Personalization is becoming the challenge of e-commerce and e-tourism as well. The success of tomorrow will depend on this technological and strategic approach. data management platforms will become the tools of recourse.
A data management platform (DMP) is a platform whose function is to manage and to reconcile client data. Everyone understands that in tourism, data is immense, hence the need to have the right tools. The effectiveness of commercial strategies, including e-tourism, depends on it. Up to this point, there is nothing revolutionary, except that the DMP goes even further: they will match the so-called transactional information with digital information.
The Limit of Transactional Information
The transactional data are all those issued by current reservations. It is therefore very important to store them, process them, and integrate them into a CRM in order to maintain the client base. Yet, these data are quickly limited in the domain of the predictive. Once you have restarted your client to n+1, for a similar trip, nothing tells you that that is what he wants. If you have his date of birth, you can always wish him a happy birthday. But, very soon, the CRM used will demonstrate its limitations.
Enriching the Data
The idea is to match the transactional data with the data that you will find on the web.
Thus, your client base will be considerably enriched. Expert state that the goal of data management platforms is to connect two worlds: that of customer data and related transactions (often from the CRM database) with that of the digital ecosystem (anonymous data attached to a cookie and captured on all digital devices).
The principle is to reconcile these two types of data in order to have a 360° vision of one's client. It is only once this work is done that you can embark on predictive analysis and push offers that will align with the needs of the customers.
The Digital
The data which comes from transactions are easily controlled. They are natively known, and all it takes is a good CRM and a good loyalty policy to manage them effectively. On the other hand, data of digital origin are much more complex to treat. Everyone can imagine the immense reservoir of data that lies in the web.
Each second, there are 29,000 gigabytes of information that is published around the world, which is 915 billion gigabytes per year. So it is tempting to want to use it in order to draw on the canvas all the circumstantial information missing to embark on predictive analysis. It is only starting from this stage that they will be able to adapt their offers to the real needs of their customers and prospective customers. It is at this level that the DMP comes into play.
DMP to Boost Sales
The data management platforms reconcile the transactional data of a specific tourist regarding his journey from the website of a travel agency. The agency knows the traveler since he has already booked several packages of the types "flight/hotel/rental car" for his family of 5 people.
On the other hand, his navigation history collected on the website of the agency tells us that he is currently inquiring about a stay in e.g. Thailand.
It is therefore useless to send him a promotion of the East Coast of the USA; it would be useful to rather accompany him in his desire to go to Asia by proposing to him the best offers that meet his expectations for him and his family.
Nothing magical with this principle, but techno. The DMP does the job and manages to connect the client to cookie 045, previously anonymous. It is only from this stage that e-tourism sales will really take off.