What makes an experience truly memorable? Speed. Effortlessness. Stability. Friendliness. It involves making technology feel more human and providing employees with the resources they need to create better customer experiences by creating real connections.

Customer experience differentiator has become the ultimate competitive factor in a world where customer loyalty determines business success. So the real question you should be asking is; what will be the fundamental impact of technology on your marketing, and therein on your business, interaction, and understanding of customers?

Customer Experience Differentiator: Top Trend of 2022

Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy

Incorporating a pure-play customer data platform into your audience engagement strategy can increase operational efficiency for your entire growth team.

Making sure your data platform leverages high-quality, first-party data every day is the key to truly being customer-centric. Data collection can reveal new information, but without appropriate management, it will not lead to smarter engagement and better outcomes.

Making substantial progress with your customer experience framework and strategy today requires that you confidently use the consistently updated data stored in your CDP’s customer profiles. Getting leadership buy-in is also important for upgrading your technology. Specifically, removing redundant or inefficient tools from their stacks and investing in a customer experience differentiator data platform to accelerate growth.

Immersive and Hybrid Experiences

A marketing-oriented experience can help companies deliver their message differently and connect with new audiences. However, it will also become increasingly evident in sales, customer service, and product support.

A key trend emerging from companies such as Meta, Nvidia, and Microsoft describes persistent online environments where users can connect, communicate and collaborate in increasingly immersive ways. 

Brands’ ability to engage customers in unique ways through virtual platforms will likely be a main reason companies are attracted to the idea, especially since augmented and virtual reality will form a core part of the metaverse.

In particular, getting their approval to invest in a customer data platform to increase growth by getting rid of redundant or inefficient tools.

Product and Service Innovations That Are More Intelligent

Wearables and the Internet of Things revolution have increased the possibility of devices gathering data about us and our environment. According to Gartner, approximately $81.5 billion is expected to be invested in wearables by 2022. 

A considerable part of it is due to the additional free time many of us now have thanks to remote and from-home work and a growing interest in personal health. Businesses focusing on experiences are getting better at leveraging this data to enhance interactions with them.

With new smart materials being developed, smart clothing will be able to power itself, wash in a regular machine, and give you insights into your health via apps on your phone or watch. Moreover, we will likely see the first fruits of Google’s acquisition of health tracker manufacturer Fitbit, which could lead to increased innovation in the smartwatch market. 

As companies strive to improve their customer experience in 2022, they will develop products that rely on data to integrate themselves into our lives better, helping us gain more valuable insights and enhance our experiences.  

Providing Omnichannel Customer Service

One of the simplest ways to improve customer service is to use an omnichannel approach. By offering pre-and post-purchase support through various channels, you provide a level of personalized communication that sets you apart from competitors. 

Integrating software such as a web chat or web calling is one of the best ways to do this. A click-to-call button on your website provides a fast and hassle-free way for people to get in touch with you. 

A click-to-call button on your website can also improve your inbound calls. A customer can be surfing through the website within minutes, and a few clicks later, they’ll be talking to a service representative. 

An omnichannel approach shows commitment to personalized communication and problem solving from a customer experience standpoint. Your brand can be distinguished from your competitors by shining a spotlight on these areas, and you’ll be able to prove to your customers that you are making the most of the customer experience differentiator. 

Orient Yourself Toward the Journey – Not the Touchpoints

From the point of awareness through post-sales support and repurchase, the customer journey is the sum of all customer experiences with a company. In this case, the sum is greater than the parts due to the multiple online and offline touchpoints that comprise each journey. 

While customer service and customer experience are often used interchangeably, they are worlds apart. The quality of customer service is a significant contributor to the customer experience, but it is only one factor.

Customer service occurs at every point of contact, such as when an organization responds to an email, answers a phone call, collects a payment online, or visits a physical location. Customer service is reactive by definition.

An organization’s customer experience focuses on the proactive behaviors shown to create that experience. These threads tie together all these touchpoints and better understand how it treats its customers.

A combination like this – even at a slightly higher price – would be more valuable than the parts alone. 

A CEO who is involved in customer experience is more likely to report revenue growth, while a CEO who is not involved in customer experience reports growth at just 40%.

Among companies with the most empathetic cultures, the top 10 have nearly doubled their business value. Moreover, offering a high-quality customer experience can reduce the cost of serving customers by up to 33%.

Understand the Ramifications

1. Customers have demands. It’s not what you think. As technology advances, companies can better interact, embrace, and spend by increasing speed, convenience, friendliness, and knowledge – demands that consumers have.
2. Revenue comes from customers, but employees drive the experience. Reducing friction for consumers and empowering employees to manage the customer experience. This calls for a new way of working, a focus on employee experience, and a sophisticated view of human-machine relationships.
3. Tech alone will not solve experience problems. It is merely an enabler. Refocus your efforts. Innovative ideas are born from an excellent employee experience. Such ideas will shape future business and help you deliver exceptional customer service.

Bottom Line

An end-to-end customer experience strategy (i.e., great customer experience) is the new standard for businesses. In today’s world, every touchpoint with customers (website visits, support chats, social media ad clicks) needs to contribute to a quality CX.

The other side of the coin is that positive customer experiences can improve both your brand image (customer perception) and bottom line (better customer loyalty).

Have you just started your own small business, or are you an entrepreneur just venturing into the market? Consumers today expect immediate responses and convenience. 

Having access to all insights and data associated with every prospect and customer in one’s tech ecosystem is the bedrock of best-in-class marketing service providers. You can boost your website’s search and map performance through GMB and make it your top customer experience differentiator. 

Reviews are an important ranking factor for local searches because they indicate what people think of a business. Providing social proof further encourages potential customers to consider whether to do business with you.

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