A superior digital customer experience is becoming increasingly valuable in our technologically-advanced world. And it just keeps progressing from there. Long gone are the days where customer interactions only consisted of in-person conversations. Now, digitally advanced interactions are a minimum requirement, and are an excellent one, at that, is the new expectation.
It’s even more important than we go beyond simple digital CX, too. Mere digital experiences refer to an online interaction between a customer and a brand. This includes anything from visiting and using your website, to interacting on social media, or downloading your app.
With new extraordinary advancements and benchmarked standards including the metaverse and immersive experiences, customers will no longer settle for less. They understand how far digital technology has come, and expect these standards in brand interactions. So, it’s time to ensure we’re delivering a superior digital customer experience across the board.
The key is in omnichannel
Consistent research has been made into omnichannel approaches for businesses when it comes to DCX (digital customer experience). 71% of consumers want a consistent experience across all channels. However, just less than a third (29%) actually receive that. If you want to succeed in crafting the superior digital customer experience, it’s time to create personalised experiences that resonate across all of your digital channels.
One of the key advantages to increased omnichannel approaches is that it provides more brand exposure. Creating multi-access for your customers with different channels means they can access whichever suits them best. And along each channel, they will receive the personalisation they’re craving and deserve to receive.
Twilio reported that most businesses are still struggling to achieve omnichannel personalisation despite an increased investment in personalisation last year. The barriers presented were in lack of technology, unclear ROI, lack of accurate data, and organisational impediments. With these research points in place, you can build on this to know how to be successful. Invest in more technological advancements as there is evidence of the payoff and ROI. Spend time to assess the data and assure it is accurate and providing the information you need.
The key point for a successful omnichannel approach lies in streamlined processes. Make sure your processes are flexible and amendable to the customer’s wishes. In this, personalised experiences will follow.
Do you remember having a superior digital customer experience?
This is an important question to ask yourself and think about when you start planning your strategy for a great DCX. A fundamental part of this planning comes from understanding what your customers want. And you can start understanding this mindset when you place yourself in their position.
Think about the times you received a superior digital customer experience from another business. What made it so great? What made it stand out to you?
The key points of a great digital experience
If you’re struggling to think, here are some starting points. Fantastic digital experiences can often by exampled and attributed to the following:
- A well-made, impressive, functional website. Accessing your site is very often the first impression that potential customers will have of your business. If the website looks outdated, it’s difficult to read and/or use, and has tricky navigation, you’ll probably lose potential customers in the first few seconds.
- Easy-to-use mobile apps. Similar to the point above about websites – if you have a mobile app that is dysfunctional and doesn’t look engaging or professional, you will quickly lose customers. Many times, I’ve personally downloaded apps onto my phone from the App Store, only to quickly uninstall them a minute later after an initial browse through and seeing how unappealing the design and ease-of-access was. With apps becoming increasingly popular with more smartphone and tablets sales, a good app should be a no-brainer.
- Easy-to-navigate menus. This point speaks for itself and ties back to the argument of functionality and ease-of-access. Menus are used on nearly all websites, regardless of what the business is, to make the website straight-forward and simple. A well-designed menu will make it so much easier for your customer to find exactly what they’re looking for. This will only make their experience better. Small things like a functional navigational menu will add up, and make all the difference!
- A well-designed customer end goal. For example, if your business is in retail, it is crucial that the checkout process, often being the last step in that buying journey, is quick and easy – no unnecessary steps, and with clear instructions. If your customer’s intent on accessing your site is to find a way to contact someone, make sure it’s visible.
- Coming away from the digital experience with a good feeling. No one wants to return to a website and/or brand that left them feeling frustrated during the process. Make sure everything is always user-friendly in every aspect.
How do you maintain a superior digital customer experience?
Once you’ve nailed the basics of a superior digital customer experience that all of your users are happy with, it’s essential to maintain that high level. Like many business strategies, the core of it all comes down to always listening to your customers.
A great way to understand how your customers feel is through online research platforms. These can take many different forms, including:
- Surveys
- Polls
- Interviews
However, an understanding can also come directly from the stats themselves. Some sites’ inner functions and CRM programmes allow you to access specific insights. For example, you can access information such as: the average length of time that users spend on your site; how many users you get in a time frame (e.g. one month, within a year); how many users are repeat customers; and many more.
Investigating these pieces of data and statistics will create valuable information and help you to change your strategies if need be. For instance, if your average monthly viewers are around 4k, and decrease by 50% the next month, you should analyse what changes you’ve made in the past month. You may have changed your checkout process and added more steps for customers to access their basket. This digital change may have attributed to the decrease in website traffic as users are no longer having a great digital experience.
To have a superior digital customer experience that stands out above the rest and is your users’ favourite platform, it needs to be closely monitored always. For a great DCX, it typically implies that the experience provided is fast, responsive and frictionless as users switch between channels. Every digital aspect should be cohesive and consistent that reflects what your customers want.
Prioritise building a superior digital customer experience and you will reap the rewards
Digital experiences are everywhere nowadays, and make up so much of a business structure and their profiting tactics. They can make or break a customer relationship. Begin to focus on creating excellent positive experiences across your digital platforms. Doing so will not only build customer loyalty and website traffic, but you may also progress your reputation.