Discover how behavioral data helps brands move beyond personalization to build genuine, trust-driven customer relationships in a digital-first world.
Customers have become used to being hyperconnected, “always on,” in the digital world. They receive marketing messages on every platform, at every interaction, from pop-up ads to social media sponsored posts to reviews from their favorite influencers.
There’s a lot of competition for their attention, making it more challenging for brands to develop genuine relationships – no matter how much data is available. Personalization without authenticity falls flat, but understanding the behavioral data, what makes the customer tick, can be the key to building the relationship you want.
What Is Behavioral Data?
Behavioral data is the information that reflects how customers interact with a brand, product, or service. This can include website visits and clicks, purchase history, cart abandonment, email open and click-through rates, time spent on pages, and app usage patterns. You can also glean valuable insights from social media interactions like comments and shares or customer service communications.
Unlike demographic or psychographic data, which merely tells you who a customer is or what they value, behavioral data tells you what they do. These insights are more dynamic and can provide an authentic, real-time picture of customer intent and preference, which you can then use to deliver more personalized, timely, and relevant experiences.
How Does Behavioral Data Affect Authenticity?
Customers are increasingly skeptical of traditional marketing tactics. A report from Edelman Trust Barometer found that 71% of consumers say that if they perceive a brand as putting profit over people, they lose trust in the brand.
It’s clear—customers want authenticity. They prefer communications that feel personal, relevant, and rooted in a genuine understanding of their needs. Behavioral data can help you respond to actual customer behavior instead of your own assumptions for more accurate ways to highlight their preferences, anticipate their needs, and engage with them on a human level.
Strategies to Use Behavioral Data to Build Authentic Relationships
Contextual Personalization
Personalization isn’t just about including a first name in an email greeting. Behavioral data is a valuable tool for tailoring content recommendations and messaging based on the customer’s interactions and journey.
For example, a customer may visit a restaurant’s website and check out the brunch menu, but doesn’t book a reservation. This is a restaurant marketing opportunity to use behavioral data to trigger a geo-targeted ad offering a limited-time weekend brunch special or send a personalized SMS reminding them to finish booking. It’s timely, relevant, and based on real behavior, not guesswork.
Timing Is Everything
Behavioral signals can inform not only what you say but also when you say it. For example, triggering a discount offer after a cart abandonment or delivering onboarding content after a customer signs up for a subscription are timely, behavior-driven communications demonstrating attentiveness and respect for the customer’s journey. They reduce friction, support the customer’s goals, and make them feel understood.
Enabling Predictive Engagement
Tools like AI can forecast what customers are likely to do next based on their past behaviors. For example, data demonstrates that customers who engage with a brand’s blog for two months convert into paid subscribers after reading a case study. This information can be used to proactively suggest case studies to engage these users further and speed up the conversion.
Keep in mind that there’s no manipulation or pressure here. Instead, this approach offers value that is aligned with the customer’s current behavior and their likely needs. It gives your brand credibility while gently guiding the customer through the buying journey.
Driving Two-Way Conversations
Behavioral data doesn’t just help brands speak to customers. It helps them listen, too. For example, if customers frequently search for a feature that doesn’t exist or leave feedback in chat interactions, this may indicate they have needs that aren’t met.
You have an opportunity to acknowledge and respond to these insights. You could add a requested feature, improve support workflows, or reach out for more details to better serve the customer. This shows that you’re actively listening and care, which is the foundation of an authentic and valuable business relationship.
Some brands leverage behavioral data to adapt tone and channel preference. Some customers won’t check your marketing emails, but they’re happy to listen when you use SMS or social media messages. That signals that they need you to meet them where they are.
Segmenting with Purpose, Not Stereotypes
Traditional marketing segmentation often groups customers into static categories like “High-Income Professional” or “Gen X Mom.” Leaving people in broad categories can miss the important nuances of each customer, and your messaging could fall flat.
Behavioral data offers more fluid, accurate segmentation. You can group customers by shared behaviors, such as “customers who use social media purchase buttons” or “customers who download content often.” That’s inspiration to design experiences around those actions and deliver more meaningful interactions to these segments.
Improving the Experience Instead of Selling
A key aspect of an authentic relationship is to provide value without always asking for something in return. Behavioral data can help identify friction points in the customer journey, or places where the customer may get stuck, confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated.
If it’s bad enough, the customer may drop off completely. For example, if you see a lot of customers abandoning ships before the final step of a form, it may indicate that there’s a design flaw or that the pages are lagging. You can proactively fix the issue without discussing it with the customer – or waiting for a complaint – and show that you are attentive to the customer’s needs.
Ethical Use of Behavioral Data
Authenticity also relies on transparency and respect. Customers should know how their data is being used and can opt out of data collection or targeting. Personalization can quickly become ” creepy, ” but committing to ethical data practices and privacy can help you avoid these scenarios and maintain trust.
Let Customer Behavior Guide the Experience
Behavioral data helps you cut through the noise with meaningful, personalized experiences. You can respond to real customer actions, not your own assumptions, to build trust, loyalty, and authentic, long-term relationships.
