Relationship marketing is hard. Fostering customer engagement and loyalty is hard. Trying to do this at scale is really hard. And it becomes almost impossible to connect with a customer if you only interact with them once a year.

There’s lots of talk about Big Data and the opportunities in the travel industry. We at Boxever feel that Big Data has the potential to fundamentally change how marketers relate to their customers – all of them – not just the small percentage that actively participate in a frequent flyer or loyalty program.

Imagine a leisure customer who books with a travel site once or twice a year. Their booking patterns are irregular and their destination choices vary widely. But look a little closer and you’ll see the type of traveller they are…

If I manually examined a customer’s online browsing habits and their purchase history I think I could probably make a good guess about their style and taste. If I looked at their social profiles I could glean insights into what they like, possibly even find out if they are planning an upcoming trip with friends.

For example, the customer is currently browsing weekend city breaks in early December for 2 adults. Previously the customer has travelled with similar itineraries and availed of seat upgrades on the airplane and stayed at upmarket boutique hotels. Their social profiles show that they have an affinity towards restaurants and food and that they ‘like’ expensive brands on Facebook.

It’s pretty clear how this person might like to travel and the types of perks or offers that could excite them.

This is the promise of Big Data for a marketer. It enables them to quickly gather and analyse vast quantities of data so that they can better understand each customer. Armed with this insight they have the opportunity to optimise every customer interaction – ultimately improving conversion with a more consistent, relevant experience for the customer.

Customers are more demanding, better informed and less loyal than ever before. Isn’t it time you started using your data more effectively and develop a program to reach all your customers?