Today, your brand is what your audience says it is. Despite your best branding efforts, consumers have greater and greater access to information – not just to understand what’s good for them, to find the best price, or to learn where to get the products they want, but also to determine how brands and products are viewed in the market and in their social circles. Around 81% of consumers conduct online research – “webrooming” and “pre-shopping” – before they make a purchase. And to make it even more challenging for brands, consumers also expect a stellar research experience – especially from the brands they already know and trust.
To keep pace with the always-on consumer, brands need to see themselves as more than the sum of the products and features they sell. Consider what Tesla Motors is doing to not just leapfrog automotive technology, but to completely disrupt the buying and service side of the industry with a consumer-centric, experience-driven model. By offering factory tours to owners and their friends, delivering the vehicle to where the customers are, and, in some cases, servicing cars overnight, it’s no wonder there is a multi-year waiting list to buy one!
Consumer engagement, then, is about tapping into the essence of not just the utility that these products provide, but why consumers are inclined (one might even say moved) to buy one product over another. In the age of the connected consumer, there’s never been a better opportunity to do this, day-in-and day-out, while adapting to ever-changing consumer behavior and preferences.
For today’s consumer, CX is overtaking price and product as the key differentiator. CX is the brand experience. Understanding and delivering on those promises are table stakes, and savvy brands are using CX as the key differentiator to attract, engage, and retain customers. High-performing brands also know that delivering on this promise takes more than a great marketing strategy. The entire business must be aligned, from vendors and partners, to manufacturing, supply chain, and customer service.
To learn more about today’s connected consumer and how you can create, deliver, and sustain a great customer experience, download our guide.
CX in the Age of the Consumer
by Jim Hertzfeld on March 28th, 2017 | ~ minute read
