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Does your business need a balanced strategy that includes both digital marketing and customer experience initiatives? I know, this sounds crazy right? – But is it really?
Professionals talk about the value of digital marketing a lot… okay, almost too much. However, what seems to be an emerging trend in conversation among the masses, especially in boardrooms of customer obsessed companies is how to elevate the customer experience. Here are two questions to ponder: How do we know which one is more important than the other? Is it possible to create a strategy that balances the need to excel in both digital marketing and customer experience initiatives? Those are very good questions. I can’t provide a proven solution, but I can provide a perspective that might be helpful in how you and your team responds with your customer experience and digital marketing. Let’s take a look and see if there are any reasons why one might be more important than the other.
Digital Marketing Uncovered
Let’s cut right to the chase, without digital marketing your business is not appearing in online searches, on social media, it’s not being shared or possibly even seen by a high percentage of qualified prospective customers. Unless your business is highly unique and relies exclusively on traditional means of marketing (with zero digital influence), you’re probably dead in the water unless your digital footprint is growing and changing. Don’t forget, the buying habits of individuals on mobile and online have shifted over the years and continues to become critically important. If you don’t have a clear picture of your customer, you may want to start getting some accurate data to help. The end result – if you’re company is not using digital marketing to generate qualified leads, it may not be too long before you begin looking for ways to stay afloat.
Companies recognize the sense of urgency that mobile imparts on the new path to purchase. In fact, 70% of companies have begun to transform their businesses and experiences. –thinkwithgoogle
The Customer Experience Uncovered
This is a tricky one. Your customers come in contact with your business in a myriad of ways (in-person, drive-by, online, mobile, phone, email…) and if you’re marketing online, the complexity factor of how to interact with the customer multiplies. It’s critically important to make sure each and every touch point is well planned and thought-out ahead of time so that you know pretty much what the customer is going to do before they do it. I know, that’s tough to predict, however, if your customer experience strategy is executed well, you will know this information, or at least have a clearer picture of how to get it.
Customers have increasingly high expectations for their interactions with your organization. Whether visiting your website or talking to a call center representative, they expect to be recognized and treated consistently across all channels. – SAS.com
The customer experience is how the customer interacts and relates successfully with the business at all touch points. I know this sounds very technical – well, it is. However, I say it this way because every business and every marketing team must be customer obsessed at each and every touch point.
Does Your Business Need Both?
Here’s the tough part. Your business really needs both of these in order to survive and thrive in a highly collaborative economy. Being customer obsessed just may be more important than your marketing. Can you believe it, I am a marketer and those words came out of my mouth. Here’s why — Good marketing brings in qualified leads and can result in increased revenue. However, if the customer who sees your marketing and is attracted by it has an awful experience on social media, on the web, with live chat, on the phone or even in person, the amazing marketing that actually did the job it was supposed to, doesn’t matter because the customer experience failed. When customers have a bad experience with a brand, they usually tell the world about it or don’t return. We’ve all seen when customers go-off on a business because of poorly executed service or worse… none of us want our companies to be part of that. In my opinion, invest the same amount of time and money in both digital marketing and on the customer experience. Your sales revenues and your customers will be clear indicators that your balanced approach is working.
YourBrandExposed is designed to look at digital using a creative, analytical, innovative marketing perspective. We’re a team of practitioners working with companies looking to leverage the power of digital, web, social and content marketing strategies. Contact us if you’re feeling the digital squeeze on how to best market and expose your company.
Scott MacFarland
Chief Content Marketer | Digital Strategist
HuffingtonPost | Relevance | Natcom Global
Linkedin | Twitter: @scmacfarland
Email: Yourbrandexposed@yahoo.com
Photo Credit: Pexels.com CC0 License
Sources:
http://yourbrandexposed.com/do-you-know-your-social-media-tools/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-macfarland/do-you-have-a-clear-pictu_b_7498726.html
http://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/factsheet/sas-customer-experience-analytics-103402.pdf