Customer experience ‘CX’ is the new key indicator for savvy consumers seeking online loyalty.
Consumers expect more from brands and according to Zendesk CX Trends 2022 report:
83% of customers will be more likely to spend with companies that personalize the customer service they offer them
The research indicated that there are high chances customers will revisit your business in the future by making data-driven decisions. Also, customers will be more likely to recommend your services to others which leads to increased revenue.
If you want your business to stand out in a competitive market, then it’s not enough to talk at your potential audience. It’s essential to focus on delivering an excellent customer experience and not just a message. It’s time to improve your existing marketing activities and social media platforms as an opportunity for the online conversation to flow in natural ways.
In return, your digital customers will not only gravitate towards a better online experience, but they will also bring more value into your online services.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship; I give free tips (on social media) and I get free marketing which generates click-to-order enquiries’’ - Lyn Waddington, The Tasteful Cake Company
Read more
The platforms you manage, the content you share and the customer service you deliver all play into the digital loyalty you create. It’s important that all of your customer communication touchpoints, whether online or physical, are consistent. This contributes to the development of a recognisable and reliable brand. According to zendesk, 87% of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a consistent experience.
What’s the recipe to delight digital consumers?
The key to creating a strong, competitive, and engaging brand is to deliver a consistent and effective customer experience. Digital technology could provide the vitals tools to help you develop a dependable and manageable system for generating and meeting your desired customer expectations.
Also, it can help you make sense of your customer relationships and manage the way you deliver your customer experience. Remember, excellent customer experience is an on-going process so start with these 5 steps and you can begin the journey to developing long-lasting customer relationships.
Here are five ways you can cultivate a great customer experience:
Define the customer experience you want to deliver
Start by defining the optimal customer experience you want to deliver across all of your platforms. This should be reflective of your brand personality and the expectations that your customers have of your business. Once you have set out your goals, you can accurately create objectives and put in place tactics to start developing and delivering effectively.
Manage your customer relationships
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a platform that can help you manage interactions with potential and existing customers. A CRM system will allow you to collect, store and analyse data about any customer’s history with your business in order to improve your relationships, delivered targeted communication, increase retention and drive sales. By understanding how customers have interacted with your business previously, you can ensure you’re delivering a targeted service and both recognising and valuing their engagement with your business.
Be user friendly
It’s important that your online touchpoints are user-friendly. This is a basic element of the customer experience but, if done badly, could see you rapidly lose customers. Ensure your website loads quickly, runs effectively, all of your links work and that customers can easily navigate the platform. If visitors struggle to use your website, they are likely to become irritated and click away, leaving with a negative opinion of your brand.
“The guests’ feedback has been fantastic! They know what (services) they’re getting upon arrival, so they commented on how easy it is to use the booking system’’ – Abi Oliver, Oxwich Bay Hotel
Personalisation and automation
It’s never been easier to ensure your marketing is delivered in a timely, personalised and consistent manner. Marketing automation platforms can help you make the most of digital technology to communicate with your customers with, for example, welcome emails, sales follow-ups or trigger campaigns based on visitor actions. By using personal and behavioural data, you can target users and customers specifically based on their interests and activities, ensuring they feel valued.
Optimise for mobile
Can consumers use your website effectively via their mobile? If the answer is no or you’re unsure, it’s time to make mobile optimisation top of your list. On 21st April 2015, Google expanded the use of “mobile-friendliness” as a ranking signal meaning businesses with mobile optimised sites would be ranked higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) than those without mobile-friendly sites. Use Google’s ‘Mobile Friendly Test’ to find out how your business is performing on mobile.