Marketing trends change constantly, forcing promotional experts and brands to look at what might work best to get the word out about their company. You’ve likely heard the buzz about virtual reality, videos and mobile apps. However, there is one growth opportunity most marketings overlook that can increase customer loyalty and improve conversion rates.
The customer experience (CX) permeates every aspect of a company. Not only does it change the way marketing departments think, but it ramps up loyalty and makes people come back to buy from a brand again and again. People are also much more likely to recommend your business to others when they have excellent CX.
What is CX and Why Is It So Important in Marketing?
Customer experience involves a number of different factors. It’s more than just customer service and transcends the user experience. CX is more about how the user feels when they walk away from an interaction with your company. It can include UX, customer service and any number of other factors.
Forrester recently conducted a survey to see how the pandemic impacted brands and CX. They found around 21% had a score increase over the year prior due to brands being more proactive to implement digital transformation.
Brands really have to put themselves in the place of their customers and understand their needs and personalities. In addition to improving your brand’s reputation and the overall experience, you must consider CX when marketing to your target audience. Here are some ways to improve your brand’s marketing CX and take advantage of this marketing growth opportunity.
1. Consider the Platform
Someone visiting your company website will expect different content than someone scrolling through a feed on Facebook. Think about where you want to reach customers via your marketing campaigns and then tailor the message to suit their pain points.
For example, if someone does a search for a solution to a problem and comes to your site, they may want an in-depth article or video solving the issue. On the other hand, if they see your ad on social media, they may want to be entertained initially. Know the pain points for each platform so you can better meet user needs.
2. Personalize the Experience
Around 72% of consumers expect brands to recognize them by name and past engagements. If your brand isn’t equipped to track past interactions, it may be time to ramp up your software and databases.
Imagine you’re a first-time customer. You go ahead and ask a few questions via direct message about a product. You then want to hop on the website and place an order. Should you have to go through the information gathering stage again, or should the company know who you are, what product you asked questions about and any other relevant details?
3. Be Transparent and Honest
Marketing specialists are adept at spinning things to make them sound as wonderful as possible. Unfortunately, this can build up expectations from the consumer that aren’t as easily fulfilled. The last thing you want is a bunch of clients with buyer’s remorse because they will tell everyone they know and harm your brand name.
Source: https://www.marketingcharts.com/customer-centric/customer-experience-118362
A bad customer experience can reduce your revenue drastically. Marketing Charts shows after a “very poor” CX, 34% of people decreased their spending and another 19% stopped buying from the brand.
While it’s okay to point out the benefits of your product or service, you should also share any limitations. For example, if you sell dishwashers, they may be silent and clean almost anything but they won’t load themselves. Be upfront and strive to share both pros and cons. Do you just want a bunch of customers or do you want a ton of happy customers who feel you described the item exactly as it is?
4. Use Customer Journey Mapping
In order to reach customers effectively, you have to understand the journey your buyer goes on. Some people will enter the sales funnel at the beginning when they first hear about your brand. Others will be aware there is such a gadget and want to gather more information. Still others may have tried it out from a family member or friend and be ready to make a purchase.
Source: https://www.marketingcharts.com/industries/business-to-business-112653
B2B companies often excel in customer experience, so looking at what they do right can help you ramp up your own efforts. Around 55% say they do a good job of mapping the customer journey.
Speaking to customers through all points of the buyer’s journey gives you an opportunity to customize your message to where they are. Map out the journey, where people enter and what information you need to provide for where they are in the process.
5. Reduce Customer Churn
Every business finds new customers and loses old ones. What if you could keep most of your clients and still reach new people? Your business would grow rapidly.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/816735/customer-churn-rate-by-industry-us/
The average customer retention rate varies widely by industry. Sparrow conducted a survey and found some standard rates, such as 75% retention for banks and 84% for insurance. However, SaaS saw only 35% retention rates, media 25% and a mere 4% for Edtech.
How can your marketing work to reduce churn? Don’t hesitate to advertise to your current customers. Let them know about new products, specials just for them and big company news. The more invested they feel in your brand, the more likely they are to hang around.
6. Inform Customer Support
Your sales team and support teams should know about every marketing campaign you offer, what can and can’t be done and how to deliver all the information in a positive way. Sometimes just training sales agents to use positive words instead of negative ones can make a huge difference in sellthrough rates.
For example, if a customer asks for something you don’t allow, such as a double discount, the agent could say, “What I can offer you today is an ABC discount.” Rather than telling the customer what you won’t do, tell them what you can do.
A little extra training for the customer service team goes a long way toward creating an amazing CX. Conduct daily scrum meetings so everyone knows about upcoming campaigns and specials.
7. Ask for Feedback
Ask for input from those who spend the most time with the company’s customers. What do the customer service agents hear the most from clients? People will often tell what they want out of an experience. If your brand listens to them, you can offer it and drastically improve CX.
One example might be a cell phone company. Perhaps customers keep asking about an unlimited high speed internet connectivity plan they can also use as their home internet service. Rather than ignoring the clamoring for such a service, a smart company will figure out how to deliver it and the marketing team will promote it to bring in new clients.
Seek New Ideas
Keep an ear to the ground. What are other companies doing that you can repeat? What are they not offering where you can gain an edge and sign up customers before anyone else does? If you offer something better, cheaper, faster or more than your competitors, you’ll gain new clients and keep the ones you have.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philadelphia with her husband and pup, Bear.