Getting 5 Stars: Exceeding Consumer Expectations in Digital Customer Experience

It probably feels like distant history but enhancing the customer experience used to rely heavily on in-store services. When the Covid pandemic came along, it changed practically everything about the way consumers interact with businesses around the world. Now, customer engagement largely takes place online and within apps or chatbots. Businesses are finding the need to rapidly adapt to this new era of providing mobile-friendly customer experiences to stay relevant, timely, and ahead of their competitors. However, digital CX and this rapid shift in the CPaaS industry is not new; the pandemic merely accelerated an ongoing trend that has already been slowly growing for years.

The question for today’s businesses is: what is the best way to reach customers in the mobile space? How do you drive engagement, boost revenue and enhance your customers’ overall experience with your brand, all through a phone? The answer is chat.

Let’s take a closer look at how consumers have changed their ways of interacting with brands, their new higher expectations of customer experience, and how you can adopt a digital strategy that keeps your business successful.

Acceleration of Mobile-First Customer Experience

Transactions, messaging, and business communications are all becoming digital at a new speed. Business owners are constantly searching for innovative ways to generate revenue, engage, and retain customers through superior online customer journeys and the rise of digital sales and transactions have significantly spiked compared to previous years.

 For example in the retail industry, in 2015, about 7.4% of sales took place online. The rate made slight increases over the next several years and when the pandemic forced stores to close, e-retail sales jumped to 18%. The percentage will likely surpass 20% by the end of 2022. This growth in online interactions applies to not only retail, but all other industries as well including travel, banking, telecommunications, and more. Long gone are the basic expectations of simple notifications and one-way messaging updates; these times call for interactive customer engagement, the ability for customers to respond to your outreach, and deeper conversations, to ultimately build stronger brand loyalty and retention.

What are today’s Consumer Expectations?

The various components of consumer expectations are at new heights. Customer experience is expected to provide support with convenience, personalization, empathy, and quickness, all within a seamless and easy user journey. Connected experiences across digital channels are now the new standard of how brands need to present themselves. Omnichannel, valuable, and immediate interactions are the modern way of connecting with your audience. With fast shipping, curbside pick-up services, and QR codes as the new norm, the combination of convenience and speed is vital in any successful customer journey. The CX that people want are those that are readily available to them, allowing them to bypass speaking to live representatives, being put on hold via phone calls, and standing in crowded lines.

Businesses who do not prioritize digital CX will fall behind quickly—according to a Salesforce Research Poll, 91% of people say they're more likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive experience, and 71% say they’ve made a purchase decision based on experience quality. CX’s importance is crucial in gaining and keeping customers.

Mobile Marketing Strategies That Get Results

The most recent data from Pew Research Center show that 85% of U.S. adults have smartphones and 97% have some type of mobile phone. You can’t expect consumers to change their habits to match your marketing and sales efforts. You have to go where they already are. That means adopting mobile marketing strategies that get results.

Your effective and impactful digital strategy should include:

  • Websites optimized for mobile devices

  • Personalized and tailored messaging or app experiences and product recommendations

  • Informing customers of real-time deals, promotions, and offers and initiates convenient two-way interactions with your business

  • Social media posts that encourage followers to engage with your brand and drive meaningful conversations such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

  • Offer self-service, proactive AI-driven messaging solutions that lead customers further through the buying experience and answer frequently asked questions

  • Implement a loyalty rewards program to incentivize your customers to keep coming back and earning points

  • Gather customer surveys and feedback to understand the hurdles and friction within your CX, and effectively map out your customer journey

Consumer behaviors have changed drastically throughout the past few years. With less time and attention span, and much more competition out there, it’s now harder than ever to capture the attention of customers. Digital CX is necessary for every brand, but there is no one size fits all solution! Each business is unique so it’s best to try a variety of mobile messaging options to see which ones connect well with your customers and are best for your business specifically.

The Best CX Technology Offers a Personal Touch

Consumers want access to online and mobile-friendly experiences, but with more personal and customization to feel like more than just another customer. Now, the challenge comes down to adding the human touch.

Bridging the gap between technology and in-store experiences is easier than many business leaders think. For example, a chatbot that remembers previous conversations with a specific customer can come across the same way a real human would. If the dialogue becomes too difficult for an AI chatbot to handle, it can transfer the customer to a live agent. With Clickatell, that would mean sending the customer to Chat Desk, where a customer service representative is ready to take over the conversation live, providing a satisfying brand experience.

To explore more of how you can optimize and elevate your CX, what it can do for your business, and why you should start implementing mobile messaging strategies today, check out our eBook on The Evolution of Notifications to Chat Commerce. We dive into the messaging revolution and how it is shaping digital commerce, brand and consumer interactions, and ultimately customer experience.

Create an Unparalleled Customers’ Experiences our Help

Topics like conversational commerce, mobile messaging, and chatbots might sound intimidating at first. They can work for you, though, when you partner with a company that has years of experience making these technologies work well for businesses of all sizes.

Clickatell offers a variety of solutions that combine digital technologies with the human touch. Get in touch now to learn more about the right customer experience solution that will help you thrive with your digital transformation.

 

Step into the future of business messaging.

SMS and two-way channels, automation, call center integration, payments - do it all with Clickatell's Chat Commerce platform.

New