In the end, it’s all going to be about customer experience. All of your marketing efforts ultimately depend on the customer experience. It’s time to start focusing on your customers’ happiness as an end goal for all endeavours in order to achieve success. Think about what your marketing department is focusing on right now. Is it mobile usability, social media, reputation management, or PR? All of these popular focus topics that are important to many organizations and marketing departments right now ultimately all end with customer experience. That is correct, it all boils down to customer experience. If your customers are unable to navigate and understand your website, their negative experience leads to bounces and no sales. If your customers are unhappy with the product or the service they receive, again, their experience results in lost sales for your company.
The Age of the Customer
Today’s customers expect more from their dealings with your company. They expect you to use smart technology, they expect to be in the driver’s seat, and they may even have unrealistic expectations based on other experiences or preconceived notions. Yet it is still up to you to deliver or lose that customer forever. A recent Gartner survey on the role of marketing in customer experience found that, by 2016, 89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, versus 36% four years ago.
The Customer Experience Maturity Model
Customer Experience Maturity Model Photo Credit: Sitecore.com
Your goal should be to help your customers grow in the process of doing business with you. Lead them into becoming advocates for your company. Of course, not all customers will complete the full journey in this chart, but your goal should be to at least get them to the “align” or “optimize” stages. Not everyone can be an advocate since that is the top level of the spectrum. However, all departments of your company should be focused on not just customer service, but the customer experience as well.
Personalisation as it Relates to the Customer Experience
One very important aspect of marketing technology that will help improve the customer experience and create the mature customer model referred to above is through personalisation and customisation. As digital marketers, it is up to us to personalise digital experiences of our customers by utilising the big data information and technology to collect data and present a positive customer experience.
Customer Statistics Image Courtesy Monetate
Before you start thinking that personalising your customers’ online experiences “creeps” them out or invades their privacy, take heart to the statistics in the graphic above. As consumers become more educated about how their data is used and gain better control over and a better understanding of their privacy settings, these numbers will continue to increase.
