Turning data into customer insights through AI
By: Flavia Mocan
Tags: Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Technology, Finance

Regardless of their domain of activity, many companies use the power of data to support and guide their decisions. This is because data, once able to interpret it properly, is one of the most valuable insights. Customer insights are key to helping you make informed decisions that bring more value in the long-term and drive business growth. But through the evolution of technology, it was never as approachable as it is right now.

Sounds good, but what insights can we get?

For one thing, getting to know the target audience you are addressing is key to understanding what they really want, and therefore, what they expect from your product or service. There are some basic ways in which the market research is done, which ultimately provide data about four essential characteristics of potential clients. This data typically answers questions such as:

Where are your consumers? Yes, literally where they are in the world (state, country, city, region) so you can target them geographically . There are two main reasons why this is so important. The first and most obvious one, you need to know where to target them. The second one is because each location is different and in some, cultural beliefs and traditions have a lot to do with consumer behavior.

Yes, literally where they are in the world (state, country, city, region) so you can . There are two main reasons why this is so important. The first and most obvious one, you need to know to target them. The second one is because each location is different and in some, cultural beliefs and traditions have a lot to do with consumer behavior. Who are they in terms of demographics? Where do they live? How old are they? Are they in a relationship, married, single or divorced? Do they have children? Are they retired? Their gender, age, race, and all the demographics mentioned above are some of the basic things that can impact the consumer decision or make a particular product or service more desirable than others.

Where do they live? How old are they? Are they in a relationship, married, single or divorced? Do they have children? Are they retired? Their gender, age, race, and all the demographics mentioned above are some of the basic things that can impact the consumer decision or make a particular product or service more desirable than others. What type of personality do they have? This is called psychographic targeting . Their personality traits, lifestyle choices, values, attitudes, and beliefs are fundamental in decision making. Say your product aims to bring all people passionate about traveling on a social platform. All these characteristics are important, but you need to get enough data about your target audience prior to any action. What if the people you are targeting right now have a lifestyle that has nothing to do with being passionate about traveling? Or what if they are passionate about traveling, but online communities are simply something they don’t believe in nor wish to be a part of?

This is called . Their personality traits, lifestyle choices, values, attitudes, and beliefs are fundamental in decision making. Say your product aims to bring all people passionate about traveling on a social platform. All these characteristics are important, but you need to get enough data about your target audience prior to any action. What if the people you are targeting right now have a lifestyle that has nothing to do with being passionate about traveling? Or what if they are passionate about traveling, but online communities are simply something they don’t believe in nor wish to be a part of? What type of consumers are they? This refers to their behavior as consumers. Some products or services are made to be used once, while others try to create such an experience that the consumers become brand ambassadors through repetitive exposure and purchase. Behavioral segmentation speaks to the different types of consumers, the usability of products, benefits, client loyalty, and occasion of purchase.

Cool, but how do we make sense of this information?

Well, a lot of companies have been using this scheme for a while now — basically since the beginnings of marketing. After the market research is done, marketers make sense of the information and come up with strategies to reach the target groups. One main reason this isn’t an exact science, and no one can promise success is that people are more complex than that. Meaning, it is not enough to “get to know them” to understand them completely. Their expectations of products, services, and brands go way beyond the data we can gather through these traditional methods. Consumers also develop different patterns, which requires professionals to collect more and more information that needs constant attention.

Luckily, there’s something that can ease this process and actually make research almost instant and more accurate. And the answer is AI. While every business can take advantage of artificial intelligence, there is a far more innovative domain than the rest, and that’s fintech. Fintechs, for example, are experts in getting valuable information from the customers and transforming it into opportunities. And their speed, accuracy and eventually, ability to process issues, solve them, recognize consumer patterns and adapt, come from the use of AI.

AI: turning data into insights

Fintechs and banks are top investors in the AI sector and the firsts to benefit from the perks of artificial intelligence implementation — it helps with the rate of attrition, market insights, understanding the pipeline, and many more. But let’s go back to customer insights for a bit. If back in the day, marketers, as said before, would go through market research and then assess the obtained data through machine learning, the data is constantly evaluated in a more standardized way, and changes are made instantly according to new info. Besides the data needed to launch a new product, service, or brand, AI is impacting more than that. When assessing credit scoring, credit agreements, consumer behavior in a financial app, AI can process information fast, interpret it, learn the behavior of each particular customer, and improve instantly.

This “personalization” of services to each particular customer is highly important. People sometimes go to multiple banks or use fintechs for very different services. Where AI really shows its value proposition is pattern recognition. Not only you get information on your client, data, and stats, but you can actually recognize patterns in consumer behavior, which transforms you into an agile, adaptive, and basically, always ready supplier. The number one reason why clients leave a bank is the feeling that it doesn’t fulfill all the desires and expectations set from the beginning. Well, through the use of AI, data interpretation, pattern recognition, and instant adaptation, services are constantly improved and tailored for each particular client and their specific needs. Besides the enhanced customer experience and adaptability, AI can give you valuable predictions about the future, ensuring your products or services are always one step ahead and on track with the clients’ wishes.

To wrap it up

Instead of wasting time and money on the constant efforts to make educated guesses in the matters of your target audience, future, and existing customers, their desires and needs, a one-time investment can be your key to success. By integrating AI in your financial services, you can attract more clients, satisfy the existing ones, and rely on machine learning to constantly improve customer care and predictions about the future, which will eventually lead to happy, loyal customers.