If you’re not obsessed with customer experience, you should be. Customers who consistently enjoy brand experiences—including communications and interactions—tend to buy more, spend more when they buy, cost less to serve, advocate, and forgive mistakes. Sounds like a profitable relationship to me.
But there are two main hindrances that prevent marketers from seeing the importance of positive customer experiences. The first is status quo. Some organizations deliver minimal product quality, service interactions, and relevancy, yet they’re still relatively profitable. But those companies won’t ever reach their full potential. They may even vanish when challenged by a customer-centric competitor.
The second is the inability to see the connection between marketing and customer experience. To some marketers, CX is that thing that customer service or product development teams need to worry about. Yes, they do. But so does marketing.
Think about your own customer experiences. How likely are you to buy from a company that doesn’t live up to its brand promises? Or, how likely are you to recommend a brand that bombards you with irrelevant email? My guess is not very likely. Conversely, how likely are you to buy from a company that uses the information that it has about you to provide relevant offers? Similarly, how likely are you to recommend a company that sends you content to help you make the most of your purchases? Probably very likely.
As you may know from reading my content, I obsess about CX. Not only do I want to provide it, but more important, I also want to help you deliver a unique and coveted CX. To that end, our September 2015 issue’s cover story, “It’s Time to Face Marketing’s Impact on Customer Experience,” reveals five ways that marketing can provide captivating customer experiences—from email and mobile messaging to brand promises and loyalty programs. Fortunately, even simple improvements to CX can go a long way toward increasing customer engagement, loyalty, and spending; for example, providing a preference center so customers can select the email frequency that best suits them.
What will you focus on to enhance your CX?
It’s a party
For the Direct Marketing News team, part of our customer experience is recognizing the accomplishments of our readers. Our upcoming 2015 40 Under 40 Awards do just that for those in marketing who are making waves early in their careers. From CEOs to content marketers, and from marketing VPs to managing directors, these young executives are changing the game, wowing their clients with creative and strategic plans, rethinking data-driven marketing, and helping their companies and clients master new technologies. We’d be delighted to have you join us in celebrating their successes—at a swank dinner in New York on September 24. Details are available at dmnews.com/40-under-40.
