How to Prioritize Customer Experience

There is a lot of research on customer experiences (CX) and the impact of profiling your interactions with a consumer to understand the individual rather than treating them as a segment. Some people may say that this is a part of digital transformation or marketing transformation. Still, ensuring you utilize your data accurately and effectively can be a great start. It is necessary to pay attention during interactions with your brand in various spaces as it is more valuable. According to Forbes, "CX leaders define the customer's experience as the sum of all customer experiences with their business. Each touchpoint counts in its own right, but are keystones to the bridges connecting entire experiences." We need to remember that all our customers are human, and they deserve the best we can give them. As email marketers, we must also remember that each experience outside of emails reflects how customers feel about dealing with us as a whole. Customer experience isn't about how businesses communicate with their customers- it's more about what they accomplish for those customers and why people come back to them.  OmniChannel is a part of the customer's experience, but it is not its total. 

Brands understand that customers want an emotional experience, none of those monotonous interactions. This is not just what they say, but how they feel. It's time for brands to take this understanding and indeed adopt it into their business models. According to HBR, emerging cohorts of consumers have evolved from the pandemic. They were quoted as saying:

1. Affordability first (32% of consumers): Living within their means and budget, focusing less on brands and more on product functionality.

2. Health first (25%): Protect their health and that of their family by choosing products they trust to be safe and minimizing risks in the way they shop.

3. Planet first (16%): Minimizing their impact on the environment and buying brands that reflect their beliefs.

4. Society first (15%): Working together for the greater good, buying from organizations they find to be honest and transparent.

5. Experience first (12%): Living in the moment to make the most of life, often making them open to new products, brands, and experiences.

This cohort illustrates the emotional changes in our customers and the value they place on each category. We should consider these considerations throughout the customer journey- from CX (customer experience) to content. It's essential to pay attention to changing customer needs!

Here are a few tips to keep the customer experience at the forefront of your email strategy:

1. Go through the experience yourself as a "new customer": Imagine this is your first time as a customer. Go through the process yourself and take screenshots along the way, so you don't miss anything. Walkthrough the process from different personas to cover all the experiences.

2. Analyze where the brand fell short and where there was a success: What can be done to make this experience more valuable? What parts are excellent and deserve to be praised more? What parts of the given content should be scrapped or reworked?

3. Map out your current email journeys, automation, and touchpoints: What are the gaps, if there are any? You may be missing out on opportunities or sending too much information at one time and not enough at another. This is also something to consider when.

4. Think through the data you currently use: To create better profiles of your customers, you need to be using all the available information. If not, this should be a project you prioritize for 2022.

5. What does your data say about your audience now? Perform a deep dive into your current database, and figure out what personas or segments you have and how much data you currently have. How many are active/inactive? This is the starting point for a journey to having 360 relationships with your customers.

Wrap up:

Strategies for success in automation have to be tailored to how your customers prefer their favourite brands and services. Your efforts need to be centered around them! As we start a new year, this will continue to be critical! Now is the time to make an excellent first impression. CX will show your customers why they should buy from you! Sometimes diving deep into CX could be daunting but fear not! 

That's where GoCustomer comes in. It takes care of your sender's reputation, warms up your domain and prevents your mail from being stuck in spam. All of this so you could focus on the other things.