Use Your ERP to Target Your Audience More Effectively

ERP is an acronym for enterprise resource planning. It is defined as:

the management of all the information and resources involved in a company's operations by means of an integrated computer system.

Think of the main computer on the starship, Enterprise, and you will have some idea what ERP is all about. If you are of the TNG persuasion, think of Cmd. Data is the operations manager. When the captain needs to get to a destination in 6 minutes rather than six days. He tells Data to, “Make it so!” Data uses the computer (the ERP calculator) to adjust all the parameters to get there.
He trims the shields, takes the weapons offline, and restricts life-support to essential areas of the ship. He sends a note to the IT guy: Geordi, to make the necessary changes in system allocation. Behind the scene, a lot is going on to get Picard’s enterprise to where it is heading. The same is true for your enterprise, as well. Here’s how you can use your ERP to more effectively target your audience, and get where you are headed:

Make Your Target Audience Feel Secure

To more effectively target your market, you need to obtain information about and from the users. There are two ways to get that information: First, you can just take it. That is what every bad actor with a website does. They load their pages with all sorts of spyware and adware that tracks the visitor from the time he happens onto your page, to long past the time he leaves. . The second way to get user information is to just ask for it.
If you have been caught trying to take the information without respecting the user’s privacy, you will never get them to volunteer it, as you have broken the trust relationship. Just ask Sony how the whole root kit thing has worked out.
They need to know that you are not selling their information to the lowest bidder, and that your systems are secure from hackers. Besides customer trust, Trend Micro suggests other benefits of a good cloud security solution:

Not having the right security as you migrate to virtual and cloud environments can lead to security gaps, lost ROI, performance lag, and difficulty proving compliance. You can secure critical data and applications across your cloud and virtualized environments with effective protection that maximizes their operational and economic benefits.

One of the reasons Apple and Amazon do so well is that people trust those companies with their most sensitive information. These companies have proven reliable with credit card, and other personal information. Make your site secure. Make your visitors feel secure, and they will give you the information you need based on a trust relationship.

Be Where Your Audience Is Going

Just recently, it was revealed that there are now more iOS devices being sold than Windows PCs. This is not about comparing systems to see which is better. I don’t care. This is about understanding where the market is going.
It is very clear that consumers are moving to mobile devices and experiences. If you do not already have a solid, mobile presence, then you have already missed a cycle. It is not enough to go there once your audience has already left. You need to figure out where your audience is headed, and be there waiting for them. That means mobile experiences like platform-specific apps and mobile experiences for your products and services are table stakes. It’s probably past time you start developing watch apps.

Figure out Who You Are

Finally, if you want to be better at targeting your audience, you have to figure out who you are. You have to make some hard decisions, and narrow your focus. You have to stop trying to be all things to all people. Under Steve Balmer as CEO, Microsoft completely lost focus, and forgot who they were. For a while, they were so busy chasing Apple’s audience, they forgot who their market was.
Microsoft’s present leadership is changing all that. Additionally, they are emphasizing security, and paying attention to mobile. If slow-moving Microsoft can turn it around, so can you.

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