Next Best Action Marketing

Delivering the right content to the right customer, at the right time, through the right channel is a known paradigm. Next Best Action Marketing works on the same principle, evaluating the customer’s past behavior, recent actions, interests, and needs in the context of the organization’s marketing goals to identify the most effective action to achieve desired outcomes. This could manifest as recommending the right products, making an offer, sending an email, etc.

Next Best Action (NBA) Marketing is an approach where all the different actions that could be taken for a specific customer are considered, and one that’s best for the customer is taken. (Traditionally, the same would be implemented, but with business goals at the center of the decision.) Next Best Action supplements the traditional decision-making process in marketing with data like customer behavioral signals and decides on what the best next action of the marketer/site merchandiser could be. It is widely considered a customer-centric approach to marketing, as the key goal is to proactively deliver the most relevant action to the customer without waiting for explicit cues that they need something. NBA commonly requires the system to make a decision in real-time, so that chances of a conversion are maximized at the exact point when a customer is making a purchase decision. This calls for automation in terms of self-learning decisions, typically using machine learning. In fact, new approaches to NBA use deep-learning of the customer from their journey on-site, to dynamically and continually map next best actions. Think personalized experiences at scale. With changing customer behaviors and expectations, NBA processes and activates the most up-to-date information on the customer, for the most precise and relevant outcomes. 

What technology enables NBA Marketing?

In the current scenario, NBA capabilities need to process high volumes, as well as do this in real-time. This requires a cross-channel, centralized decisioning centre, that makes all decisions with regard to the customer. This decisioning centre combines the company’s business rules with predictive decisioning models to determine interactions with a customer. The decisioning centre works based on each customer’s expectations, affinities and likely behavior using predictive modelling. The idea is to determine how the customer would prefer to be treated at any given moment, and in some cases, empower an agent to take these forward. The system needs to dynamically recalibrate based on customer responses in real-time.

What are the benefits of NBA Marketing?

As a brand/business, there is an expectation to stay in tune with customer expectations and preferences. And they want to be treated as individuals, not as part of segments or demographic groups. This means that the traditional segment-based approach would not meet the customer all the way. Next, best action marketing helps brands deliver highly individualized messaging and experiences, unique to each individual customer. It leverages all the data that companies have at their disposal, to identify ideal interactions for each and every customer. This in turn makes customers feel understood as individuals and fosters brand loyalty and advocacy.

NBA marketing can also lead to better use of marketing resources.. Instead of wasting resources to deliver messages, offers, and other actions that customers are less likely to engage with, resources can be used on actions with the greatest likelihood of hitting the right note with every individual consumer.