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Customer experience (CX) has become a buzzword in marketing these days, and with good reason. Having a clear idea of what you want to offer your customer—not just in terms of product, but in terms of how they feel throughout their interaction with your company—will not only boost your retention power, but also foster loyal customer relationships. As a result, your buyers become sharers, spreading the word about your fantastic product.
So, what are some keys to creating a solid CX strategy? Here are a few top tips to help you build an experience that keeps your customers happy and mitigates churn
Go in with a Clear Strategy
Map out the customer journey with different stages. Identify buyer personas. Define concrete goals. What type of experience do you want to provide for your customers? How do you want them to feel? What are your customers looking for when they come to you? What needs do you meet as a company? Answer each of these questions and work them into a concrete strategy with company-wide goals that all staff strive to meet.
Make it fun
Simply that: just plain fun. Create a brand appearance that is visually appealing and consistent—stick with specific color schemes and fonts on your website, emails, and product packaging. Choose a logo that is eye-catching and fits your brand personality. Create an online interface that is easy to use, and personalize the experience.
If a brand simply makes people feel happy, that has more power to attract buyers to your company than any magic dollar amount or discount could ever have.
Nurture the Emotional Connection.
People, and their purchasing decisions, are largely motivated by emotions. And you can tap into consumer emotions by playing up shared values. Today’s consumers are increasingly concerned about spending their money ethically. People appreciate knowing the impact of their dollar, so if you can, provide them information on the materials used in the manufacturing process and the social and environmental impact of each purchase.
You may even consider donating a certain percentage of each purchase to a charity that shares your company’s values. If you make it clear that your brand focuses on ethics and sustainability, that gives you firm ground on which to build customer confidence and loyalty.
Invest in a Pleasant Online User Experience (UX)
When buying online, have you ever been interested in a product only to visit a website and be dissuaded by poor functionality, sloppy organization, or too many hoops to jump through just to make a purchase? If your primary sales platform is a website, which is increasingly the case in these times of social distancing and COVID-19, that website needs to be everything a user could desire. Visually appealing, quick to load, and the fewer clicks to get from browsing the site to purchasing an item, the better. Invest in the necessary technology to offer an online experience that is as enjoyable and effortless as possible.
Give Ample Opportunity for Feedback.
What do customers value? Fast delivery? High-quality materials or ingredients? A personal thank-you note? Information about the environmental impact of their purchase? Companies who market DTC have the advantage of direct communication with their customers that B2B sales models simply can’t offer. Take advantage of that. Create satisfaction surveys to follow up on interactions with customers—whether pre- or post-sales—and take customers’ feedback into account when shifting your strategies.
Social media is an invaluable source for customer feedback. Take advantage of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms to engage with your customers. Also, be sure to have post-interaction customer satisfaction surveys in place to give customers the chance to be heard. And when there are complaints—which there are bound to be—own up to your mistakes and go out of your way to fix them. Never underestimate the power of impressively good customer service and speedy incident resolution.
Put that Feedback into Practice
Evaluate your strategy regularly and see how things are working. With DTC marketing, you have the advantage of directly asking your customers how you can be doing better. And they are generally more than happy to tell you, especially those who are incredibly pleased or very disappointed. Find out why, see what’s going well and what isn’t, and establish a regular review of your CX strategy and implement any necessary changes.
The Power of Experience
A powerful CX strategy can go a long way, and if you invest in your relationship with your customers, you’ll get them to stick with you for the long haul. Studies have shown that increasing customer retention rates by 5% has the power to boost profits by 25-95%. In today’s market, taking a customer-oriented approach is the surest way to establish a firm foundation for your company.
Our DTC Strategy Blueprint helps you improve your marketing techniques with strategy templates, tips and tactics. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to further enhance your CX plan
This article was first published by Mapp. Permission to use has been granted by the publisher.
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