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Trend 4: More investment in martech architecture and resources 

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Many organisations already use martech solutions, yet only 33% feel that their current stack is useful and meets business needs. This calls for examining existing tools and evaluating their place and benefit to your company. Now is the ideal time to audit your marketing solutions to maximise, improve, or even replace them. 

If you want to improve efficiencies, you’ll need to invest in the right technologies and build a formidable martech stack to future-proof your business. This also means hiring the right people to exclusively perform within this martech role – something that isn’t really a focus in our local market, but should be. 

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The role of human expertise in innovation 

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While these tech trends and innovations can help grow businesses and take CX to a new level, it’s important to remember that there will always be a need for human guidance. Technology is meant to help scale and automate human tasks while improving and streamlining experiences, but it will never replace human ingenuity. In the world we live in, it’s about adapting to the advancements of technology, and this is especially true for roles within the marketing and CX spaces. 

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To leverage these martech trends and tools, business leaders must realise that not every technology may work for them – there's no one-size-fits-all stack across all organisations. In other words, they need to determine which tools can help them gain consumer insights, engage with customers, and deliver business outcomes according to their unique needs and objectives. That’s why partnering with the right CX technology partner and integrator is crucial – they’ll be able to advise on the best-in-class global solutions and hold your hand throughout the entire martech journey. 

Consumer data is priceless, especially in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. Gathering customer insights and using them to make well-informed, forward-thinking business decisions is what separates mediocre brands from those that continue to pivot and innovate. By enabling companies to better understand who they are targeting, how and where to reach existing and prospective customers, and how to deliver on changing customer needs, the right consumer analytics have the power to completely transform your customer experience (CX) and service. 

Today’s customers expect and demand a lot more from brands than in the past. They want individual attention, instant and simple experiences, and for businesses to meet them where they are – on their preferred digital channels. Recently, Salesforce Research surveyed 15,600 consumers and business buyers globally to reveal changing customer expectations. The survey highlighted four expectations that are becoming essential for brands to compete. First, personalisation, with 66% of customers expecting companies to understand their unique needs and expectations and 52% expecting offers to be customised. Second, connected, unified journeys, with 76% of customers wanting consistent interactions across sales, service, and marketing departments. Third, innovation, with 88% demanding brands accelerate their digital initiatives and offerings due to COVID-19 – either through new ways to get existing products and services or entirely new products and services. And finally, data protection, with 86% expecting more transparency and only 48% trusting companies with their personal information. 

With these shifting desires, there is even more pressure on businesses to improve their understanding of customers and tweak their offerings to accommodate new needs and preferences. However, doing so at scale is nearly impossible unless you devote incredible amounts of resources and time to gather, collate, and analyse customer data. Thankfully, modern technology solutions make it possible to learn about your customers and prospects based on the information they’re constantly giving you on social, digital, and direct channels. You can then leverage these unified insights for enhanced customer support, tailored products, and hyper-personalised experiences. 

Harnessing a single, unified customer voice and view 

Currently, we’re noticing a key trend around rapidly realising the long-time goal of a single picture of customer projects. What this means is a single, collated view of customers – unearthing how and what they’re communicating (voice) and what makes them tick (view). This combined composition has been attempted in many guises over the years, but thanks to the rise of solid customer data platforms (CDPs), this dream has become a reality, making it easier than ever to piece the often complex customer puzzle together. Combine this with the faster implementation of digital transformation, and companies are looking to lean on a single, unified customer voice and view much more in 2022 and beyond. 

Combining social data with direct communication, such as survey responses, chatbot conversations, email support, and voice transcripts from a call centre, into one voice of the customer is powerful 

– it gives your business a much broader view of what customers are saying to your brand, publicly and even anonymously. Furthermore, when you combine these analytics with the actions your customers are taking (online and offline), you can reap the benefits of a complete view of the customer in its entirety, translating to understanding your customers better and serving them more effectively. In turn, this means engaging with them on their desired communication channels in more meaningful and personalised ways.

The world has moved to a place where this is possible – and as long as it’s done ethically and using the right platforms – there is immense value for both the business and the customer. And because you’ll understand and appreciate your customers more, you’ll naturally have a leg up on the competition. In this case, knowledge really is power. 

Choosing the right technology platforms and partner for the job 

We’ve already unpacked the value of understanding consumers and communicating effectively with them for a brand’s success and growth. But choosing the ideal software platforms and CX technology consultant that align with your business’s unique needs and objectives is crucial too. 

Finding a solution that combines customer data with consolidated channels removes the need to devote years to building big data projects or a dedicated team of employees to do the work. All it takes is making the right choices in the beginning and focusing on implementing and managing your chosen platforms. That’s where the right CX technology partner and integrator come in – they’ll be able to provide the best-in-class global solutions, guided implementation and training, and ongoing support for peace of mind.  

Customer-centricity is becoming increasingly important in our ever-changing world. Connecting better with your existing and potential customers and giving them exactly what they’re after starts with unifying, analysing, and leveraging consumer data – the right way. 

The YOUKNOW family is constantly evolving and growing. Through our partnerships, we gain the tools and knowledge to allow us to provide top quality packages. Today, we’re excited to announce our partnership with none other than Audiense - the world’s number one audience intelligence platform.

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Audiense opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to consumer segmentation. Their technology enables users to generate in-depth reports almost instantly, uncovering insights such as audience sentiment and personality, demographics, media affinity, buying mindset and many more. This compounded with YOUKNOW's rich stack of audience analysis technologies enables our clients to get to know their audience right down to their wants and needs.

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Founded in 2011, Audiense have since continuously developed their platform to maximise companies’ tactical and strategic investments. Audiense’s advanced data science platform has attracted many premium clients. They have also developed strategic partnerships with Twitter and IBM. This gives their clients the edge over their competitors as they can gather rich, detailed insight on audiences that matter to their business in real-time.

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According to the latest G2 Fall Report, Audiense is the global leader in audience intelligence insights for the marketing industry. Audiense Insights enables clients to identify and understand any audience, no matter how unique it is. Effortlessly combine numerous filter options when you compile a report, such as user profiles, affinities, demographics and job roles, generating personalised audience segments. With Audiense Insights in your arsenal, you can make better marketing decisions, modify your targeting, improve relevancy and drive high-performance campaigns at scale.

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To give a glimpse into what Audiense can do, we’ve taken a look at the South African eCommerce audience. Above is only the first of many pages illuminating this audience - this audience is further segmented into smaller groups. Here, we can see that the SA eCommerce audience is 58.57% male, 72.70% English speaking and the brands they trust are Takealot, Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Telkom and Nandos. We can also see that their personality involves interests such as travel, society and sports, values such as openness to change, self-transcendence and modernity and lastly, needs such as liberty, excitement and curiosity. By figuring out who you’re speaking to, you will be able to know how best to speak to them.

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“Audiense is such an important new partner to us. It rounds out our clients’ ability to understand who they want to speak to, how to reach them and what they look like as a group. The ability to take social audience data and transform it into something like a digital targeting pack reinforces the ability for social data to quickly be turned into digital returns. We’re grateful to Audiense for putting their trust in us, and look forward to introducing them to our incredible African clients,” says YOUKNOW MD, Kelvin Jonck.

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Through YOUKNOW, Audiense’s current and future South African clients can now receive local sales, onboarding and technical support.

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“Audiense are happy to welcome YOUKNOW as our trusted voice in South Africa. The strength we have when complimenting other tools such as social listening or survey platforms has proven to be unstoppable. Knowing we have the amazing YOUKNOW team to help spread that message is very exciting,” says Luke White, Head of Partnerships at Audiense. He continues, “When viewing a social listening audience through the social consumer segmentation lens, we can start to see how people are connected among themselves, ignore the noise and unearth more interesting, potentially unexpected communities.” Audiense makes it possible to weed out information that is less relevant and rather hone in on the specific segments that make a real difference to your brand.

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If you’re looking to start analysing your potential target audience in more detail, reach out to us for a demo of what the technology can do for your organisation, by requesting a demo HERE

GWI (formerly known as GlobalWebIndex) recently released its latest set of infographics revealing who the South African market is from demographics to how they make purchases and everything in between.

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GWI conducts monthly surveys in over 46 markets to people between the ages of 16-64 who have access to the internet, what this does is allow GWI to compare global statistics to add context, which makes for some interesting analyses.

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The results start to have a look at demographics. The average South African internet user is 66% more likely to be aged 16-34, mashing together two key generations: Gen Z and Millennials. It is apparent that digitally connected South Africans are more ambitious than the global average, with 63% of South Africans saying they are ambitious compared to a mere 32% global average.

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The top interest for both South African and global connected audiences is music, followed by food and drink, and cooking. The future outlook of the South African audience is not so positive, with only 28% thinking that the economy of the country where they live will get better in the next 6 months. The top driver when it comes to influencing future travel is value for money for both global and South African consumers. South Africans are 9% more interested than global consumers in special offers or deals when it comes to where they travel for a vacation.

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The following section covers how South Africans use technology and electronics. Gen Z and Millennials spend the most time online, with Gen Z on their mobiles and Millennials on a PC or laptop. The top handset brand is Samsung with 63% of South African consumers saying they would buy a Samsung when they next upgrade or buy a new phone, this is followed by Apple at 45%. South Africa is slightly behind the world when it comes to smart home ownership, with a 12% gap between South African and global consumers when it comes to owning a smart speaker for example - a trend that continues with similar results for other smart products.

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Knowing which media your audience is consuming is highly important when you want to know which channels to use when implementing your marketing plan. South Africans spend the most time on social media with an average time of 3 hours and 31 minutes, with the rest of the world spending just over 1 hour less on social media. Netflix seems to be more popular with South African internet users than the rest of the world with 69% of South African consumers having used it in the last month compared to only 42% for the global average last month.

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Since social media is so avidly used in South Africa, GWI decided to take a closer look at how this market uses it. The top two reasons for South African consumers to be on social is to stay up-to-date with news and to find funny or entertaining content. 30% of these consumers have liked/followed a brand on social, 20% have clicked on a sponsored post on social and only 17% have shared a brand’s post on a social network. The top three social platforms in South Africa are Whatsapp, Facebook and YouTube. Interestingly, Whatsapp is less popular for the rest of the world, with 71% of consumers saying they have an account compared to South Africa’s 95%. We are starting to see a trend of consumers leaning towards Telegram and Signal. We will trend this change in the next release.

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The final section of this study covers how South Africans make purchases. TV is still king in Africa, for brand/product discovery, the top way in which these consumers discover brands is via ads seen on TV with 52%, compared to a global average of 33%. The top driver for online purchases is free delivery with 74%. South African consumers prefer to shop in-store as opposed to the rest of the world who prefer to shop online. The top online purchases for both South Africa and the world involve electronics with 26% for South Africa and 32% for the global average.

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These market snapshots are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the type of data and insights gathered from the unified surveys sent out globally. There are over 40 000 data points available to discover key insights from subset audiences globally. For an in-depth explanation of how the data is collected

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ABOUT GWI We thrive on disrupting the industry at the highest level. We're leading the charge with our data solutions, but we've maintained the agility, energy and spirit of a startup. Since bursting onto the scene, we’ve introduced several innovations to the world of market research, from our easy-to-use, lightning-fast platform to our globally consistent, but locally relevant, data. While we’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved – and our growing list of remarkable clients, of course – this is only the beginning. We have even bigger plans for the future.

Centurion, 25 March 2021 — We are proud to announce another important partnership with the world’s number one audience intelligence platform, Audiense. Audiense is the leading platform when it comes to consumer segmentation and cultural understanding of your social audience. Audiense's current and future South African clients can now receive local sales, onboarding and technical support via YOUKNOW; the company that also represents Brandwatch, Khoros, Hootsuite and GWI.

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According to the latest G2 Fall Report, Audiense is the global leader in audience intelligence insights for the marketing industry. Audiense Insights enables clients to identify and understand any audience, no matter how unique it is. Effortlessly combine numerous filter options when you compile a report, such as user profiles, affinities, demographics and job roles, generating personalised audience segments. With Audiense Insights in your arsenal, you can make better marketing decisions, modify your targeting, improve relevancy and drive high-performance campaigns at scale.

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“ Audiense are happy to welcome YOUKNOW as our trusted voice in South Africa. The strength we have when complimenting other tools such as social listening or survey platforms has proven to be unstoppable. Knowing we have the amazing YOUKNOW team to help spread that message is very exciting.”

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Audiense data and insights are complementary, rather than overlapping, this can form a “bridge for intelligence” when stacked with other sources of insights like Brandwatch, GWI, TGI and Kantar.

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When viewing a social listening audience through the social consumer segmentation lens, we can start to see how people are connected among themselves, ignore the noise and unearth more interesting, potentially unexpected communities. From there we can use the unearthed segment to build better listening queries within your social listening tool by tracking those exact people, not keywords or hashtags.” said by Luke White, Head of Partnerships at Audiense

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“Audiense is such an important new partner to us. It really rounds out our clients’ ability to understand who they want to speak to, how to reach them and what they look like as a group. The ability to take social audience data and transform it into something like a digital targeting pack really reinforces the ability for social data to quickly be turned into digital returns. We’re grateful for Audiense putting their trust in us, and look forward to introducing them to our incredible African clients.” - Kelvin Jonck, MD at YOUKNOW

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About Audiense

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Audiense was founded in 2011. Since then, they have continuously developed their platform to maximise companies’ tactical and strategic investments. Audiense’s advanced data science platform has attracted many premium clients. They have also developed strategic partnerships with Twitter and IBM. This gives their clients the edge over their competitors as they can gather rich, detailed insight on audiences that matter to their business in real-time.

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About YOUKNOW

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YOUKNOW started in 2013 with the understanding that there was a disconnect between local industry professionals and the technology vendors they wanted to work with. Geographical, industry, cultural and language differences meant that getting to excellent took a lot more work on both sides than needed. YOUKNOW has supported Crimson Hexagon, Stackla, Domo, Hootsuite, Lithium, Khoros, Brandwatch and GWI (GlobalWebIndex) over the years.

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For more information, visit www.youknow.co.za. You can also follow us on Linkedin and subscribe to our Youtube channel.