How Your Brand Can Adapt to the Evolving Customer Journey

In the past eight months, the customer journey has changed rapidly, yielding unexpected shifts to customer expectations that are likely to continue. One notable change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was the increased shift of customers seeking out digital interactions. Personalized web experiences continue to become more critical to your customer experience as that may be the first and primary touchpoint a customer has with your brand.

While personalization on its own can have a massive impact on your CX, to deliver the best experience, it must be cohesively integrated into your strategic vision and can be used to powerfully engage your customers.

Most Initial Touchpoints are now Digital

Initial touchpoints with consumers are essential to establishing a great first impression with you brand. With most of these introductions now taking place in a digital format, your website becomes an essential tool to make this impression a good one. Leveraging these digital access points to provide customers with easy-to-find, up-to-date information allows them to delve deeper into your company, solutions, and brand identity.

Your website landing pages should address customer intent and pain points, extending the dispersal of this information to any social media or landing pages you also manage. Since many services can no longer take place in person, utilizing digital channels to offer these same services while pointing out any in-person options that may still exist is crucial to ensuring that your customers receive a consistent experience from digital to in-person interactions.

The Purchasing Process Has Changed

Customers are now searching for your products and services on multiple channels, including your website, social media, mobile app and any external sites or third-party services you work with. Offering a connected and consistent omnichannel purchasing experience ensures that it remains on-brand and effortless for your customer to navigate across all channels. Organizations need to consider how customers approach purchasing new products and the expectations or behaviors that may now play a role in that decision.

Feedback is Critical to Understanding Customers

Seek out feedback from your customers to better understand and address their shifting needs and desires. Interacting with your customers in this way shows the value you place on their needs, strengthening relationships with them and driving loyalty to your brand.

Looking for direct feedback from your customers will also enable you to take notice of emerging or changing expectations, needs and behaviors. This can be done through survey solicitation or monitored comment boxes on the channels made available for purchasing your products.

Personalization is Preferred

The COVID-19 pandemic forced brands to reconsider how they can be more thoughtful in their customer relationships and purchasing journeys. Customers are now more driven to seek brands that offer personalized experiences, where they feel their unique needs and preferences are understood and fulfilled with little-to-no effort on their end.

This has forced many brands to heighten their focus on personalization capabilities as well as expand their technology options as a response to customer preference for a personal, human touch. Customers have demonstrated that they recognize when a brand shows concern for their health, safety, and well-being and are continuing to show loyalty towards those companies.

Transform your CX with Avtex

Adapting to shifting consumer preferences is essential to providing an excellent customer experience to your current and prospective customers. If your organization is ready to begin delivering exceptional CX to your customers, Avtex can help. Contact us to learn how our experts can help you develop the insight, strategy, and tools needed to deliver better CX.