Digital Network Awareness (DNA): Customer Mapping (Part 1.)

A customer’s Digital Network Awareness (DNA) is an indicator of the person’s digital maturity or savvy.

It is arguable that many enterprises rely too heavily on aggregated consumer data - captured at a market level - to assess specific product opportunities. This is particularly true when there is an assessment made of trends and preferences in the context of digital media consumption.

In short, every company or enterprise has a customer base with particular media and technology nuances. This is especially true in a market dominated by the concept of the ‘long tail’, where market segments can be ‘mapped’ and made commercially viable on a much smaller scale.

Terms like ‘digitrati’ and ‘early adopters’ are generally well known, however the DNA descriptor encapsulates the person’s awareness and exposure to digital communications, media and technology within the context of their readiness or comfort level to engage a brand or enterprise using these same media outlets and technologies.

The taxonomy of a customer’s DNA is built around three bands of digital awareness:

1) Awareness of the technology/media;

2) Exposure to (including demonstration of) the technology/media;

3) Readiness/preparedness to engage the technology/media.

Scaled, the DNA figures will be influenced by how much ‘prep’ a customer has undergone, principally through awareness (word-of-mouth and media (broadcast and narrowcast)), exposure to the technology and/or media as well as the person’s readiness to actually use/engage with the technology or brand.

This taxonomy segments a customer base by their DNA, as opposed to definitions designed around broader market samples.

This delineation is deliberate for a very simple reason. In a competitive marketplace, enterprises seek to differentiate themselves through service, marketing and innovation. It is this third component – innovation – which suggests that customer orientated technologies and content can be unique identifiers of an enterprise, and as a consequence, have a bearing on its brand.

In short, DNA segmentation ideally needs to be at an enterprise level to more accurately correlate innovation and content development with the appropriate customer segment, each one with a particular level of awareness of, exposure to and readiness to engage.

It is this level of segmentation, this level of intimate customer knowledge, which gives the enterprise its sustainable advantage.