Reading body language takes skill. It can be a smirk, a wink, eye contact, crossed legs, nail biting, etc. The point is, you can see it. And you can learn from it.
With the explosion of technology over the past decade, the new talk in town is digital body language. That is something you cannot see. The digital body language is defined as all of the digital activity you see from an individual. The mix of everything it takes for you to make a purchase from email clicks, web site visits, reading reviews and referrals, calling a friend for example. This entire mix of everything, the path to purchase is something every innovator, marketer, even manufacturers would love to master.
Manufacturing is where it begins. They make the products we want. How well do manufacturers know their end customers and how tied are we as customers to them? Tying manufacturing directly to the needs of customers helps validate the products and meet the needs of the market. A prime example is whenever a known public figure wears or uses a product and it goes viral on social media, are manufacturers prepared?
Data drives manufacturing. It can drive marketing too. It’s time for manufacturers to take advantage of the digital body language.
Here are 4 ways where digital body language can be a useful tool for manufacturers:
- Build upsell and cross sell opportunities. Did your customers click on one of the offers that was sent? Which products are they interested in?
- Create a personal relationship with customers and partners. Use digital body language to target buyers effectively by learning their past behaviors to predict future ones.
- Predict future demand. Digital body language can provide demand/consumption data to help make better informed supply decisions and determine future inventory needs.
- Decide on partner resource budget allocation and support. The tool helps to analyze partner engagement to continue building on those important relationships.
All of the above must work together to better serve customers as John Barcus said, a digital thread. I’ll leave you with John’s views on enabling a digital thread and how manufacturers can prepare and adapt in the digital age.