Despite the difficult economic conditions, a survey shows that there is a rapid shift to digital that has helped brands to offer a better customer experience (CX). The worldwide analysis of 8,000 customers and 800 advertisers explores how COVID-19 has increasingly pushed brands and customers to a digital-first reality.
Acquia, who created the research, discusses patterns across three dimensions: technology, expertise, and customized use of touchpoints to maximize the CX. At the same time, it looks at shifting consumer behavior where, in 2020, 40 percent purchased more products online. Although, digital platforms such as social media, mobile apps, and websites were used by 84 percent.
83 percent of global marketers said that their investment in digital marketing and CX resources has risen over the last 12 months, according to the leader in digital experience. And they reap what they sow, as 82 percent agree that these technology investments have produced positive ROI.
The respondents said that consumers react very well to a personal touch-after personalization, 96 percent of marketing teams saw changes in consumer interaction.
Ready For Changes
In terms of internal effects on teams, amid the rapid change to remote work and office shutdowns, advertisers have pushed on. Until shutdowns started, the majority of marketers (82 percent) said their teams were prepared to deal with remote jobs. Even so, many companies have been taxed on doing something with less. Almost all marketers (93 percent) said that skills differences stopped them from developing better campaigns for digital marketing. One-third of the teams had to deal with a staff loss linked to COVID-19.
Although the CMO is responsible for driving the CX strategy in more than half (52 percent) of companies, many marketing departments have struggled to attract the technical expertise they need to succeed. Interestingly, an emerging category of skills deficit focused on making the digital CX more personal and data-driven was expressed by data scientists (43 percent) and machine learning engineers (40 percent). With 44 percent of global marketing teams investing in AI and machine learning software and 54 percent in customer data platforms, technology can help to fill these skills gaps.
The New Normal
The study found that personalization is highly efficient in enhancing customer loyalty, but there is still a discrepancy between the perception of confidence by marketers and the reality of customers. Three-quarters of marketers said that their clients value the use of personal data by their company more in 2020 than they did in 2019.
However, in exchange for a better experience, just over half ( 52 percent) of customers say they are comfortable giving personal data to brands. Although there is still a lot of space for change, the findings of the 2019 CX survey revealed that 79 percent of customers felt that brands should not be able to use personal marketing data.
