8 Marketing Tweaks to Improve Your Customer Experience (CX)
Customer experience is a major focus of your company. Marketing can help you build a closer relationship with your audience.
While only 8% of customers today feel they receive a stellar customer experience, a whopping 80% of CEOs today feel their customers have exquisite interactions with their brand. The discrepancy is huge. This means that brands don’t understand customers and their needs. But we’re here to bring you closer to your audience and help you improve your interactions with them through marketing.
If you work in a marketing department, no matter how small or big, these quick hacks can help enhance your organization’s CX strategy.
#1. Go Mobile
It’s no secret that everyone is connected and the majority of us connect via our mobiles. You can’t afford to neglect that audience segment. But what does this have to do with CX?
We are glued to our smartphones; we shop, keep in touch with our teams and solve issues on the go, thanks to these smart little gadgets.
We search for information online on mobile at a staggering pace. Almost 60% of Google searches today are carried out on mobile. If you want to get closer to your audience and show that you listen to their needs, a mobile version of your website is mandatory. Plus, all that incredible content you create will be a couple of taps away from your audience. (And so will be your support teams!)
#2. Place People at the Core of Your Marketing Strategy
You may be thinking that you are already doing it. But are you, really? Aren’t you more inclined to sell products rather than values, ideas, solutions to the people in your audience segment?
This is also applicable in B2B relationships. Yes, you are offering products or solutions for other businesses, but the decision-makers aren’t the entities themselves. The decision-makers are people, humans, with needs and desires, although those may be business-related. They will judge your products or services through a human filter.
To improve customer experience through marketing, your content must be at the intersection of your brand purpose and what your customers really want.
#3. Provide Useful Marketing Material
Once you find that sweet spot where your company goals intersect with what customers want, you can start working on your marketing strategy.
And the best way to enhance CX through marketing is by having a utilitarian approach to marketing. Leverage marketing in such a way to make people want to pay not only for your company’s products but also for marketing content itself.
I am not saying you have to monetize your blog section, but to make it so useful, your audience would be willing to pay for it if it was the case.
#4. Make an Impact
When researching new products or services, buyers search for answers or solutions. Instead of trying to sell from your first interaction, educate. Not just in the incipient phases of your buyers’ journey. Along the way. Be there to make a difference and answer their questions.
#5. Use Personalization
Looking through my personal email, I see many newsletters with discount codes for my favorite perfumes. Thanks, thoughtful retailers! Isn’t personalization great?
It is, but there are a few things you have to think of before leveraging it.
- The level of personalization. Personalization makes your brand look thoughtful. But too much of it can make your brand look, well, creepy. Customers hate fluff when it comes to interactions with brands and companies, but they don’t want you to know what they had for dinner last Tuesday.
- Data-driven personalization. Ensure you have the correct data set that will help you reach the right level of personalization. While B2C companies are sure they are using the right data sets for personalization, only 40% of the B2B entities out there are sure of it. Using smart marketing automation systems is of great help here. For example, Sugar Market is packed with data and insights that’ll let you personalize your marketing message with more precision.
- Make it broadly relevant. The more you personalize an offer, ad, marketing message, the less likely your audience is to share the word with their peers. Going overboard with personalization makes your message lose traction and defeats the purpose. You may think you are contributing to customer experience, but it’s unlikely.
#6. Listen First, Act Later
Listening to your audience is the key if you want to improve CX through marketing. Talk to them, ask questions, listen to their problems. Then, market products that can and, most importantly, will solve them.
- Invest in research. In-house or third-party, research reports on your audience are a good starting point to get a better look at their needs.
- Talk to your sales team. We’ve said it before. A close collaboration between your marketing and sales teams is crucial when trying to build a more accurate buyer persona.
- Leverage data. We live in an age when data comes from a ton of streams. Don’t just store it. Process and interpret all data to build a better idea of what your customers want. Today, you should look beyond traditional indicators. Look into your customers’ level of happiness, the excitement your products or services create among your customers. And only afterward, tailor a marketing strategy and message accordingly.
- Feedback. Feedback is a significant point where you can learn a lot about your audience. Get your customers’ feedback right after an interaction with your brand. You can send an automated email or text message. This shows that you care if your customers have a positive experience with your brand or not and that you’re willing to fix whatever issues your audience identifies.
#7. Stay True to Company Values
Within the US, there are 32.5 million businesses, split into different categories, across many industries. However, the competition is tough, despite the industry.
To stay ahead of your competition and win the conversion game, you can’t afford to offer your audience a short description of your product and how it can be used. You must have a solid foundation rooted in your organization’s core values. Build your marketing content by sticking to those.
#8. Be a Thought Leader
The more authority you gain in your industry or niche, the more your audience will trust you. This is the key to turning your audience into loyal customers. Become a dependable and respected voice in your niche, and you’ll be more likely to shift points of view among your segments.
