Most organizations operate and engage with customers in a very different way today than they did a few years ago. Customers can, for instance, do all of their shopping, brand research, and option research from the comfort of their homes.
As a result, businesses have had to shift and adapt significantly, although many of those adjustments have been for the better. This is because customer experience and digital transformation are interdependent. In this blog, we’ll explore the how and why of improving customer engagement and loyalty.
WHAT IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology throughout all functional areas of an organization, which has a profound impact on both the way a company runs and the value it offers to its clients.
Simply put, it involves altering how a firm interacts with its clients and how it offers clients a consistent experience whenever and wherever they require it.
In fact, nearly half of all firms said that customer experience and customer satisfaction were the most important criteria in determining whether or not to undertake a digital transformation strategy.
Companies that undergo digital transformation create highly engaged customers. Additionally, businesses who embark on the digital transformation journey get measurable rewards including higher revenue and expansion possibilities.
Companies with higher levels of digital transformation maturity reportedly experienced 45% gain in revenue, according to a recent Deloitte analysis. Additionally, 41% of highly digitalized organizations highlighted a good influence on sales and marketing activities, while 29% noted a positive impact on growth and innovation.
The customer is in charge and there’s hardly any doubts about it.
WHAT DOES TODAY’S DIGITAL CUSTOMER EXPECT?
Your digital engagement plan should incorporate every online exchange a customer has with your brand. It starts at the first point of contact and lasts the entire duration of the client’s journey. To make sure that every stage of the user experience is excellent, it’s crucial to pay special attention to every detail, even the seemingly most minute ones like where to insert copy or the color of a hyperlink.
A successful customer interaction plan will boost revenues and customer loyalty when implemented correctly.
Here are some common consumer insights:
1. Online-first Interactions
Customers may easily communicate with firms via the channel of their choice thanks to an online presence. Additionally, studies have revealed a 160% rise in the frequency of digital purchases over the last two years. To stay competitive, businesses need to adopt a digital-first approach.
2. Speed
More than ever, client behavior is dictated by the “want-it-now” culture. More prompt replies from businesses are demanded by 80% of customers. You cannot afford to keep a customer waiting right now since every minute you save is money.
3. Omnichannel Experiences
Delivering inconsistent, fragmented experiences is, if there is anything, worse than keeping today’s customers waiting. Your bottom line is directly impacted by the experience you offer. The average customer retention rate for businesses with the best omnichannel experiences is 89%, compared to 33% for businesses with multichannel customer experiences.
4. Messaging and Mobile-first Conversations
Customers today cannot live without mobile-first interaction because of how convenient and simple it is. Customers expect you to interact with them on their preferred channels and mobile applications, such as Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, LINE, and WhatsApp.
HOW WILL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IMPACT THE CUSTOMER’S EXPERIENCE?
The digital transformation of a corporation has the ability to affect every facet of the company. The customers, and the experience they have, is ultimately what is affected. Think about the benefits that a firm receives from digital transformation. Along with the previously mentioned advantage of exceeding client expectations, one additionally receives:
- Better source and supply chain management
- Unified customer data
- Simplified procedures
- Data-driven insights
- Better staff engagement and culture (better cooperation)
When a business undergoes digital transformation, everything changes with the customer at the center of attention, from the way customer data is handled to the channels of engagement. Actually, 45% of transformation efforts are still directed toward enabling infrastructure, while 54% are still devoted to updating client touchpoints according to a report.
Each team is better equipped to carry out tasks that have a substantial impact on the customer experience after the digital transformation thanks to improved data management, streamlined processes, empowered people, and integrated technology.
GETTING STARTED WITH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
With the help of digital transformation, businesses can better comprehend today’s consumers, interact with them, and meet their demands through a multichannel customer experience.
Here are some ways to get started with digital transformation:
1. Define your strategy first before executing digital transformation
Due to the quick rate of developing technology and breakthroughs, business is conducted at a breakneck pace. Every year, new and developing technologies disrupt even well-established businesses.
Uber revolutionized the taxi business in 2009 by enabling customers to request rides using a mobile app. Amazon Go, which offers a chain of convenience stores in the US with automated, cashier-less self-checkout stations, is one of the newest additions to the e-commerce business.
Companies need a long-term strategy to adapt, compete, and thrive in this new digital ecosystem as a result of all these novel ideas entering the market.
Three basic questions should be the starting point of every digital transformation strategy:
Today, where are you?
What place would you like to be tomorrow?
What transportation plan do you have?
Businesses require a strategy that not only specifies the technology that must be employed, but also provides protection against digital disruption. To find opportunities, it is essential to understand your basic systems and processes before utilizing the potential of the digital revolution.
2. Cultivate customer understanding
Few, if any, brands offer purely digital experiences; they still transport tangible goods, provide in-person conversations, and offer physical experiences. This means that rather than treating the digital journey as the be-all and end-all, you must comprehend where and how clients seek digital experiences throughout the customer journey.
Voice of the Customer (VoC), creating personas, creating customer journey maps, and encouraging more customer-centric decisions are just a few examples of effective customer listening approaches that can help you better understand and respond to your customers’ current and changing needs.
Organizations can then concentrate on how they will provide that experience after this point. It’s a competency that demands ongoing commitment in order to develop, not just once.
Here are some strategies via which you can integrate digital transformation in your customer journey to create more engagement:
a. Make information available online
The ability to store data online utilizing cloud-based technology is one of the major advantages of the shift toward digital, as well as one of the simplest. Businesses used to save data locally, but improvements in storage and security have made using internet means the norm.
Breaking down data silos starts with maintaining records online. Different teams are in charge of different sets of data.
Campaign and conversion data are kept by marketing teams, detailed customer and pipeline information is kept by sales teams, and adoption data is kept by product teams.
When it’s accessible online, you can combine all of these data sets. For instance, with a few straightforward connectors, you may examine the information for these teams using a CRM tool. This will enable teams that interact with customers to have more relevant discussions by using information about a customer’s lifecycle, interests, and content consumption, among other things.
b. Simulate in-store experiences
If you recall the days when you spent hours in malls, you will realize how enjoyable and interesting the in-person shopping experience was. What we need to replicate online is that social side of shopping, even if you weren’t actually looking to buy anything, that urge to hang out, talk shop, and browse merely to see what’s new with pals. The key to digital engagement is personalization and developing distinctive experiences. Personalization can make clients feel more at home and capture their interest when there isn’t a human touch present.
Customers no longer consider personalization to be a nice-to-have element. Rather, they now expect it to be there by default. This includes anticipating their needs or tailoring recommendations for a more relevant online experience.
It is now possible to deploy chatbot and artificial intelligence technology for automation and personalization that improves the customer experience. But it’s crucial to make good use of these tools and avoid causing annoyance with chatbots that don’t function properly or don’t address a potential customer’s issues.
c. Engage through videos
Videos are quite effective in today’s video-focused culture. A positive ROI was recorded by 87% of marketers who use video. And it should come as no surprise given that 66% of individuals cite video as their primary source of information. Furthermore, mobile is in the lead, with mobile devices accounting for more than 75% of all video views.
More video content is being uploaded in 30 days than what is shown on three major US television networks in 30 years, thanks to the availability of smartphones that can rapidly and easily produce professional-looking videos.
d. Focus on an omnichannel experience
In the modern world, a customer’s journey begins in one location — whether it is a store or on a mobile device — and continues through other channels. Businesses must effectively engage customers across a range of digital platforms and enable seamless customer resumption across all devices. No matter how or where consumers choose to interact with your brand, keep improving the user experience.
To engage potential customers and offer a tailored experience, streamlined customer communication is essential across websites, mobile apps, social media, and in-store.
An effective customer engagement strategy relies on this constant and satisfying experience across all touchpoints. And when this multi-channel interaction approach is implemented properly, it may boost sales, brand exposure, and customer happiness.
3. Create customer-centric experiences
Keep the customer’s needs in mind while you search for new technology adoption opportunities. You should make sure that every move you make toward the digital world benefits your customers in some way, if the objective is to improve the customer experience.
You shouldn’t make an app only to be able to say you have one, and you shouldn’t feel compelled to spend thousands of dollars on a new site feature because one of your rivals already has it.
Instead, consider how technology could assist you address problems where the user or customer experience needs to be enhanced.
After all, your firm is much more likely to achieve your customer experience objectives if your organization’s digital transformation focuses on assisting and engaging customers.
Marketers and business owners now have greater access to data than ever before.
And while all of this data may seem daunting at first, if you know what to do with it, using it to uncover fresh insights into client journeys may be very beneficial. After that, you may use the analysis to enhance your consumer interaction and product strategies.
4. Avoid “engineered insincerity”
To avoid the pitfall of what we refer to as “engineered insincerity,” or utilizing automation to fake interest in who you are as a human being, a compelling CX requires balancing consumer empathy with technology. Engineered insincerity from brands manifests itself in a variety of ways, including a steady stream of emails from a shop that have no grasp of your current circumstances, chatbots who utilize slang and colloquial language to appear human, and daily SMS messages that make you unfollow. Avoid letting your automation strategy dictate how you interact with your consumers.
WAY FORWARD
Digital transformation has revolutionized the way businesses interact with their customers and has become an integral part of delivering an exceptional customer experience. With the rise of digital technologies, customers are more connected and empowered now than ever, demanding personalized experiences and seamless interactions across all touchpoints. To meet these expectations, businesses need to embrace digital transformation and adopt new technologies to engage with their customers, understand their needs, and build long-lasting relationships.
By leveraging the power of digital technologies, businesses can improve engagement and loyalty, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and drive growth and profitability. Ultimately, digital transformation is not just about implementing new technologies but also about rethinking the way businesses operate and putting the customer at the center of their strategy to create a more customer-centric organization.
KNOLSKAPE’s Digital Transformation Champion simulation is designed to help learners discover, explore and learn how to drive digital transformation initiatives through time-tested models and frameworks. The simulation puts learners in the role of a leader who must win support for a digital platform among the ecosystem by taking actions that build alignment on strategy, culture and capability. Not only this, KNOLSKAPE has also designed an Introduction to Digital Learning course to build basic awareness of latest digital trends and disruptions, understand the context in which a digital leader operates and understand the different personas of a digital leader.
