By John Premkumar, Vice President & Service Offering Head – Digital Experience, Infosys
Introduction to the closed loop
Today, every business recognises the advantages of digitisation; however, digitisation is not an isolated, “one and done” activity, but rather, an ongoing endeavour of implementation and improvement. Hence a closed loop system or process with a continuous feedback mechanism allowing continuous monitoring, and modification when required, is critical for successful digitisation; in addition, the system’s self-regulation capabilities improve stability and help to achieve targeted outcomes. For example, with such a system, enterprises can detect potential network problems early, identify the solutions, and implement them within a continuous, highly automated framework in a timely manner.
The closed loop in marketing
In marketing, closed loop optimisation refers to the collection and analysis of various data across the marketing lifecycle or customer journey to create a continuous cycle of learning and data-led decision-making. By closing the customer journey loop, starting with the first interaction all the way to “post-sale”, brand marketers can evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and channels, and deploy their resources in initiatives that deliver the best outcomes. Clear visibility into the marketing and customer lifecycles improves alignment and collaboration between sales and marketing efforts to enhance lead quality and conversion rates. Last but not least, organisations can use closed loop data – customer and transaction data, results and outcomes, feedback – to refine marketing initiatives, improve targeting, and shape future strategies to drive customer engagement and business growth.
A popular use-case for closed loop marketing is lead-to-customer conversion. Brand marketers typically run multi-channel campaigns, on social media, partner websites, search engines etc. Closed loop marketing starts by using analytics to track a potential customer’s activity on various channels, including time spent, content viewed, device used, point of entry (search engine, partner referral) and so on. The next step is to incentivise the prospect to share information, such as contact details, and interests. The marketer builds this relationship by engaging further with the customer and offering value in the form of interesting content or personalised messaging. Understanding the customer’s real needs – problems to be solved, motivations, aspirations – and making the purchasing experience as seamless and memorable as possible helps to convert the prospect into a paying customer. The marketer closes the loop by gathering and analysing campaign performance data from different channels to identify hits and misses and taking corrective action to optimise their initiatives.
The impact of new technologies
The latest digital technologies, such as machine learning, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence, are taking closed loop marketing capabilities to a new level, enabling better personalisation, better targeted campaigns and highly optimised marketing operations. Here are some examples:
Marketers can leverage generative AI models to ingest massive datasets for granular insights, such as the type of messaging preferred by individual customers. With the help of specialised generative AI tools, they can create personalised advertisements in different languages to improve click-through rates and engagement. They can also use AI’s campaign performance insights to make timely improvements.
With advanced analytics solutions, marketing organisations can process structured and unstructured data from internal and external sources to identify emerging trends, customer needs and behaviours, and other metrics that can inform brand strategies. When a health technology company understood with the help of analytics that user-generated content was a key factor in strengthening interactions with customers, it changed the content strategy to include user feedback, and thereby fostered a sense of community, improved credibility, and elevated the brand experience to substantially increase social media engagement within eighteen months. A top U.S. professional basketball team used predictive analytics to uncover new trends and understand the type of content that would resonate best with fans around the world. These insights guided the team to enhance their social media presence and emotional bond with fans by offering engaging content, such as interactive contests and behind-the-scenes footage.
Machine learning, analytics, and AI bring unprecedented real-time capabilities to closed loop marketing, helping organisations to see how their marketing initiatives are working, understand what needs to be fixed, and make the required changes while the campaigns are still on. By drawing on the power of these technologies, closed loop marketing enables organisations to transform marketing data into sharper insights and actionable strategies, and constantly refine them to optimise campaigns, improve engagement, and enhance business performance.
