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Is Customer Experience The Ultimate Marketing Tool?
Contributed article by Frank Hamilton
Advertising surrounds us everywhere. Companies
have to try hard to stand out from the crowd and prove that their product or
service is trustworthy to customers. Improving marketing customer experience is
one of the top opportunities to turn customers into brand ambassadors, win more
clients, raise brand awareness and get a competitive edge. But is customer
experience the ultimate marketing tool in 2022? Let's find it out.
What Is Customer
Experience?
To put it simply, customer experience in
marketing is a general term that covers all the impressions the customers have
when interacting with a brand. In response to digital marketing development,
customer experience has become one of the strongest digital trends of recent
years.
This marketing tool creates the conditions for
interacting with customers to meet or exceed their expectations. Customers go
through many points of interaction with a company. And it is very important
that at each of these points your customer is satisfied.
Modern marketing is customer-centric so the
customers are the only ones to decide what kind of products to buy, and what
level of service to choose. In a couple
of clicks, customers can view product features, reviews, and ratings, and
decide "To buy or not to buy?" They can quickly change brands without
compromising themselves if a competitor offers a better product, or service or
anticipates their desires.
In such an abundance of choice, when the
customer experience is far from being enjoyable, 32%
of modern users are willing to give up on their favorite brand. At the same
time, one unsatisfied customer will tell about their negative experience to 16 friends and damage the company’s reputation
with the word of mouth.
Why Is Customer
Experience So Important?
Let's be honest with each other - there is no
perfect marketing tool that will fit every company and every brand. But
improving customer experience day after day is a must-follow strategy for every
company. Firstly, a positive customer experience is a confirmation that your
core business processes are set up right. After all, if at any point of
interaction your customer isn't happy, you need to make adjustments to your
team or your marketing strategy. What’s more, the customer experience is
directly dependent on employees being competent, responsible, and proactive.
Here are a few more reasons why companies
should care even more about a successful modern customer experience:
1. Increase the Check
Modern customers will never be satisfied with
little. Today, they want the most from brands and companies at every stage of
interaction. Studies show that 86%
of customers are willing to pay more for good service. This means that
companies with a customer-centric marketing strategy will be able to earn even
more and grow their company faster.
2. Win More Customers
Customers want a personalized approach that
will cater to personal wishes and requests. Targeted advertising, smart content
marketing and blogging increase customer trust and loyalty, allowing you to
stand out from other similar brands. And as a result, grow the number of leads
and customers. Surveys show that 80%
of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if a company offers a
personalized approach.
3. Stand Out From the
Competition
Customers today have a wide range of services
and products to choose from, so companies should try hard to stand out. A
positive customer experience is one effective way to stand out from the
competition, and most importantly, to build loyalty and retain customers for a
long time.
4. Lower the Cost per
Lead
Word of mouth is free advertising for your
company. And it's worth noting that it's very effective. According to studies,
more than 92%
of consumers use reviews to make a purchase decision. Therefore, every satisfied
customer can become an ambassador for your brand in the future and help you
attract new leads with the power of social proof. Here is how you won't have to
spend any extra money to acquire new customers.
5. Create a
Recognizable Brand
Loyal customers help take a brand to the next
level. After all, globally popular brands have become popular because of the
consistent digital consumer experience they delivered for years. One of the
ways to create a recognizable brand is to tell your potential customers about
it as much as possible through highly qualified content since to date, content importance for blog
is growing. This is the tool to build loyalty and improve your SEO performance
at once.
How To Improve
Customer Experience?
Customer experience is one of the most
important marketing tools that determine how successful your company or brand
will be. So here are some important tips that can help you stand out with the
best customer experience.
- Develop an omnichannel strategy to enhance the
customer experience. Always be accessible to your customers. For example, if
the customer feels more comfortable contacting you through social media, you
should be ready to support them via social channels. If the user likes to find
information on their own, run a meaningful blog. If the customer wants to
contact you after business hours, it would be nice to offer them a chatbot. It
will stay in touch with your customers 24 hours a day, which will allow for a
better customer experience. Look here
for more insights into omnichannel customer experience and the benefits it
drives.
- Train your employees. At certain stages of
interacting with the brand, your customers will work with your employees. Be
sure that they correctly communicate the company's values and culture, and have
perfect knowledge of the product and the algorithm for dealing with various
atypical situations. Regular training sessions can help your sales, customer
support, and marketing teams provide impeccable assistance.
- Provide feedback on time. Listen to and read
feedback from your customers. Use this information wisely to improve your
service and product. Once you have worked out the weaknesses, try to keep your
customers informed about the work done, the troubleshooting, or the improvement
of the service.
- Optimize the customer journey. Identify all
stages of the customer's interaction with your company. Think about how you can
make customers' experience of choosing, buying, using, and committing to your
brand stronger and more positive. Use analytics and Big Data to keep up to date
with your customers' preferences and desires.
- Collect feedback and ratings. Monitor the
feedback and ratings you get from customers. If some of these are negative,
respond immediately and try to rectify the situation by offering an
alternative, a discount, or a personal offer. This will help to retain the
customer and save your reputation. Encourage satisfied customers to leave
positive feedback as well.
- Implement loyalty programs. The main aim of a
loyalty program is to build long-term relationships. Only sincere attention and
a personalized approach will persuade customers to stay with you for the long
term. A good loyalty program helps increase lifetime customer value (LTV), the
loyalty index (NPS), and grow brand advocates, who are particularly useful in
attracting new leads at no extra cost.
Conclusion
Customer experience is the ultimate marketing
tool. If consumers like you, they will happily spend money on your product and
recommend it to others. In a world where competition between brands is huge,
the one who manages to make more people fall in love with you wins.
Author Bio
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester.
He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital
marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish,
French, German and English. Meet him on Facebook and Twitter.