Millennial and Gen Zers expects businesses to be responsive and relevant, according to “The Digital Lives of Millennials and Gen Z.” The study, conducted by LivePerson, surveyed more than 4,000 people ages 18 to 34 from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the United States.
One-to-One Marketing at Scale? Yes, please
Good morning! One bacon, egg, and cheese or two?
That’s how I’m welcomed whenever I walk into Andrew & Frank’s Deli in Astoria—even when it’s more like lunchtime than breakfast hour. And, believe me, this place has far more frequent customers than me. Even so, the guys who run the deli know my favorite order, and know there’s an equal chance I’m getting breakfast just for my daughter (long after I’ve eaten) or for both of us.
That’s the kind of one-to-one experience many marketers strive to deliver at scale, and that Don Pepper and Martha Rogers, Ph.D., predicted would be reality—at scale—in The One to One Future. For years, Don and Martha’s message changed the outlook and career direction of countless marketers. Based on recent conversations I’ve had, it still does. In fact, to me, one-to-one marketing has never been more possible, relevant, and in this time of ever-rising customer expectations, vital.
What Customer Experience Trend?
CX is a whirlwind of change.
- Personalization is improving areas such as marketing communications, promotional offers, and recommended next-best actions.
- AI and machine learning in marketing (e.g. retargeting) and service (e.g., chatbots) is helping companies to provide more relevant experiences.
- Vendors impacted by business model changes such as the growth of the subscription economy and by disruptive competitors are increasing their focus on customer success to improve retention.
- Mobile is spurring and supporting the growth of proactive service and support.
And so is AI. - Customer journey mapping is experiencing a resurgence, buoyed by new supporting technologies and access to more and better data.
These are just a handful of the trends impacting customer experience leaders and their organization’s CX practices.
65% of Tech Firms Consider Service as a Profit Center
When service excels, it drives business.
This is evident from the results cited in the “Service Industry Outlook: 2017 Research Report,” by Service Strategies. The report highlights finding from surveys and interviews with executives from 50 technology firms.
Marketers Live in an “and” World
When it comes to marketing, creativity and data are inextricably linked.
Two areas under the spotlight in marketing today are creative and data. In the past they were often dealt with in silos: The stereotype was that the creative team worked on projects such as gut-based branding and ad campaigns, while the data analysts focused on tasks such as market mix modeling and segmentation—rarely collaborating on campaigns. Today creative and data are two sides of a coin that double its value.
One marketing leader who’s a proponent of the creative/data partnership is Jamie Gutfreund, global CMO of Wunderman. During her upcoming session at DMA’s &THEN 2016 conference in Los Angeles she’ll be pulling back the curtain on trends to watch in 2017 and beyond. I caught up with Gutfreund jetting between meetings and asked her for a preview.
Highlights From Forrester CXNYC 2016
Day one of Forrester’s CXNYC2016 conference was overflowing with thought-provoking insight. Here, a Storify with a few standout quips from the day.
Why Be an “Experience” Business? Because Customers Expect It
When brands focus on the experience rather than on the product, customers respond—with their dollars and their loyalty.
“We’re no longer in the business of selling products; we’re in the business of selling experiences,” Brad Rencher boldly asserted during the 2016 Adobe Summit opening day keynote session. “Products are just along for the ride…. This is our new reality.”
“Don’t Just Say You Love Me; Show Me”
Consumers’ affinity for a brand is great. Their purchases, better.
Most marketers focus on one of two things: building demand for their brand or activating the brand.
My Acceptance Speech
I was recently honored with a Silver Apple lifetime achievement award in marketing. Here’s what I had to say.
The Direct Marketing Club of New York hosted its annual Silver Apple Awardslast night. The lifetime achievement award honors those who have contributed greatly to the direct marketing industry over the course of their careers. I was fortunate to be among this year’s honorees.
I’m so ecstatic about receiving the award I want to share the moment with all of you. So, here, my acceptance speech:
Use Customer Knowledge to Innovate
Digital disruption is here; customer insight can help companies be disruptors instead of being disrupted.
“Digital disruptions are threatening business norms,” Shar VanBoskirk asserted during her keynote at Sailthru Lift 2015.
But far too many businesses are unprepared for this new digital reality, said VanBoskirk, VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research. According to Forrester, 79% of e-business professionals surveyed think that their CEOs have a solid plan in place to become truly digital businesses. “What keeps us from being digital is that we don’t know how to disrupt ourselves,” she said.
