What are customer insights?
Customer insights, or in German “consumer insights,” are well-founded insights that are obtained from the analysis of data, customer behavior, and feedback. They go beyond mere information by providing answers to the “why” behind customer behavior, rather than just focusing on the “what.”
The aim is to get a clear picture of what motivates customers, what they need and how companies can react to it. Customer insights combine data from various sources, such as market analyses, customer feedback or usage behavior, and make it understandable and actionable. The insights help to develop strategies that are tailored to the actual needs of the target group.
In short: Customer insights help to understand how customers think so that better decisions can be made and customer requests can be addressed in a targeted manner. It's about seeing the people behind the data — and thus adapting the products, services or marketing strategies even better to them.
Customer insights — that's why they're so important
As already mentioned, customer insights help to understand the “why” behind customer behavior and to make well-founded decisions instead of based on assumptions. Customer insights are essential, especially today, as competition is becoming increasingly fierce and customer expectations are constantly increasing. Thanks to new technologies and automation Customers expect increasingly faster, personalized and precise answers. They want companies to know exactly their needs and address them proactively.
The reason why expectations are rising is primarily due to increasing digitalization: Customers are used to receiving immediate, tailor-made solutions at any time, whether through personalized product recommendations or through fast, efficient customer service made possible by AI-powered tools.
So if you know exactly what your customers want, you can not only work more efficiently and better assess risks, but also strengthen customer loyalty. With this knowledge, companies can tailor their offers and marketing strategies perfectly to their target group. In the long term, this leads to more sales and loyal customers. In today's world, when technology and customer requirements are constantly changing, it is therefore crucial to always be one step ahead of customers and offer them exactly what they need.
Generate customer insights: That's how it works
There are various methods available to companies to gain a deep understanding of customers. While chatbots represent a particularly scalable and practical solution, other classic approaches are still very valuable. Here is an overview of the 3 most common methods:
1. Chatbots: Scalable and authentic insights
It becomes particularly interesting when companies use chatbots to generate insights. Because they bring advantages that traditional methods often do not offer:
- Scalable insights: In contrast to classic methods, where data collection is often only possible at certain times or with a great deal of effort, the chatbot offers continuous analysis. This allows companies to extract valuable information from interactions at any time — without manual collection or limited capacities. This scalable collection of insights helps you quickly identify patterns and make well-founded decisions based on a pool of data that is always up to date.
- Authentic insights: In chat, users share their thoughts, questions and wishes naturally — much more informally than in surveys or interviews. This allows them to express themselves more freely without feeling that they have to give “correct” answers. Customers often use their own terms, which differ from the usual product description. This gives companies valuable insights into how their products are perceived and helps, for example, to adjust wording in a targeted manner.
- Automated evaluation: AI-powered chatbots As with MoinAI, we analyse the collected data and automatically identify important patterns and topics. Instead of manually struggling through countless data, the chatbot directly evaluates the information and converts it into clear, action-relevant insights. This not only saves time, but also ensures accurate and consistent results that help companies react quickly to new trends or unmet customer needs.
An example: With MoinAI's “dreaming” function, companies can even identify topics that were not originally on their radar. For example, when users of a window manufacturer often ask where the model number or window number can be found, the MOINAI AI recognizes this need and suggests adding the topic “window code.” The company thus receives valuable insights and can quickly adapt answers. Not only is the service improving, but the chatbot is constantly growing and getting better at responding to real customer needs.
Find out more about this exciting feature and how companies can use it for themselves in this article.
In addition to such “hidden” insights, chatbots also help to identify the most common questions, optimize self-help offers and drive product development. The trick lies in their ability to understand the customer's voice and gain real and valuable insights from it.
2. Observation: From “shadowing” to social media analysis
These methods involve observing customers in their natural environment to get real and unbiased insights into their behavior. This includes:
- Shadowing or “fly-on-the-wall” studies: Companies accompany customers during their everyday activities or interactions with products (offline and online) without disturbing or influencing them.
- “A Day in the Life” studies: Here, the typical daily routine of a target group is documented in order to better understand their everyday life and the associated needs.
- Social media and web analytics: This involves the use of digital tools that evaluate the behavior of users on websites or social media and reveal important patterns, such as which pages are visited most frequently or how users interact with specific content.
- Visitor Recordings: Specific user interactions are recorded on a website — such as mouse movements, clicks, and scrolling behavior. This helps companies understand the exact movements and decisions made by users on a page and understand where improvements are needed.
3. Dialog methods
Dialogue-based methods provide valuable insights because they enable direct exchange with customers. Companies can thus ask specifically about the needs, wishes and problems of customers and better understand their perspectives. Examples of such methods include:
- customer surveys: These can be both quantitative (for large data sets) and qualitative (for deeper, individual insights) and help answer specific questions.
- random samples: A representative group of customers is selected to gain important insights through surveys, interviews, or observations that can be transferred to a larger target group.
- Interviews: Here, customers talk directly to understand their perspectives and identify specific barriers or needs. Contextual interviews, in which conversations take place in the customer's natural environment — such as in stores, are particularly valuable. But deeper insights can also be gained in digital contexts, such as online interviews or video chats. The important thing is that the situation is authentic and encourages the customer to talk openly about their experiences and wishes.
But it applies: Companies get the best results from a combination of the above approaches. This provides a complex overview of customer needs, which helps companies make better decisions and optimize their offerings in a targeted manner.
What does a customer insights manager do?
A customer insights manager is responsible for analyzing customer needs and using these findings strategically within the company. The main tasks are to conduct systematic research, collect data from various sources (such as surveys, interviews, and social media), and use AI tools to identify trends and patterns.
These insights help make customer-oriented decisions in areas such as product development, marketing, and customer service. Accordingly, they work closely with various departments to continuously improve the knowledge gained and the customer experience. The Customer Insights Manager thus ensures that the company always stays close to what customers want.
What can you use customer insights for?
Customer insights are true all-rounders because they can be used in pretty much all areas of a company that deal with customers. Whether it's marketing, product development or customer service — they help you make the right decisions everywhere. Here are a few examples:
- Improve customer service: With the right customer insights from communication with customers, companies can specifically identify and improve weak points in support. For example, common questions or recurring problems can be identified so that companies can proactively offer solutions or optimize the support process.
- Optimize your website: When it's clear what customers are looking for or where they're stuck, the page can be made more user-friendly with new content or better navigation.
- Product development: With the right insights, gaps can be discovered and products developed that really inspire customers.
- Aligning marketing: Insights help to choose the right messages and channels for the target group — for targeted marketing campaignsthat really arrive.
- Personalized experiences: If you know what customers want, you can offer them individual experiences, such as tailored content or personalized emails. And that ensures greater satisfaction and loyalty.
- Identify trends: Insights help identify trends early on so that companies can react quickly to changes and adapt.
In short: Customer insights are the basis for making reliable decisions and inspiring customers in the long term.
Conclusion: Customer insights — a glimpse into the heads of customers
Customer insights are important to truly understand customers and implement a successful, customer-oriented strategy. They provide answers to why customers act the way they do and help tailor products, services and marketing perfectly to their needs. With AI-supported chatbots, the whole thing is particularly easy and efficient: They continuously provide valuable insights, without much effort. But traditional methods such as observations or direct conversations can also provide exciting insights. If you understand the voice of your customers, you create real satisfaction and remain relevant in the long run.
Curious about exactly how AI chatbots can help? In our free guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about AI chatbots — from the basics to real added value for your customer communication. Download now and discover the missing puzzle piece:
