While customer experience has been a key concept in the world of business for decades, a new buzzword has emerged putting more pressure on businesses to evolve alongside the digital landscape.
Digital customer experience.
Sounds similar right? Well it is very similar. Like CX it’s a way to gauge customer satisfaction, loyalty, and operational efficiency. The only difference – it’s all based online.
Let’s explore this concept further.
What is a Digital Customer Experience?
A digital customer experience is the journey your customer takes on the online platforms you offer.
While this used to refer to the standard website experience, today it encapsulates a range of channels like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Live Chat, Digital Kiosks, and more. Using these channels, businesses can follow the typical journey of the customer and understand the experience from beginning to end.
As an example, a customer could see your product or service advertised on their Facebook news feed. If they click on your ad they’ll be directed to visit your website. From here they might use your live chat function, or send you an email if they have any questions. If your product or service is available online for purchase, they can do so. Finally, they’ll receive an email follow-up with an option to provide feedback.
Today, the digital landscape is constantly evolving and as businesses evolve with these trends, so will their experience. It’s important to monitor your digital experience, analyze your findings, and constantly adjust your digital offerings in order to meet customer demands.
The Difference Between Digital Customer Experience and Customer Experience
Customer experience is the sum of all interactions with a customer whether online or offline. It includes every aspect of the buying journey, from the moment a customer discovers your product or service, to well after they’ve experienced it.
The digital customer experience, however, focuses solely on digital touchpoints. It’s a more specific view of the experience that shares how your online presence impacts your bottom line. This is more helpful in terms of measuring the success of digital initiatives and justification for further digital investment.
Why is the Digital Customer Experience Important?
When it comes to measuring the success of a program, offline and online customers are very different. Throwing all of your customers into one bucket might not be effective if you’re trying to gauge where to allocate resources or spend.
When it comes to digital experiences, it’s no secret that it’s the way of the present and the future. In fact, according to Statista, almost a third of online consumers in the United States use the internet to search for local businesses on a daily basis and 70-80% of potential customers could be lost to businesses without a website.
However, meeting digital demands isn’t all about claiming a website and selling your products on it.
Today a digital experience is more about creating a cohesive journey with multiple digital channels. Looking at what customers are using and implementing with strategic motive. Consider social media for a moment, did you know 63% of customers actually expect companies to offer customer service through their social media? Or that 90% of social media users have already connected with a brand or business through their chosen platform?
Within a digital customer experience, it’s important to consider preferences at play. By simply offering customer preferred channels in a streamlined fashion, you can improve satisfaction, regain loyalty and ensure your employees time is allocated effectively.
Key Stages In the Digital Customer Experience
Within the customer journey, there are several key stages to consider for your digital experience strategy. Here we touch on each stage and what type of digital channels to leverage in order to engage customers effectively.
Awareness
As part of lead generation, the awareness stage looks to grab the attention of potential customers. In this instance, the customer may not even be looking for your product or service, and your competitors will also be vying for their attention. This stage can usually be found in the form of an online ad, social media posting, or direct email.
Interest
You’ve done your part in creating awareness about your brand, now your customer is intrigued. They’re currently researching brands and keeping their options open. This is the best time to highlight any promotions. Digital channels for consideration at this stage include having an informative website, live chat options, social media, and more.
Consideration
Your prospective customer has done their research and they’ve narrowed you down to one of their top contenders. This is a critical moment to share your value to the customer and why they need your product or service. At this stage, a digital touchpoint could involve; a direct email, instant message, case studies on your website, and product reviews.
Purchase
Lead nurture turns into a full-on customer when your prospect decides to purchase. A great digital CX experience offers multiple payment channels including the option to purchase on your website, social channel or via a direct message. Remember, the purchase is just the first step in building a great relationship with your customer. At this stage, use your digital channels to keep them informed on their order, shipping, and any FAQs they may have.
Loyalty
The purchase is just the first step in building customer loyalty. After purchase, follow up with a feedback survey email or a direct message with a promotion. However you do it, remember to get personal and check-in on how the experience was.
Key Concepts To Remember In An Exceptional Digital Customer Experience
Build a Robust Omni-Channel Strategy
Today, it’s not a matter of having a digital presence (let’s face we all should be online), but rather having a strong digital presence. Any business can offer 10 channels, but are you using them effectively? Are customers asking for these channels? Are these channels necessary in your customer journey?
When you start drafting your omnichannel strategy, analyze your current channels and their effectiveness. Then take a minute to research trending channels, customer-preferred channels, and channels your competitors are using. In addition consider pivotal touchpoints. These all can help you navigate the digital channels you leverage throughout their experience.
Ensure Responsive On All Devices
There’s nothing worse than having a stellar experience on desktop and then switching to mobile for an unresponsive check-out. Searches today on mobile are growing 51% year over year, which makes it critical to own. Make sure your journey is cohesive and customers can move effortlessly from digital channel to digital channel.
Make Conversation Seamless
An easy way to lose a customer is by offering choppy service and asking redundant questions every time they write in. As much as the look and feel of the digital experience should be consistent, so should your employees conversations.
Ensure your employees can pick-up conversations and view history effortlessly. With a customer experience management software offering a consolidated inbox you can see the full conversation history and keep the conversation consistent.
