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Customer Experience Starts with Excelling in Omnichannel

Omnichannel marketing is far from being a new concept, but it has seen significant changes across different sectors in recent years. It essentially refers to the various integrated channels (physical and digital) businesses use to reach customers and deliver their brand experience. When most of the world was in lockdown, omnichannel moved into the spotlight as those businesses who had previously invested in strong digital presence where able to maintain communication and contact with customers as they lost the ability to draw them to their physical locations. However even before the pandemic, omnichannel was already a buzzword at the forefront of most marketing and loyalty departments, with the rise of different social media platforms opening up new possibilities to market, attract, and engage customers.

In the world of retail, omnichannel is far from being a gimmick and with amounting challenges impacting supply chain, high street presence, and general accessibility for many customers, nailing omnichannel strategy is increasingly necessary in order to stay relevant, to stay front of mind, and to even just stay in business. For retailers to genuinely achieve omnichannel excellence and place consumers at the centre of every transaction, they must be able to offer customers a unified, consistent, and real-time experience regardless of their location or preferred channel.

In this blog, we’re going to take a look at just how to deliver an excellent omnichannel experience of your brand to customers, but also what features play a key role in creating a strong omnichannel strategy.

How to create the right omnichannel strategy for your brand

It’s not just that people are shopping online more than ever before. It’s the way consumers are browsing and how they reach your brand – the new type of ‘window’ shopping or app hopping, as you go from a look that catches your eye on Instagram to the brand’s profile to putting the item in your basket after downloading their mobile app. An omnichannel presence needs to support the omnichannel customer who is always connected, active store-to-store but also always moving between devices looking for comfort and convenience.

Your end customer is influenced by an inspirational idea or recommendation from a trusted source, leading them to evaluate the purchase from many fronts: from comparing prices with a competitor who pops up in personalised advertising when they are browsing, to evaluating whether they engage with brand ambassadors across all social networks, to assessing the ease with which returns are made, to scanning the news to see where your brand stands on issues that mean something to them.

Omnichannel strategy can’t solely focus on efficiency or speed. It’s vital to consider how your different channels also establish and promote the brand experience, further endearing customers and potential customers alike.

Below, we explain different aspects that your company can follow to establish a solid omnichannel strategy:

Understand how to reach your audience

1. Understand how to reach your audience

You may learn a lot about a person’s demographics, such as age, locations and gender by looking at where they are most likely to shop. For instance, customers in the Gen Z age may be more at ease with social commerce (using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to directly sell products) and even prefer it to traditional eCommerce sites (process used by companies and customers to exchange goods and services using an electronic medium). Therefore, you might want to ask for suggestions or carry out surveys to target a more precise audience. Knowing your customers well can help you start to decide which method is or isn’t appropriate for them.

Establish a consistent brand

2. Establish a consistent brand

You need a coherent brand in order to create a holistic experience. You must be in control of how your brand is perceived. This must be the same across all platforms. If your website is personable and interactive, then your social media presence should be much alike. Additionally, omnichannel marketing ensures that your brand is noticed by your target audience where it matters most. You must know how to reach consumers because they no longer actively seek out brands and anticipate you to come to them.

Provide readily available customer support

3. Provide readily available customer support

People respond better to other people. This is why it is important to establish your brand as relatable and approachable who is aware of the demands and preferences of its target market. Understanding the effectiveness of your omnichannel efforts depends on speaking with the customers. Customers evaluate brands 104% better when they combine AI and operators in their customer service. Offering human connection will ensure that you are providing your consumers with a tailored experience.

Don’t try and do it all

4. Don’t try and do it all

Omnichannel doesn’t mean you have to be on all channels if it’s not the right approach for your brand and your people. Don’t fall into the trap of making an app or create a TikTok profile just because everyone else has one – if you have a high performing, mobile responsive website, sustain and nurture that if consumers respond well to it. Build good paths to where your customers are, but don’t focus on building too many of them. A mediocre or bad channel experience can do a lot of damage to a brand.

Utilise the right data

5. Utilise the right data

Making data-driven improvements to your omnichannel approach is vital. By gathering and analysing data, personalisation and integration efforts can be improved. You will eventually be able to identify trends among market segments. If you observe your data, you will find that your customers will tell you exactly how best to assist them. A Salesforce survey found that 57% of all consumers voluntarily give their personal information to business in exchange for personalised offers and incentives.

 

Therefore, it follows that creating a strong omnichannel experience is important if you want people to recognise and value your brand. However, it is not necessary to be present on absolutely every platform, as doing so may have the reverse effect and hinder your business. Every brand will have unique preferences and capabilities. Regardless of the customer’s preferred location or channel, omnichannel excellence places the consumer at the centre of every transaction and enables businesses to provide seamless, consistent and real time experiences.

 

Inspired? Next read: Creative Solutions for Captivating Customers

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Latest Trends in Gamification

Gamification is the technique of integrating game characteristics and mechanics into a digital environment, making use of technology to improve the user experience, foster loyalty and increase engagement. In other words, it is the application of game aspects in a non-game context.

Gamification is gaining popularity at an increasing rate. Today, it is a widely used tool in many fields, such as sales, education, health and wellness, design, employment, business and commerce. For example, gamification is used by stores and e-commerce companies to encourage good consumer behaviour, and used in the corporate environment to increase productivity, efficiency and personal skills.

In this blog you will be able to explore and learn about the diffrent trends in gamification.

Six examples of gamification in various sectors

The following industries have seen significant increases in revenue and customer retention as a result of incorporating gaming aspects into their applications and platforms.

Health and wellbeing: Apps reward you and prompt you to use them more to drive engagement and make daily tasks more enjoyable, turning actions into healthy, daily habits.

Education: Game concepts such as teamwork, objectives, points, and badges are often used to create and engaging atmosphere that encourages deeper learning while still making a subject interesting.

Foodservice: Using gamification to design engaging customer retention programmes and to animate dining experiences. Actions such as ordering through the phone and order tracking functions have created significant changes in this sector.

Transportation: A common feature of many ridesharing and cab apps is a real-time tracker where users can see exactly where their driver is and when they will arrive. As well as numerous loyalty programmes that encourage users to use them more frequently and receive rewards.

Retail: To engage its users, build brand awareness and promote sales, brands and stores use a variety of gamified elements to increase customer engagement such as VR/AR, mini games, pop-up interactive installs in-store, referral rewards and interactive contests.

Banking: Gamification is used to enhance the customer experience. From apps with personalised saving goals to competitions with rewards, gamification is used in banking to  produce personal finance management applications that inform their users and help them better understand and manage their finances.

Motivait’s response

At Motivait, our solutions create more engaged and interested customers, no matter the sector. We employ games in a practical way, from badges, goals to quick feedback, that activates customer motivation and builds brand affinity. Gamification is a practical approach to business growth, regardless of whether you run a restaurant, fitness app, retail store or anything in between. If you want to better understand how we work, take a look at our video on how we can help you innovate an improve the way people feel and experience your brand.

(Sources: FinancesOnline, Trio, Motivait)

 

Employee onboarding can be a time-consuming task. However, onboarding is a crucial factor for a company’s new employees. The importance of first impressions cannot be overestimated. You only get a small window of opportunity to describe the type of experience potential employees can expect when working for your organization. This is where gamification comes in. Studies have revealed that delivering information through a gamified form results in greater assimilation and retention. The two main objectives of gamification as an onboarding method are to make training enjoyable and to accelerate the pace of learning.

Six advantages of using gamification in Onboarding.

  1. Positively represents the company – Employees say gamification makes them feel: 89% more productive and 88% happier at work. (Source: Talent LMS)
  2. Offers the ability to receive instant feedback – Gamified Onboarding programmes typically include: 59% points systems, 51%leaderboards, 47% levels and 71% badges. (Source: Talent LMS)
  3. Improve retention – 12% of new hires voluntarily leave their company during the onboarding process (Source: Brandon Hall Group). Finding ways to make work more fun can increase skills retention by 40% (Source: Forbes)
  4. Increases employee engagement – 87% of employees say that gamification provides a sense of belonging and social connection in the workplace. (Source: Talent LMS)
  5. Aligns onboarding with important business objectives – Tools employees would like to see gamified: 33% training software, 30% communication software, 15% customer relations/HR software, 10% documentation software, 12% collaboration and PM software (Source: Talent LMS)
  6. Decreases employee attrition – The cost of replacing an employee range from 90-200% of their original salary (Source: Talent LMS)

Motivait’s response

At Motivait, we use technology to create an engaging, interactive and game-based process to meet your onboarding objectives and help new employees become competent in their future responsibilities. It could be the perfect opportunity to change things up and incorporate some gamification into your onboarding to make new hires happy and productive workers. If you want to better understand what we do, take a look at our work with Zebra Technologies, where we developed a global onboarding process with an immersive experience.

(Sources: Motivait, FinanceOnline, Staffbase, Talent LMS, Brandon Hall Group, Forbes)

 

Gamification offers users highly engaging and immersive experiences. To further enhance its impact, companies can start by implementing customised gamification strategies to improve both employee and customer engagement.

74% of consumers are frustrated when they receive content that has nothing to do with their tastes and interests. 94% of companies say personalisation is critical to their success.

We all know that “one size does not fit all”. For example, in the learning environment, today’s learners want to invest time in training created or selected specifically for them in order to get the most out of their time.

The following points serve as an example of how tailored-made gamification can benefit the increase of student engagement:

Personalised learning route: Suggest the most suitable path for the user or provide the ability to customise the user’s own route.

Individual performance indicator: Personalised gamification can go beyond scores/badges and leaderboards by providing users with information on their performance in relation to learning objectives.

Real-time personalised feedback and suggestions: Set up suggestions to cover any tips on how to improve their skills.

Calls to action: Can be used effectively to motivate change through specific calls to action to help users meet their training objectives.

Continuous learning: Gives the user the opportunity to maintain the learning connection even after the main training has ended.

While gamification in itself is a strategy that fosters a huge degree of engagement, methods such as personalised gamification can serve to further increase participation, motivation and performance.

Motivait’s response

At Motivait we stand out for providing our clients with the best personalised solutions tailored to their needs. One of our success stories is ‘Tir Na Nóg’, the mythical island that transformed the concept of mathematics for many children in a public school in Madrid. The experience was a clear example of the effectiveness of engagement solutions and the use of gamification in training and learning. If you want to understand better how we did it, take a look at our Case Study.

(Sources: Motivait, GrowthEngineering, eLearningIndustry)

 

More than half of the population now uses social networks. The same neurotransmitters that make games so addictive are released when people use social media. Dopamine, for example, is released whenever we learn something new. Similarly, when we engage in rewarding social interactions, we experience a rush of oxytocin.

Many companies today are gamifying their social media campaigns to increase trust and one of the key KPIs such as brand engagement. Large companies have included gamification components in their social media strategy, such as M&M’s, LinkedIn and Waze in order to promote user interaction with their posts. Gamification has the potential to be a game-changing marketing tactic for companies looking to increase engagement, attract repeat customers and gain crowdsourcing capabilities.

Gamification can be as basic or as complicated as one chooses. Here are some possible examples:

  • Live video games on a website
  • Surveys
  • Offer prizes to people who review, like, comment or contribute content
  • Posts contests on social media
  • Create a ‘scavenger hunt’ type game on social media

The impact of gamification on social media

  • Website with gamification experience a 29% increase in page shares.
  • Gamification increases comments by 13%
  • Gamification increases social sharing by 22%
  • Gamification amplifies content discovery, increasing engagement in the activity feed by 68%

(Source: GrowthEngineering)

It is expected that more companies will soon follow suit. Gamification has the advantage of introducing some fun into the social media approach, which is a benefit. Your audience’s engagement is likely to increase dramatically as a result of their entertainment. After all, research has shown that social media can increases engagement metrics by 100-150%. In addition to growing your community of followers, you may also be able to capture long-awaited leads.

Motivait’s response

We recognise gamification as a versatile tool that can be used for both business and educational as well as marketing purposes. Our work with gamification can help companies build a strong online presence and improve audience engagement. By incorporating the features of prizes, immersive storytelling and competitions, these can be used as a powerful tool to amplify any social media campaign. If you would like to find out more about how we can help you promote your brand while creating a fun experience for your customers, don’t hesitate to contact us!

(Sources: GrowthEngineering, Meltwater, Spectrio, Motivait )

 

 

To achieve their acquisition and retention goals, today’s businesses are gamifying their marketing initiatives. Gamification is used to engage people at every stage of the customer journey.

Gamified content improves the sales funnel (Awareness, Consideration, Preference, Purchase, Loyalty, Promotion). It is an engaging process, so people tend to remember it. This, in turn, creates better brand awareness.

Here are some benefits of using gamification in marketing and sales activities:

  • It drives customer engagement. Users are less likely to pass over content.
  • When users are encouraged to complete tasks for rewards, conversion rates soar. The reward can be a badge, a trophy, points or any other specific feature.
  • As visitors become more engaged with your content, brand awareness and loyalty increases.
  • Finally, gamification is fun!

According to the Demand Gen report, 93% of marketers love gamification and plan to use it in their future activities. Here are some key takeaways from the report on what marketers are saying:

  • According to 81%, interactive content is more attention-grabbing than static material.
  • 88% say that interactive content is effective in differentiating their brand from competitors.
  • 79% agree that interactive content can have reusable value, which translates into repeat visits and multiple views.
  • Around 70% believe that interactive content successfully engages users.

Gamified marketing also gives users the impression that they are in control. They are free to decide how to interact with the content. This provides a new level of fun and excitement that is rarely present in other situations.

Motivait’s response

At Motivait we make sure we live up to our client’s expectations. Most of our clients are looking for rewarding and innovative experiences. When it comes to marketing campaigns, we can provide such experiences with gamified solutions that make your content and optins fun and engaging. Today, we are subject to so many influences that it is difficult to focus on a single message. However, people always try to make time for entertainment because it is a time when they can switch of and enjoy themselves. Therefore, we can conclude that gamification is an accessible and very beneficial method of self-promotion if we combine this feeling of joy with the pleasure of receiving rewards. If you want to know more about our engagement and loyalty solutions click on our video!

(Sources: GrowthEngineering, OptinMonster, DemandGen, Motivait)

 

 

Human-Centered Design is a problem-solving technique that places real people at the centre of the development process, enabling the creation of products and services that appeal and adapt to the need of their audience. The goal is to take into account the desires, pain points and preferences of users at every stage of the process. In turn, you will create more intuitive and accessible products that are likely to generate higher profits because your customers/employees have already examined the solution and feel more interested in using it.

Studies show the growing importance of human-centred design in meeting the needs of today’s workforce. Furthermore, empathy from managers is what drives 92% of employees to stay in their jobs. Therefore, employee input now influences the design of gamification methods. Companies are now starting to coordinate their organisational goals with the values of their employees.

Gamification and human-centered design are based on the same principles of focusing on the user, finding and approach that maximises desirability with feasibility, and adopting an experimental approach to find the best solution.

There are the same three phases, which are:

  1. Intention discovery, empathising with users and defining the future state
  2. The iteration and creation of ideas and prototypes
  3. The delivery and launch of something in the real world

Motivait’s response

For us, gamification is a crucial aspect when creating our solutions. Human-centered design encourages us to focus on behaviour. With today’s social, environmental and business challenges, changing user behaviour is the cornerstone of tackling modern problems. Technology also allows us to create more engaging user experiences, through interactive components, real-time data and information, and social connectivity. Our inherent purpose of applying gamification is to provide an engaging experience to incentivise behaviour and increase user engagement in solving real problems. If you want to better understand how we deliver user-centric digital solutions visit our website for more information, and don’t hesitate to contact us!

(Sources: HBS Online, BCG, TTISI, Medium, Motivait)

 

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Tendam selected as finalists in the 2022 International Loyalty Awards

Motivait, European customer engagement and loyalty specialists, are delighted that Tendam Group, have been shortlisted for the ‘Best Long-Term Loyalty Programme’ award at The International Loyalty Awards 2022. The nomination is in recognition of their enhanced customer relationships and business results enabled through their highly successful omnichannel loyalty programme.  

The International Loyalty Awards celebrate excellence, innovation and best practices across the globe. The International Loyalty Awards have returned in 2022 with a record number of award nominations drawn from across multiple continents and a broad range of sectors. The Awards recognise all types of loyalty programmes among different categories; from small-scale to international; from financial services to retail; and everything in between.  

Tendam is a leading global fashion retailer, established 140 years ago, that brings together the Cortefiel, Springfield, Women’secret, Pedro del Hierro, Fifty, Hoss Intropia, Slowlove, High Spirits and Dash & Stars brands with over 1,800 points of sale across more than 90 countries. Veterans of the loyalty sector, they launched their first programme in the 1980’s and ever since have continuously extended their membership proposition, brand and geographic reach. 

The ‘Best Long-Term Loyalty’ category recognises businesses who have been able to demonstrate the value of outstanding, established and long-running programmes which have resulted in increased customer loyalty to the brand and value for the customer.  

In 2017 Tendam commenced their strategic partnership with Motivait, based on increasing value, agility and innovation at every customer touchpoint to also underpin enhanced customer lifetime value, membership growth and profitability. Motivait’s flexible, secure and reliable loyalty solution powers their successful omnichannel strategy based on an advanced digital proposition, supported by efficient and profitable stores with highly trained staff.  

Tendam and Motivait have worked together over this period to develop and deliver a Customer Engagement strategy that integrates real-time mobile, e-commerce and in-store customer interactions across their brands and markets. Their loyalty programmes have achieved sustained value for members whilst underpinning tangible business results for the company with a 50% growth in loyalty membership. 

Ensuring both integrity and integration of data across channels and brands, personalisation and relevance, together with an uncompromising user focus, has enabled Tendam to build closer and more valuable customer interactions that deliver optimised promotions for each customer in real-time. This has resulted in 30 million loyalty members across six brands and 11 countries. 75% of global transactions are now linked to specific customers. 

Antony Jones, Motivait’s Chief Executive commented:

“It is a privilege to work in close partnership supporting an organisation such as Tendam that places the customer at the heart of their strategy. Their passion for excellence, determination to constantly strive to deliver more value and their continuous innovation in delivering compelling integrated experiences demonstrate their proven credentials in the field of loyalty.”

Find out more at: www.internationalloyaltyawards.com   

 

Read the Tendam & Motivait solution case study

 

Find Tendam

Website | Twitter | LinkedIn

Find Motivait

Website | Twitter | LinkedIn

 

 

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Marketing and Human Resources, connected by engagement

Although at first glance they may appear to be very different departments, the reality is that marketing and HR share many similarities. Broadly speaking, both seek to attract, retain and satisfy the needs of their ‘customers’, whether they are consumers or employees; both want to deliver rewarding experiences and expect a return on their relationship; both need to know their audiences and their expectations, fears or desires; and in both, communication, recognition, motivation and reward for loyalty are essential to retain them.

If we analyse the changes experienced in society in recent years, the power is no longer with organisations but with the individual. The traditional approach of imposing and controlling is giving way to greater collaboration and consensus. Recommendations have become the norm when it comes to influencing purchasing, and technology has turned around the way we relate to our environment, where immediacy is a requirement, and we need to have access to information at the click of a button.

Faced with this qualitative leap in social behaviour, companies have been adapting and implementing strategies that provide the greatest satisfaction to their customers following a new approach. The key now is to design unique experiences that generate engagement beyond what is offered by the usual loyalty programmes. This means appealing to emotions, personalising each activity, entertaining, surprising and managing a stable, lasting and deep relationship. Can the same recipe be applied to those ‘customers’ of HR – the employees? And can the technology used by marketing be a good solution to solve the important challenges in HR?

Adapting to changes in concept

Customer acquisition and retention often receive a significant share of the marketing budget. They are in many ways similar to recruitment, selection, onboarding and career development, but different in terms of the budget allocated for these purposes. But who chooses who nowadays? Does the organisation select the candidate or does the candidate select the company they wish to work for? HR managers know that if they want to attract the best talent, they have to “sell” the company and the vacant position well and convince them that they are the best choice. Just as a marketing expert who wants to compete and grow in the market would do with their products.

However, both consumers and employees now have a different set of values, and want to live unique experiences, to feel listened to and understood, to be the protagonists and receive personalised treatment. They want to be able to interact with brands or companies that reflect their ethical or sustainable values. They want to be informed and be involved in events and exchange ideas. They are competitive yet want to share. These are all aspects that enhance their sense of belonging. Each of these factors are becoming more important to customers, but how do you order all these concepts to be able to manage new engagement strategies?

Innovation to improve performance and stimulate participation

Technology is a catalyst for development, as it provides a space to bring together all the needs, problems, corresponding solutions and a way to build an ideal environment to achieve objectives. By following the employee journey from start to finish, we can detect where our potential gaps are and how to turn these into successful outcomes. When dealing with the recruitment and selection phase, technology can help us learn about and qualify key elements of applicant profiles, while at the same time providing them with information about the company’s values, ethos and philosophy to check the alignment between the two. It helps us to be more effective and convey an enviable brand image. As the journey continues, it is time to impress our applicants, to create an unforgettable impression that will make them lifelong ambassadors for the company. It is time to create an onboarding experience in which we can make such a necessary and essential process cost-effective, entertaining and efficient, to unclutter those countless procedures, policies and other documents that everyone needs to be familiar with, or to make job-specific training entertaining and motivating.

 

Professional development, training plans and job recognition complete the employee’s journey, which technology organises and promotes through gamified engagement solutions. Users greatly appreciate these tools because they allow them to achieve goals in a fun way, interact with other colleagues, progress, compete, learn faster, embed certain behaviours and, above all, motivate and generate a bond with the company that is difficult to break. At the current time, HR is expected to register the highest growth rate in the gamification market, with a 27.8% increase according to data provided by Prescient & Strategic Intelligence. In addition, 72% of employees say that gamification inspires them to work harder. Additionally, according to Talent LMS, 89% of employees think they would be more productive if work was more gamelike and 88% of the survey respondents affirmed that gamification makes them happier in their company. For 78% of respondents, organisations would be more desirable if their recruitment process was gamified and gamification elements at work make 87% of employees feel more socially connected.

Investing in employees to win customer’s hearts and minds

Human Resources must therefore innovate and implement actions that boost interest and motivation in order to nurture a sense of commitment in employees. We must not forget that investing in HR is investing in our customers and their satisfaction. Engaged employees transmit confidence and enthusiasm, they work harder for the benefit of the company and generate customer loyalty.

For marketers and HR professionals alike, one of their main purposes are to activate the mechanisms necessary to create engagement. The Employee and Performance Gallup 2020 report states that companies with high levels of engagement have up to 81% lower absenteeism, 18% higher productivity and 23% higher profitability. However, only 15% of people felt actively engaged in their work. Disengaged employees are more likely to waste time and be absent more and therefore be less productive and contribute to a worse environment. It is worth noting the conclusion of the study ‘The Top 5 Traits of a Successful Work Culture’. Employee engagement in the connected workplace’, prepared by IDC and Crayon which confirms that employee engagement has become a fundamental factor in the recovery and resilience of organisations and a clear indicator of their health. In this sense, it affirms that 70% of companies that invest in engagement and have highly engaged employees will recover pre-COVID-19 growth levels by the end of 2022, further reinforcing the notion that investing in employee engagement means an investment in the company’s future.

Additionally, Gallup also reports that customers who are fully engaged with a brand account for 23% of profitability, revenue and loyalty, compared to the average customer. ThinkJar states that 86% of consumers would pay more for a better user experience. In this regard, a study by the CMO Council and RedPoint reveals that personalised, omni-channel interaction with customers offers companies an average customer retention rate of 89%, which drops to 33% for companies that do not have this option. In addition, 40% of consumers recognise that they buy more from brands that provide a more personal customer experience and interaction and what is more, the duration of their engagement with these brands is 30% longer. Finally, 79% do not consider buying from companies that do not actively demonstrate that they understand and care for their customers.

This data clearly demonstrates a trend that is similar in both HR and marketing department, two areas of an organisation in which marketing activity is fundamental in the face of changes in society and people’s behaviour. Both areas are destined to understand each other through better engagement.

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2021: What did we look for last year?

In 2020, we said that we believed 2021 would be a year for reassessing and improving approaches. The very human challenges and experiences of 2020, we felt, would inevitably cause businesses and organisations to empathetically reconsider and refocus on the people at the heart of their operations. Looking back on the last 12 months there have certainly been significant changes – many of them focused on improving connection and proximity between people, their brands, their communities, and their needs.  

Employee Engagement has seen more debate and discussion than ever before (9-5, WFH, The Great Resignation), driven by necessity, by competition, and by a real shift in the previously established status-quo. Technologies that seemed inaccessible or expensive became common practice, with QR codes and apps becoming part of day-to-day life from ordering from a menu to storing medical information. 2021 provoked developments which at their core worked to enable, encourage, and connect people. 

As we say goodbye to 2021 and hello to 2022, we round up the themes and pieces that most appealed to you this year.  

Empowering the People  

2021 saw people revaluating what they wanted their life to look like and how their work fitted into the picture. After proving working from home was more than just a possibility, businesses have wrestled with how to offer flexibility to employees revaluating what they want their working life to look like, without compromising on other aspects of company culture. Companies who have embraced more flexibility for workers have then in turn been faced with challenges around sustaining a sense of belonging, a sense of community, as well as a sense of enthusiasm across remote teams whose only interface with their colleagues and the company is their laptop screen.  

While working from home may not be going anywhere soon, looking to the immediate future there will be a very real need to implement the infrastructure and solutions to support a seamless working experience across all circumstances.  

Customer Centric  

Looking specifically at Customer Engagement, the last 18 months have probably seen more need for change, reinvention, and agile responses than in the last 10 years. Supply chain shortages, haulage delays, new legislation on importing and deporting – it’s been a tough year to meet ever increasing demand and high customer expectations. It would be wrong to write off today’s consumers as easily influenced or swayed, when the reality is that most are actually looking to be impressed by services, values and experiences that stand out from the crowd. In their research into customer journeys, PwC found that people will pay up to 16% more for a great customer experience (CX), while Gartner found that 64% of customers value CX over price.  

The growing market evidence suggests that instead of being impatient for deliveries, consumers may actually be frustrated with poor communication and service; instead of fickle they may in fact be more conscious of where they’re spending than ever before. If 2021 was the year for trying to keep up with an ever-changing landscape, will 2022 be the year to utilise learnings to actually stop, listen and understand the customer?  

Sustainable Change for the Greater Good 

Since early 2020, we have all had time to think and reflect on the way we live our lives. People have taken up habits and hobbies with more interest in sustainability, nature and resourcefulness – DIY around the house, upcycling furniture or clothing, sewing masks, growing herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Outside of the home, local communities and governments have become more aware of the conscious efforts required to reengage, reassure and encourage participation in order to sustain local businesses and commerce. On a global scale, the recent COP26 conventions acted as a reminder for many that collective action is desperately needed to address the very present challenges for society – to turn the tides or slow down the devastating effects of climate change, and to support communities rebuild or reinforce their right to belong and thrive.       

Have the unignorable events of 2020 and 2021 provoked new practices that we will take with us into 2022? Could we be at a turning point for attitudes and values across society? 

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Customer Engagement: Let’s Get Personal

If you have managed to escape any form of “Get Back” message in recent months, you should perhaps consider yourself one of the fortunate few. As a follow-on “the new normal” catchphrase, for many the “Get Back” messaging hints at a world hoping to reassure, encourage, and incentivise: Get back to the office, get back to the high street, get back into shops, get back to restaurants, get back to going on holiday, get back to the cinema – you get the idea.

For a lot of people, the idea of a return to their pre-covid routines, habits and lifestyles is incredibly welcome. For others, going back still feels daunting or maybe even unnecessary. Most seem to be approaching things with a mixture of caution and relish, apprehension and relief. However, if ongoing debate and research tell us anything, it’s that, more than ever before, each decision we make is primarily based on personal preferences and needs. This newfound focus, requires a shift in thinking about how brands, organisations and communities engage with their audiences, working towards achieving more tailored and personalised responses.

Looking specifically at Customer Engagement, the last 18 months have probably seen more need for change, reinvention, and agile responses than in the last 10 years. The volatile political and economic landscapes are often having sudden and dramatic effects on prices across sectors, most notably within retail, and many brands are yet again having to rethink how they offer value to their customers, and how to entice and encourage higher levels of activity at a time when slashing prices is not financially viable, nor is expecting cautious customers to spend like they would in more stable circumstances. It is therefore critical to review Customer Engagement strategies and truly consider what the audience’s needs and behaviours are.

Speaking the Customer’s Language

Judging by recent research into attitudes and sentiments, consumers certainly appear to be open to new offerings and experiences. While their priorities and preferences may have changed, what hasn’t waned is the positive effect of customer centric experiences.

Whether tailoring offers, promotions and communications, or improving accessibility and innovation in how people are able to reach your brand and services, the impact on the end customer is undeniably powerful. For example, in their research into customer journeys, PwC found that people will pay up to 16% more for a great customer experience (CX), while Gartner found that 64% of customers value CX over price.

If people are still uncertain or ambiguous in their habits, and if we’re likely to continue to see differing approaches to getting back to shopping in physical stores (which had arguably already been in decline even before Covid) then we need to consider how to motivate the customer. It would be like providing and engaging customer experience from wherever people want to access the brand from, and treat them as individuals with particular needs and preferences.

Retaining Meaningful Connections

More targeted, personalised approaches don’t have to entirely overtake all strategies, but they should be a crucial part of attracting, retaining and nurturing loyal customers. After time spent in lockdowns, only interacting with the outside world through our devices, we are all collectively more eager to be seen and recognised as individuals, rather than just another number or data point on a brand’s radar.

According to Engage Hub, 80% of customers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers personalised experiences. Personalisation means more than just capturing the customer’s name and age. A customer centric approach revolves around utilising data and information provided to enhance every interaction throughout the customer journey – engaging, synchronised, attractive environments, and high performing customer-focused operations that facilitate a closeness to the brand, ultimately, making the customer feel as if the brand, services, or products as a whole are made for them.

 

What should be part of a personalised experience for the customer?

  • Omnichannel: Improving omnichannel offering that goes beyond having a presence on multiple channels, make it seamless for customers to hop between their devices and interact with your brand, whether they’re dealing with customer care, picking up an order, or saving items for later
  • Communications: Tailoring communications (emails, push notifications) to suit previous shopping behaviour and preferences
  • Trust: Enabling customers to be in control of their own data preferences: providing clear, intuitive portals for managing consent and communication
  • Relevance: Personalised offers and promotions – discounts on birthdays are a solid starting point, but promotions that are relevant to their usual spending habits rather than just inviting them to a blanket sale is even better.
  • Exclusivity: Everyone wants to feel special, especially when handing over visibility to personal or sensitive data. Their loyalty will be eroded if they feel they’re not treated differently from someone who just submits an email address and gets the same 10% off. Provide tiers, but also recognise different levels of participation to nurture and sustain meaningful connections with customers of all types.

Digital Empowerment

BCG claims growth rates increase by 6% to 10% in companies that master personalisation, not to mention the beneficial ripple effect across marketing efficiency, boosted digital sales, and stronger relationships developed with customers. The key to being able to execute personalised strategies is of course having the right technological capabilities in place. To reach end users is one hurdle, but you also need digital solutions that can facilitate, anticipate, and support closer interactions across all touchpoints between consumer and brand, providing a holistic vision of customer and behaviour.

Through technology, engagement initiatives can be almost automatically scaled up and made more accessible and inclusive. There is, however, still a need to tailor and craft experiences so that they offer users the best of both the digital and physical worlds. As we see consumers becoming more considerate of their personal circumstances and needs, there is a great opportunity to develop mindful experiences for them as well. Emails that are reactive but not invasive. Suggestions and recommendations that feel handpicked and perceptive, rather than random or machine generated. So, while digital engagement may be underpinned by technology, it does not need to veer away from the human touch, as mastering personalisation of course ultimately comes down to keeping things exactly that – personal.

 

Interested in innovative Customer Engagement & Loyalty?

Read how we help global fashion retailer Tendam deliver their integrated omnichannel strategy based on an advanced digital proposition, with over 24 million loyalty members

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Customer Engagement & Loyalty Solutions

Helping You Innovate and Engage

In a world full of distractions, options, influences and competition, how can you make your offering stand out to customers? How can you earn their trust? How can you make a positive impact on their journey from browsing to purchase and beyond?

We can help innovate and enhance how people experience your brand to build sustainable, meaningful connections. Learn more about our Customer Engagement & Loyalty solutions that work to hook individuals, increasing participation and performance.

 

 

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Playing to Win: Game-like Experiences & Loyalty

 

Brands are constantly fighting for consumer attention, relevance and profitability against a backdrop of intense disruption and competition. It would be superficial to claim consumer’s today are easily influenced or swayed, when the reality is that most are looking to be impressed by seamless accessibility and browsing, won over by considered brand values and communications, and excited by excellent customer service and stand-out experiences. Capturing their attention is a crucial part of the journey, but strong Customer Engagement strategies should also be sustaining engagement, retention, and advocacy to truly reinforce profitability and performance.

Successful loyalty programs develop Customer Engagement beyond transactional relationships which are incentive focused but weak on lasting engagement. This is often due to the overall offering lacking personalisation, relevance, or user centricity. Customer Engagement strategies that do well in hooking and retaining their audiences provide a richer, multi-faceted offering that directly appeals to user needs and drives.

To deliver this, you of course need a strong technological foundation to support seamless, omnichannel accessibility. You need an attractive product or service offering, well showcased through intuitive and creative design work. You need an insightful understanding of the end user or customer, in order to provide communications and touchpoints that build trust. But how can you enhance the experience, in a way that still authentically represents your brand, to help the customer fall just that bit more in love?

63% of loyalty members say that if they enjoy an experience, they will use it more. Great Customer Service: 75% of loyalty members say they would stop using a program if they experience poor service. Brand Values: 70% of consumers feel it is important that brands uphold values that they have an emotional attachment to.

A strategy that can make a big difference to sustainable user enjoyment and effectively transmit information is Gamification: the application of game design, game elements and play in non-game contexts – such as brand apps or member schemes.

Why Add Gamification?

At first glance, Gamification could be easily sorted into the camp of shallow gimmicks. Is the idea not to move beyond just incentivising? However, as with AI or VR or any innovative functionality you’re looking to design into a process or experience, the result is highly dependent on the ‘why’, the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. So let’s break it down.

Fun and enjoyment seem such obvious elements to include in your offering to customers, and yet so often aren’t designed into experiences. If you want customers to love your brand, if you want to be the first place they look, if you want to bolster recurring purchases, you need to seriously think about how to find ways to make them enjoy the relationship more.

Games, by nature, are fun. Everyone will have types they prefer more than others, and some that they really dislike, because games create emotional and behavioural responses within us. Who hasn’t seen their competitive side suddenly awakened by a game? Or maybe you love building or exploring new worlds? Gamification is often misconstrued as ‘just adding a game’ to something. The theory is actually about applying game elements or game-like design into non-traditional settings in order to make them more enjoyable, or to create more of an emotional reaction from participants. We have all seen how games can create buzz, but gamification can also make a program more attractive or even teach critical messages in a fun and engaging way (learn through play).

Techvalidate showed that 30% of companies using gamification improved registration conversion rates by upward of 50%. Tapping into people’s need for enjoyment, or even curiosity to see what the fuss is all about, is a really easy starting place for applying gamification to a loyalty or membership scheme. For example, attractive but short games can be hosted seasonally to encourage exploration of new collections or messages, as fun, exclusive, personalised experiences that exemplify the brand values and bring the customer just that bit closer.

Keep Them Coming Back For More

Of course, many loyalty programmes already use a very simplistic gamification strategy to encourage interactions: points and rewards. Rewards schedules are essential to any loyalty scheme but consumers today expect more from their customer experience than “spend more to get more” point systems. Plus, through these purely transactional approaches, you’re not actually rewarding loyalty, you’re rewarding spending. Some customers will desperately want to be part of a brand’s circle because they’re inspired by the brand values or imagery but may not always have the cash to splash frequently enough to be rewarded. Loyalty schemes can immediately become more personal by remembering and recognising special occasions, such as a customer’s birthday or membership anniversary. Game design can then also help members understand what behaviours can be rewarded or give them the chance to boost points or bring themselves closer to new membership levels or treats.

Random rewards, like Easter Eggs, can also add elements of surprise and delight and give customers a reason to log into their account to see if they’re in luck that day. Random promotions, offers and communications that speak to them can help energise the connection between customer and brand.

Gamification can also be applied to boost social connection within a programme, allowing and encouraging and rewarding people for inviting friends to join. Programmes that allow you to create teams or groups can have two benefits – while it obviously helps to bring new members into the scheme, more importantly for the customer it creates a bond and shared experience with friends. Just like games are always more fun when playing with a group of friends, either playing against each other or competing together for a prize helps foster natural and enjoyable ways to improve interactivity within a loyalty scheme.

Creating Emotional Reactions to Drive Behaviour Change – RAMP

Appealing to Your Audience

More ways to boost the social element within a program, that have become increasingly popular – providing seamless connections and pathways to social media platforms. Encouraging customers to share their shopping experiences with their networks and actually rewarding and recognizing their Instagram posts, Tweets or Facebook reviews/recommendations, is a fast way to nurturing brand advocates or at least a much more meaningful connection between customer and brand. Furthermore, people are always more inclined to purchase when they can relate to the ambassadors they see on the brand website, apps, and of course social media. In the age of the influencer, incentivizing and enabling people to share their own positive experiences will help build communities and foster a sense of belonging and exclusivity for members whose feedback or interactions get featured.

Game elements that can enhance the sensation can be quite simple but effective, such as tiered reward systems where members unlock different experiences, offers or access, or even a more personalised approach where members can choose the membership or profile that suits their style, needs or requirements. You can even take this further by allowing customers to fully personalise their reward system, offering not only rewards related to the brand but more experiential rewards – leisure activities and the like. Again, this makes them feel they have more control of their preferences and options within the loyalty scheme, making it more tailored to them as individuals.

Ultimately, it is important to design with the user in mind. No one is interested in playing a game where they’re not able to succeed or participate fully, or that feels it is weighted against them. If you just apply a game with no meaning or relevance, you’ll risk abandonment, just like designing an app without considering how people need to use it. Considering what will drive them to brand loyalty and advocacy, or how to improve the journey to purchase, but also making sure they feel they’re in control of their membership rather than at the mercy of an elusive brand, or just another number on a platform.

 

 

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M-Commerce: Tapping into Stronger Customer Engagement

The opportunity to buy almost anything from anywhere without needing access to a desktop device has been a transformational development to the world of online commerce. So much so that mobile currently represents a 72.9% share of total e-commerce spend, up from 58.9% in 2017.

Whether hospitality, retail, or mobile banking: M-Commerce apps are levelling up and developing more paths to take customers from inspiration to sale as efficiently as possible. Through functional improvements, deep linking, and influencer marketing, social media has started shaping a new approach to ‘window’ shopping, and m-commerce strategies are recognising the need to intertwine and integrate across platforms we use all day every day, especially those most frequently accessed via mobile devices. Through the click of one interactive “buy button” on sites such as Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, we can make in-app third party purchases without even having to leave the platform.

The benefits to investing in and curating m-commerce are evident.  Through direct, push-notification style communications companies can reap the rewards and leverage more accurate location tracking utilising GPS and cellular connections through mobiles rather than solely depending on computer IP addresses to provide more targeted communications and experiences. Consumers benefit from the added convenience and immediacy – but is it enough to keep them interested?

Efficiency is vital for supporting the journey to sale. It is like laying down the road that you’ll take people on or providing the vehicle. What is also important, however, is the direction, guidance, drive and inspiration that will take them towards the end goal. Customers today have endless options and distractions available to them, but they also have much more developed values and expectations than what many brands perceive. Can’t find what you’re looking for? App glitching? Awkward navigation? Visuals don’t speak to you? There are hundreds of alternatives that could give you the successful experience you’re looking for. Because of its very position in the palm of the consumers hand m-commerce channels can play a valuable role beyond being another window to shop from by showcasing how brands understand and enable the individual. Achieving this requires much more nuanced design and a genuine understanding of customer needs, and without it, well, you’ve just got an app.

So how can you make sure your m-commerce strategy transcends beyond being just the app version of your brand website or store?

Omnichannel

It’s easy to come to the conclusion that the solution to all problems is to provide an app, but sometimes a bad app is worse than no app at all. M-commerce is a core interface for the modern consumer, but it should not stand alone from other touchpoints with a brand or company. A detached strategy will only frustrate users as they try to move between environments. If a user falls in love with your app but is hugely disappointed when they can’t make returns via the website and the store doesn’t recognise their membership account, you’ve created an even higher chance of turn off or abandonment.

Omnichannel isn’t about just having different channels. It’s about creating a seamless, connected shopping experience across those multiple channels, supporting and sustaining the process whenever, wherever, and however the consumer wants to continue. Consumers want a balance of in-person experiences and the convenience of online, and an omnichannel strategy ensures brand consistency, broadens a customer’s choice and boosts their experience. Through a unified approach, you can improve and multiply the ways customers can successfully interact with your brand. It can ultimately emotionally impact the customer in ways we’ve all experienced at one point in time. Imagine someone spots something they like when browsing on their laptop during a lunch break and save it to their basket or favourites before being interrupted, returning to the site via their app on the train home. They’re relieved to see it’s still saved where they left off earlier and make the purchase choosing free pick up in store option. Finally, when they pick up their order the next day they see a 2 for 1 offer on something they’re low on, and while of course the brand immediately benefits from the flow of incidents, the customer walks away fulfilled having enjoyed the experience as if everything worked in their favour.

 

Safe and Secure

When it comes to any type of online commerce, safety and security is undoubtedly one of the biggest, and most concerning problems. It just takes one inconvenient and complicated payment experience for a potential customer to abandon their basket and seek alternatives elsewhere. We all know how frustrating and troubling it can be when we aren’t given the option of a safe payment mechanism, or we can’t save our details in a secure way.

A new type of consumer is arising from the Coronavirus pandemic. One which is more worried than ever about safety and hygiene and is reluctant to use POS keypads and checkout machines where possible. The ‘Cashless Society’ discourse was already well underway before the pandemic, but people are increasingly drawn to the new, simple to use cashless payment methods that continue to emerge. Whether it’s mobile wallets, P2P mobile payments, real-time payments and cryptocurrencies, M-commerce platforms should be flexible and agile enough to adapt to new needs and innovations. Ease of use, 1 click payment capabilities, ability to easily and securely save and reuse details and offering a range of potential payment options integrated within a secure system can transform the customer experience when it comes to shopping through their devices.

 

Creative User Experience

Mobile apps are a powerful tool to reach out to customers, provide experiences and hook them into your offering. But, with pages full of choices they can easily switch off to experiences that aren’t intuitive and enjoyable.

Often, the temptation can be to throw in every gimmick possible but this creates a complicated infrastructure, which means additional upkeep, which could mean losing sight of the objectives. Considering 46% of consumers are less likely to make a purchase when a site loads slowly, sometimes keeping it less complex allows for essential requirements and needs to be kept at the core. Building apps with a sincere understanding of UX and creative design at the heart of them can make the world of difference, focussing on converting someone from a browser to a purchaser through ease of use rather than sophisticated, complex elements that slow down the journey.

Less complex doesn’t mean any less of an enriching experience though and we can’t ignore how much a touch of creativity and innovation can help lift the experience. During a time when many of us have been unable to physically try on clothes, glasses, or test make up, there are plenty of examples where the use of AR has stepped in to digitally transform this experience for consumers. The well-known IKEA Place app which enables users through their mobiles to scale 3D images of furniture in their own homes to see how it looks before you commit to buying. And Sephora Visual Artist, which enables customers to try on makeup virtually through selfies. The added functionality works as more than a gimmick when focussed on the end user, as it builds into reassuring, nudging and motivating them at each step of their own personal decision-making process.

 

Preference & Personalisation

M-commerce provides a real opportunity to reach a huge number of users with messaging directly. But just because you can doesn’t always mean you should. The effect of push notifications can go one way or the other. Users can either feel the temptation to switch off all notifications after finding them irrelevant, disruptive, time wasting or in fact ‘pushy’. Or they’ll find them useful reminders because the message or prompt feels relevant to their own tastes and habits. Notifications and similar communications are prime examples of areas that can be significantly enhanced through understanding user data, behaviours and preferences. In an era where most of the population is aware of the data exchange for services, so much more can still be done from the brand’s side to nurture trust and demonstrate the valuable application of consumer data. The argument being, if you’re going to request or mine data, at least use it to improve and personalise the experience by showing you understand individual preferences rather than blasting users with emails or notifications that are only in your interest.

Considering personalisation has been found to be the strongest pillar in driving Customer Engagement in the majority of markets worldwide, refocussing approaches to enable more user-centric experiences could have transformational results in fostering long-lasting, sustainable and meaningful loyalty within a customer base that really feels their needs and requirements come first.

 

Winning round customers, capturing their attention, and maintaining the connection that will generate loyalty and frequency, can feel like aiming at a moving target. Or something from a Greek myth, where the goal always somehow remains out of reach. Just when you’ve made one improvement, the challenge changes – a new trend, a new cause, a new distraction or influence.

This need to be agile and adaptable for an evolving customer base should be built into the foundations of any customer engagement strategy. While m-commerce soars in strength and popularity, it is important to remember that e-commerce was once the flavour of the month, and actually after months of restrictions many people are eager to be able to walk around real physical stores again. Just because people are attached to their phones, doesn’t mean that they are blind to the fuller experience they can gain from a brand, and that experience needs to be considered as all encompassing. Emails, websites, notifications, in-store visits, all offer opportunities to optimise and excite Customer Engagement however the customer wishes to find you. The priority should remain providing innovative, intuitive experiences that keep people fulfilled and engaged at every stage – no matter the environment or device, or whether they’re tapping, clicking or walking up to a counter themselves.

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