As almost every industry enters the third year of grappling with the pandemic’s effects, companies are constantly in search of methods to support growth and demand. But often, growing rapidly comes at a cost. As does standing still. Companies that are spread thin, understaffed or under-resourced are at risk of not remaining competitive or providing customer experiences that are lacklustre.
Admittedly, it’s been a minute since I’ve dusted off my crystal ball – closer to the length of a global pandemic. I made some predictions about the future of CX back in 2018, and certainly a lot has changed since then. During the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote from futurist Roy Amara: “We tend to overestimate the effect of technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
From the back office to the boardroom, internal support teams – such as HR, Legal and Facilities – are now front and centre with leadership teams. Not only are they leading company efforts to redesign the workplace, but they’ve also become a vital tool in helping to attract and retain top talent as more and more workers consider leaving their jobs.
Did you know that the average bounce rate for most websites falls somewhere between 26% and 70%? This means that up to two-thirds of website visitors only view one page and don’t take any action before leaving a website. In other words, most of the people who land on a website will not translate into customers. However, there are ways to battle the bounce rate with the help of conversion rate optimisation, or CRO.
Companies that excel at customer experience have been shown to drive revenues 4-8% higher than their competitors. This increase can be attributed to a variety of benefits that arise from improving CX. First, a great customer experience leads to higher loyalty rates. Second, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience, according to research from PWC. Additionally, people who enjoy their customer care typically tell others about it.
A 2019 survey on the state of marketing automation found that 75% of companies were already using some form of marketing automation. Of those respondents, 66% indicated that the tools had been either ‘moderately’ or ‘very’ effective. The same survey looked into the leading marketing automation tools and determined that the top three were social media post scheduling (85%), email marketing (75%), and social media advertising (58%).
Social media. Everyone uses it, but not everyone does so effectively. Companies with a robust social media strategy are often more successful. Great social media marketing accounts for the needs of both the consumer and the business. You can achieve this through careful research and a detailed social media strategy template.
Crafting a digital marketing strategy is essential for business success. You must think about more than just the deliverables, though. A strong digital strategy also describes the steps you’ll take to reach your goals and considers the existing landscape and how it might evolve. It’s best to start with the information available. Use this to gauge the success of your current activities and optimise future marketing operations.
Well-trained customer service representatives also elevate a company’s brand and reputation, resulting in positive word of mouth and more repeat business. You can even increase employee retention with great service, as people like working for organisations that treat their customers well.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of customer service. This is because 73% of companies now report a direct link between customer service and business performance, according to our 2022 Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report, and 60% of customers will now walk away after just one bad experience – a 22% jump from the previous year.
