Background
There are more than 4.65 billion web users today who have distinctive preferences and wishes. In this dynamic scenario, the only way businesses can thrive and gain a competitive edge is by acquiring a detailed rather than conventional image of their customers to get an insight into their activities and preferences. The importance of such a personalized customer experience experience can never be overstated - customer retention and, in turn, brand image is greatly reliant on how valued the customer feels, how often they believe personalized needs are met, and how much effort the company puts into providing a valuable experience to them in their eyes. It is is, therefore, absolutely vital that the prime objective for any service provider be to provide the most stellar and near-perfect customer experience possible by getting to know who their customers really are.
According to Forbes, brands must take an omnichannel approach to drive exceptional client experiences, however, not be tunneled into a single customer view. Recent research shows that 89% of firms on the market today compete on providing the best possible personalized customer experience to their entire customer base which is a huge leap from the initial 36% back in 2010! It is becoming increasingly important to provide clients with not only a seamless and exceptional customer experience but also take them on a novel and individualized journey from the moment they land on your online page in order to form that crucial bond (which will later translate into purchase).
It is also important to note here that while 80% of firms believe that they delivered on the “required customer experience,” only 8% of their customers agree to this statement. The data shows that while firms presumably understand the importance of giving stellar client experiences, they still have a lot of work to do in properly translating it into reality in that regard. Nowadays, brands cannot ignore even one aspect of a client – who they are, their views, wishes, and, above all, their preferences. Even the benefits of a single customer view for business are abundant! If we ignore a consumer's preference, the experience remains purely transactional and the brand fails to build a lasting relationship with the end-user. If firms do not make clients feel special and valued, they are undoubtedly going to detach themselves from the brand and refuse any future association. Personalizing the customer’s experiences will not only help you retain your existing customers but also significantly support your complete conversion journey on all grounds.
The Sitecore Experience Platform products, including Sitecore XP and Boxever, provide a personalized customer experience by using client data, AI, and automated marketing features.
The Sitecore Experience Platform provides brands with client insights and puts together customized experiences to make deliveries on time across all channels. This helps brands create a ‘memorable experience’ for their clients.
What Do Clients Want?
Customers do not particularly care whether a brand is digitized or not. What they look for is quick and seamless delivery, whether it is an experience, service, or product. However, the utilization and behavior of omnichannel devices matter to marketers, client service agents, designers, client expertise specialists, etc. Sitecore Products provide firms with an omnichannel experience by integrating offline and online interactions.
Take into consideration one among the following instances to differentiate between ‘experiences’ and ‘interactions’:
The experience of the digital client at a given moment of interaction online, and the subsequent translation of this experience offline in the form of ‘feeling good’, ‘spreading the word’, etc. The experience offered by a particular type of device – there is an enormous distinction between both the online and offline interactions using a mobile device compared to a desktop even though the experiences may be similar. The task and context of experience in which the client interaction happens either offline or online. The interaction of digital channels and their translation into the user experience. The real interaction among branded digital experiences which might crop up.
Campaigns and client engagement is the focal point of the brand development and digital marketing strategy. Successful brands reach out to their customers through a multitude of channels – they do not limit themselves to one approach. They aim for customer interactions across multiple channels with online and offline integrations wherever possible.
Unified Consumer Experience: Need of the Hour
Brands often fail to provide a unified client experience because of the disconnection between processes concerning information delivery and campaign promotion. Brands will only adopt the client based on:
Identifying the patron and track shopper activity. The versatile character of the patron across all devices and channels. Integrating all information sources such that no activity is run in a silo
Additionally, social commerce is an important step throughout the trial to attain the only client read. By providing a unified consumer experience, businesses can increase customer satisfaction and be more effective. However, how a company provides a unified customer experience depends on the size, trade, and goals of the organization.
Why Personalization Matters
By personalizing a customer’s journey, brands can effectively drive growth and have increased retention. Using multiple channels for customer engagement is important in creating a personalized consumer experience strategy for the business.
Each client needs to be treated as a private entity and not a silos account. For organizations in the travel, insurance, telecommunication, utilities, cash services, retail, banking, manufacturing, etc. one client scan can make all the difference. A single consumer scan helps organizations understand a consumer and improve
shopper retention. One client scan collectively permits dead targeted cross-selling and up-selling for a profitable business.
Following are some of the benefits of personalizing your shopper and consumer journey:
Helps in lead generation: Companies who customize their content as per the consumer’s preferences build more leads compared to their competitors.
Helps build a brand-customer relationship: Made-to-order content permits brands to build a personal relationship with the customer and gives the brand an edge in the competitive market.
Helps retain customers: Personalizing customer interaction with the brand can help build customer loyalty and retention. This, in turn, can turn everyday customers into brand ambassadors.
Improves consumer experience:Tailored offers make customers happy. They are less likely to complain about the consumer service channels.
Builds conversion rate:Customized offers drive higher conversion - from window shoppers to actual buyers. How to Achieve Personalized Customer Experience
According to the McKinsey report, personalization of customer experience is the foremost driver in determining a brand’s consumer service success in five years. Let’s look at ways in which a customer’s experience can be personalized by the brand
1. Collect client information
In order to provide customers with made-to-order content, it’s necessary to analyze all of the customer-related information. Here are a few ways to get started on collecting and analyzing client data:
Conduct opinion polls and consumer surveys. Collect visitor information through various online and offline tools. Track all comments from email subscribers and social media followers. Analyze website analytics for user behavior.
2. Segment the audience
The terms segmentation and personalization are often used interchangeably when talking about customer experience. The categorization of customers plays an important role in dividing customers into groups. These groups can be created based on the customer’s individual needs, wishes, buying habits, and more. Customers can be segmented into various groups based on the following factors:
Location: This is based on the customer’s geographical location. A client can be segmented based on whether he is part of the regional or the global market.
Education: Analysis of the educational background and annual income of individuals frequently produce the foremost data-driven decisions.
Online buying habits: This looks into the behavior and online shopping habits of present and potential customers.
Age and gender: Age and gender: These are also important factors that significantly influence a customer’s buying decisions.
3. Make it a seamless journey
According to a study, 70% of customers add products to their digital cart and do not ultimately buy them. 92% of customers place associated items in their cart, but do not purchase the items.
To rectify this, brands need to continuously engage with their customers. It’s crucial to reach out to customers with customized electronic communications at each stage of the buyer’s digital journey. A crucial part of your personalization strategy is to form a positive relationship with your existing and potential customers. Adequate engagement will ensure that the buyer participates in all the crucial stages of the digital client journey. At the start of the customer’s journey, the brand needs to provide incentives or recommendations regarding what the customer is looking for.
Key Take-Away
Adopting a personalized customer experience view is all about maximizing the value of an organization's most valuable assets – its customers. More than technology and data, moving to a customer-focused approach would require organizational changes, such as structuring the credit and marketing teams around customer segments in place of the product portfolio. Additionally, training of the customer-facing staff in platforms that can facilitate customer service benefits is essential too.
The kind of value you derive from personalized customer experience will also depend on other factors such as the size of your customer base as well as the number of potential product relationships your brand has with your customers. Constructing a personalized customer experience is, therefore, the first step of a longer, continuous process – adding supplementary data will only enhance the client's view and facilitate more accurate credit policy analysis to support limit setting. Implementing the single customer view across the organization and using it to inform all customer decision-making is the essential next step.
In short, this implementation is a journey in itself rather than being a short-term project. All the departments of your business will have to get together to achieve this jointly. Creating a personalized customer experience is all about commitment, discipline, and teamwork. To get started, create a unique and correct customer ID and start collecting relevant data. From there, you will be able to build a persona for your customer that, in turn, will help you realize your goal of creating the most personalized customer experience.
Content Identification by Sitecore
Sitecore Content identification has emerged as a one-stop answer to all or any personalization needs. The Sitecore Experience platform empowers marketers with the proper tools so that they can focus on their customers with the help of relevant, and customized content. This helps in forming experiences that convert into measurable outcomes for brands. Sitecore platform products, including XP, Boxever will help provide customer personalized experiences.
Smarter Personalization with Boxever and XP
In the next series of articles, we will cover:
Challenges and preparation in getting personalized experiences through Sitecore Products. How to achieve personalized experiences through Sitecore Products.
