I\u2019m seeing an increasing number of my peers in the marketing world take ownership of the customer experience with their brands. As a result, we\u2019re all learning how to borrow and blend tools to help us find ways to gain deeper customer understanding.<\/p>\n
When practicing\u00a0design\u00a0thinking, you\u00a0flex\u00a0your empathy muscle and work on immersing yourself in your customer\u2019s life. The practice of customer\u00a0engagement\u00a0here is different than polling or interviewing customers about what they receive today. It\u2019s about understanding what they\u2019re trying to do, what they want and what they don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n
Design Thinking\u00a0also brings an iterative approach to your work by creating prototypes that map out how to deliver the new solutions\u00a0to\u00a0your customer\u2019s world while allowing for\u00a0feedback on what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not. I like this\u00a0approach\u00a0because you can fail fast,\u00a0make adjustments\u00a0and then find\u00a0the\u00a0winner to bring to life. The whole practice here is to try\u00a0a variety of tactics\u00a0out and nail down the frontrunners. You may think you don\u2019t have time for this type of\u00a0practice, but\u00a0getting it right\u00a0earlier\u00a0through prototypes helps you move fast in\u00a0your next steps.<\/p>\n
Personas\u00a0focus entirely on gaining\u00a0an understanding of the\u00a0customer\u00a0by\u00a0using qualitative and quantitative methods. There\u2019s nothing better (and in my opinion,\u00a0every marketer\u00a0should be doing this) than\u00a0engaging and talking\u00a0to your customers\u00a0about their experience with you.\u00a0Spending time with your\u00a0clients\u00a0helps you have a foundational knowledge of why they\u2019re\u00a0coming to\u00a0your company and how that experience has been so far.<\/p>\n
This information is valuable\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0not\u00a0only can you\u00a0gather themes around\u00a0how to\u00a0improve your\u00a0processes and their\u00a0experience\u00a0but you can also\u00a0learn what friction points exist and how to remove them.\u00a0Gathering the feedback is\u00a0only one half of the equation,\u00a0using it effectively is crucial to your success.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s throw\u00a0Journey Mapping into the\u00a0mix.\u00a0A combination of tactics\u00a0helps put the end-to-end experience together, whether that\u2019s to examine a current state experience or to get more creative and explore a future state vision.\u00a0Having that visual\u00a0will\u00a0help everyone in your company understand how your buyers interact with\u00a0your\u00a0brand. This\u00a0is powerful for supporting your work as a customer-first team.<\/p>\n
Smart companies have learned\u00a0that\u00a0competing on price doesn\u2019t last long and may even backfire. They also have concluded that marketing on the merits of their product doesn\u2019t always pan out to their desired expectations, especially when competitors easily close the gap on product advantages. What is resonating against the competition is how your audience experiences your brand. That experience can be closely tied to increasing revenue, driving loyalty and increasing opportunities for word of mouth\u00a0recommendations.<\/p>\n
When it comes down to it, customer experience is everyone\u2019s responsibility. From a marketing standpoint, doing your part could be spending more time hearing from your customers and learning who they really are, ensuring a positive experience at every interaction with your brand or a combination of both. While choosing an approach should be based on your customer’s pain points and your business needs, it\u2019s important that you get started and consistently help deliver on the best experience possible.<\/p>\n