Customers are more impatient than ever. They wield mobile tech like smartphone samurai and have increasingly high expectations from the brands they visit—be it online, on the phone or in person. Call it the Veruca Salt Doctrine—I want it, and I want it now. It’s a reality that’s driving the new era of on-demand marketing. 

Digital media drove a shift in marketers’ budgets to “always-on” digital media, such as search, display, and social.  That focus is moving now to “always relevant” marketing. For brands and their agencies, this shift requires a much more sophisticated and targeted approach to address the ubiquity of touch points so that they can be there at a consumer’s moment of need—no matter where or when it is. In this environment, advertising needs to become a service.  

Technology is the catalyst for all this change. Many companies are already investing in massive analytical capabilities to support the brand’s stewardship of their customers’ information (Companies will spend $232 billion on Big Data investments in the next 5 years, according to Gartner.)  Advanced analytics are helping companies sense interactions and respond in real-time with content tailored to every customer “touch.” NFC chips in phones, as well as smart tags that can go on any object, are opening up an “Internet of things” that is intelligent, interactive, and always accessible. Breakthroughs in mobile technology are creating an infinite number of ways to connect with consumers. 

As these opportunities to connect with the customer multiply, brands will need to have clear strategies to meet three primary consumer demands: anywhere/anytime access, personally relevant, and easy to use.

To win over on-demand customers, brands must know them, what they expect, and what works with them, and then have the ability to reach them with the right kind of interaction. Data lies at the heart of these efforts. To build the necessary level of understanding, companies need three distinct data lenses.

Telescope. A clear view of the broad and long-term trends in the market, category, and brand is essential. Digital sources that track what people are looking for (search), what people are saying (social monitoring), and what people are doing (tracking online, mobile, and in-store activities) represent rivers of input providing constant warning signs of trouble or signals of latent opportunity. Many companies are drowning in reports from vendors providing these types of information tools, yet few have much clarity on which things they need to look for and who needs to know what.

Binoculars. Against this backdrop of market activity, few companies have a complete, integrated picture of where they spend their money, which interactions actually happen, and what these outcomes are. Most direct-sales companies (retailers, banks, travel services), for example, measure the performance of their spending by analyzing  what consumers do just before making a purchase, e.g. Googling a product. That level of analysis is too narrow because it doesn’t take into account the advertising, social media chatter, and other media out there that also influence the consumer during his/her decision journey. In the world of on-demand marketing, marketers will need to develop a broader understanding of the complex series of interactions that make up the entire consumer decision journey. 

Microscope. Technology and analytics allow marketers to connect with each customer by creating services, messages, and offerings that are relevant to the individual. Research shows that this level of personalization can deliver five to eight times the ROI on marketing spend and lift sales 10% or more.  But to deliver on personalization, trust between the brand and the customer is essential. That means brands need to respect customer privacy and be relevant.   We’re seeing significant demand for – and profits from – being relevant and trustworthy. A recent McKinsey survey, for instance, showed that 35 percent of online buyers are willing to share personal information in return for targeted offers (e.g. promotional coupons). 

Yes, customers are incredibly demanding these days. And they should be. It’s up to us as marketers to meet those demands. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.