The Three Evolutionary Stages of Digital Body Language

Aug 6
19:15

2012

Pamela Pearl

Pamela Pearl

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Digital body language is an important marketing tool that developed over time, in response to the needs of eMarketing. Today, DBL technology can monitor the website navigation of a visitor by each click and even incorporate this information directly into a CRM system.

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Digital body language is the electronic picture of target audience behavior in response to email marketing and other web based initiatives. It is a relatively new way to glean important marketing information. Today,The Three Evolutionary Stages of Digital Body Language  Articles digital body language technology can monitor the website navigation of a visitor by each click and even incorporate this information directly into a CRM (customer relationship management) system. However, the evolution of DBL technology occurred over time, in response to the needs of marketers.

Stage One

When the internet first arrived, business owners scrambled to establish an online presence. Early adopters immediately implemented tools such as Google Analytics, as a way to capture general statistics about the visitors that came to their site. With a touch of SEO (search engine optimization), many had great success with prospective customers searching for and finding their businesses in cyberspace. However, initially there was no way to track visitors to the website unless they intentionally communicated with the company.

Some companies would create website inquiry forms in an attempt to capture digital body language. Visitors could voluntarily enter their contact information and submit to the business for response. Companies could then capture this information and use it to create email lists to fuel emarketing efforts. However, the prospect had to intentionally choose to leave their contact information for the company to get the information.

Stage Two

The next evolutionary stage and most famous example of capturing digital body language came in the area of ecommerce with large, retail sites. As customers login and interact with the retailer, they capture the website browsing information for each customer. Even if the visitor did not purchase anything, their language revealed the products or areas they were interested in, and helped the website develop and offer suggestions for the customer based on their search history. This development brought customer service to a new level, but still required customers to intentionally access the site on their own to capture the digital body language.

Stage Three

Now, however, digital body language has reached a third evolutionary stage: email marketing that captures website navigation and automatically populates a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database solution. In this case, when email marketing recipients "click through" on a hyperlink that goes to the company website from the email marketing message, the action captures and integrates the website behavior back into the CRM solution. The information is then automatically analyzed by the company's CRM system without intentional action on the part of the prospect.

For example, a company with five specific services that sends out a general email with hyperlinks to each one can directly incorporate the customer's click through and browsing information for a specific service directly into their CRM system. The customer would not have to complete a form or indicate interest in any other way. Their language would provide the marketing information needed by the company. Thus, the customers experience is enhanced because they are communicating their interests without intentional effort and the company can now market the correct service to the prospect.

This article provides a glimpse at the first three stages of digital body language. As the understanding and application of digital body language continues to spread, the evolution will continue. However, capturing digital body language to incorporate into the CRM system remains an important strategy to fuel today's emarketing efforts.