Should you combine several technologies to better orchestrate customer experience?

conductor orchestrating

Customer experience (CX) has become one of those hackneyed phrases that can mean different things to different people, but nevertheless getting it right is always going to be a key task for any marketer.

Customer experience management is changing rapidly with global changes such as privacy regulations and changes to the use of third-party cookies. As such, there isn’t one technology supplier who can orchestrate the end-to-end experience or solve your business problems in one platform.

Perhaps as a result of the varied interpretations of what customer experience means, different approaches and technologies have developed that vie for the attention of marketers wanting to get customer engagement right.

In our opinion many of these tools are perhaps better viewed as complementary to each other, rather than competing, although there is often a level of overlap between them.

If one looks at what are the underlying factors that drive engagement, a key measure for customer experience, there are at least four key dimensions, which can be portrayed like this:

factors driving customer engagement
Factors driving engagement

 

So how important is it to focus on customer engagement?

We have recently received the results of live marketing experiments from AKI technologies where they undertook a number of tests using different creatives for different segments of their audience. The results they got for increased engagement using personalised content based on segments was an uplift of between +33% and +280%.

Their insights also demonstrated that personalised content was more important at the start and the end of the customer journey than in the middle.

Cart abandonment is worth $4 trillion globally, so with an average of 70% of carts being abandoned, timing is a key contributor to customer experience. There are multiple claims for increased sales using event-based trigger marketing such as dropped baskets. Some companies such as Fresh Relevance claim a 10% improvement in overall sales from introducing dropped basket follow ups.

Other companies use relevance; for instance, ShopBox.ai expect to increase overall sales conversion from a website by +5% by using AI to propose alternatives to items that customers are currently looking at on a website.

Clearly improving the customer experience is getting results, although the exact metrics are going to vary considerably from one environment to another. So how should companies approach improving this?

The problem is that different technology platforms support different areas that drive engagement. Most likely these platforms are managed by different teams following a different process and, most likely each team is claiming success for each individual customer purchase.

Customer Journey Orchestration (CJO) works by linking together online and offline steps in a customer journey, and by doing so it enables an organisation to make relevant communications based around where a customer is in their buying cycle.

An example is a potential customer browsing an insurance website, and then calling in to ask further detailed questions, and to get a quote. The CJO technology will carry the browser enquiry over to the screen of the agent in the call centre, and then provide tips as to how to best proceed with the call.

CJO technology strongly supports the relevance quartile, and potentially the timing, when it provides follow up calls and SMS messaging where a sale has not been completed. To make it work, it needs the identification of value triggers, so that customers can be scored accordingly.

However, it will function much better when linked to a Customer Data Platform (CDP) as the underlying data management tool that will bring into play all that is historically known about the customer’s relationship, and from that it can, where relevant, also help with scoring and predicting customer preferences.

Another popular technology is called Customer Experience Personalisation (CEP) and this will focus more on incentives and timing. For instance, it will respond to triggers like dropped baskets, or geo-relevance when a prospect is near a retail outlet. CEPs often use incentives like discount offers, sometimes linked to timing countdowns, and social proof which is aimed at increasing a customers’ FOMO (fear of missing out).

Again, CEPs function better when provided with some longer-term data about a specific customer beyond that which they can pick up from their browsing behaviour. There is no point for instance in making a discounted offer to a customer with a history of buying at full price, or applying a timing countdown when the customer is showing evidence of churning.

Every business will set different levels of importance to the factors that influence engagement. Our recommendation is to start by focusing on the key customer experience factors that will make a difference to your business, and then to assemble the data and technologies that can implement an enhanced customer experience.

In order to get to the point where customers are presented with timely, relevant, contextual, and incentivised communications our expectation is that a CDP will always be in the mix as that will hold the deepest layers of customer information which it can share with the CJO and the CEP.

a CDP mixed with CJO and CEP

With technology enabled there are still the three further important factors; building a library of content, setting up a cross functional team, and developing the right culture. And one thing not to be ignored is introducing test and control for every change in the customer experience that you introduce.

Some of your tests will succeed, and become game changers, but others won’t. The culture bit needs to learn from both the successes, and the failures, and move on.

Unifying all of your customer data from your combined technology stack will support your strategy to become an experience led business.

Want to find out more about how a customer data platform works? Contact us to request a free demo.


UniFida logo

UniFida is the trading name of Marketing Planning Services Ltd, a London based technology and data science company set up in 2014. Our overall aim is to help organisations build more customer value at less marketing cost.

Our technology focus has been to develop UniFida. Our data science business comes both from existing users of UniFida, and from clients looking to us to solve their more complex data related marketing questions.

Marketing is changing at an explosive speed, and our ambition is to help our clients stay empowered and ahead in this challenging environment.


UniFida shortlisted for a Direct Commerce Award

UniFida are proud to be shortlisted for a Direct Commerce Award from the Direct Commerce Association. Winners will be announced at this year’s DCA annual summit, which takes place virtually on the 17th June 2021.

UniFida’s founder and director, Julian Berry, will also be presenting at the summit and will be speaking about how to make AI driven omnichannel marketing attribution a reality.

direct commerce award shortlisted badge

Visit the DCA website for more details. We hope to see you there!

Can customer journey analytics improve conversions?

customer journey analytics

Customer journey analytics can tell us some of what we need to know about the routes customers take, but does it help us to improve conversions?

 

What is customer journey analytics?

Customer journey analytics is the science of analysing customer behaviour data across multiple touchpoints, and over time, to measure the impact of customer journeys on business outcomes.

Companies use customer journey analytics because it is an effective way to improve customer experience, increase customer lifetime value, and improve customer loyalty.

Let’s start then with what we mean by the ‘journey’.

This can be used to describe a myriad of different routes from just travelling around inside a brand’s website, to trekking between websites and mobile applications, to flipping between online and offline channels, or to contacting a call centre.

Indirect channels like TV and press may also play a part, and, least trackable of all, conversations actually take place between people.

So, let’s dispense with one myth, that customer journeys are always trackable, as some of them are not at all, and others only partially. For instance, only a tiny proportion of retailers attempt to collect emails or other contact details from customers in their stores, and, when they do, many refuse. Some retailers use ‘beacon’ technology to understand if the customer is a repeat visitor or new; however, matching this back to the customer has raised some privacy concerns.

The extent to which we can join together the stages in the journey is entirely dependent on the evidence by way of personal identifiers that the visitor leaves behind at each stage, and how they can be linked.

For instance:

Email marketing identifies which customers have opened and/or clicked from each campaign. Direct mail provides the details of who has been sent a catalogue, however not if they received it, or even browsed it.

Call centre tracking identifies the number you are calling from.

Website analytics captures the cookie ID of website visitors, how they got to the site, and whether that was through search, direct visit or referral from another online channel like social or paid digital.

Tracking is one thing, but then linking events together is another. To do so one needs to form associations between personal identifiers. A cookie ID becomes much more valuable when linked to an email or a mobile number. An email is more valuable when it is associated with a postal name and address, and so on.

All customer journey analytics relies on being able to link stages in the journey using identifiers that can be matched up. The most obvious case where external links don’t exist are unidentified browsers, where one browsing visit can be linked to another, but not to anything that is going on in the offline world, or in other websites.

We must accept that customer journey analysis can only deliver a partial truth, but this is not to deny that a great deal of value can still be obtained from it.

 

Visualising customer journeys using analytics

We can depict these customer journeys using what is known as a Sankey diagram, named after Captain Matthew Sankey.

sankey customer journey chart
Sankey customer journey diagram

 

 

Alternatively, with a numerical version of a Sankey diagram, like the one below, we can start to understand what the probability is of customers moving onto another stage in the journey, or making a purchase.

numerical version of a Sankey diagram
Numerical version of a Sankey diagram

To understand this chart, start with a channel on the left and read across to find the probability of moving from that point to the next channel (column), or to making a purchase (described as conversion), or to nothing further being trackable on the customer journey (described as null).

 

Improving conversion rates

So, what can be done with the information in a chart like this?

  1. It brings a sense of reality. If you know that the probability of moving from social media to a sale on your website is five per thousand, you will take a more sober view of media owners’ claims.
  2. It provides a really useful comparative understanding of the impact of different channels. In this example the chances of purchasing after receiving and opening a series of four emails (described as campaigns) is 6%, whilst after four direct entries it’s 5%.
  3. It explains the benefit to be gained from multiple experiences in the same channel. The chances of purchasing after a fourth consecutive search is 2.4 times greater than a conversion following a single search.
  4. It shows where the interactions between channels are more likely to happen. For instance, the chances of moving from receiving a fourth email campaign to undertaking a direct search are 12%, compared to 5% after receiving just one.
  5. It also shows us which are the better channels from which to start the journey. In this case starting with an email campaign opening is best.

These are just examples of some of the uses of visualising a customer journey, and you will want not just one but multiple views. For instance, new customers will have very different journeys to returning ones, and so will people from different countries, or those buying expensive merchandise compared to those buying something cheaper.

Most organisations struggle to understand their impact on customer experience, and the value which can be generated from enhancing it, due to several reasons:

  • The number of customer touchpoints and the volume of data produced by multiple channels and devices has exploded in recent years. Having this in one place becomes a challenge.
  • Data silos lead to problems of data mismatches, missing and bad data and, time to transform and aggregate the data.
  • Shortage of skills and resources to analyse and make sense of the data, as it often requires skilled data scientists and analysts who are conversant with programming languages like Python, R or SQL.
  • Inability to attain rapid customer insights, and execute triggered activity across multiple channels, can have negative consequences if you’re not aware of each customer’s experience with your company across channels.

Now, your customers expect every interaction with your organisation to reflect the context of their entire experience regardless of which touchpoint they use next. So how do you meet these expectations?

 

Overcoming these obstacles and making journey-driven decisions for each customer at scale

You are probably now in need of an explanation of how you can start to understand your customer journeys, visualise the data, and make use of it?

We recommend first introducing, if you don’t already have one, a customer data platform into which the data describing different parts of the journey can be ingested, and linked together wherever identifiers can be matched. A typical customer data platform will take in data from your email service provider, your website, your transactional or ecommerce systems, paid digital and possibly your call centre and your retail outlets. Your objective will be to ingest as many parts of the customer journey as possible.

The customer data platform will then undertake what is known as identity resolution to join as much data to individuals as is possible.

(Incidentally the customer data platform will have multiple other uses than customer journey analytics, although this remains a key element of what it can deliver).

With this in place, you have the potential to build a table of all the visible and linkable events that precede each transaction. As long as these are date-stamped, technology can then provide you with the journey charts that you will require to help plan your direct marketing.

Most companies lack the comprehensive, up-to-date journey data needed to optimise each interaction, so they are forced to run experiments on single channels, such as email or website, without understanding their wider impact. By having a single view, real-time data visualisation and the ability to trigger activity based on events, you can see how customers respond to each improvement as your customers experience them.

We have developed this capability inside the UniFida customer data platform, so that for any time period, and any segment of customers, the production of this kind of analysis is automated.

Considering investing in a customer data platform? Contact us to get started with one of our complimentary CDP services.

 


UniFida logo

UniFida is the trading name of Marketing Planning Services Ltd, a London based technology and data science company set up in 2014. Our overall aim is to help organisations build more customer value at less marketing cost.

Our technology focus has been to develop UniFida. Our data science business comes both from existing users of UniFida, and from clients looking to us to solve their more complex data related marketing questions.

Marketing is changing at an explosive speed, and our ambition is to help our clients stay empowered and ahead in this challenging environment.


Taking customer centricity to the next level with a CDP

people walking across zebra crossing

Can’t see the customer for the data?

Now, more than ever, businesses know the importance of looking after existing customers in order to retain them and increase their value.

The key to this is having complete and up-to date customer data that accurately depicts how your customers behave – both offline and online.

Equipped with a clear understanding of their needs and preferences, your marketing department will be more effective at increasing customer loyalty and sales. And just as importantly, your service teams will be able to provide more insightful, helpful and impressive experiences.

Of course, this all depends on how accurately your data is depicting your customers.

 

Customers in pieces

When it comes to capturing customer data, quantity isn’t the problem. Customers generate huge volumes of it as they engage via websites, apps, email, call centres and retail branches.

The real issue is where it is kept – often in divisional or channel siloes that few businesses can integrate.

This fragmented approach prevents businesses from getting a clear picture of their customers and a true understanding of their preferences and needs.

And it is compounded by the fact that customers are frustratingly random. They might buy online using their office address and mobile number, for example, yet their loyalty membership may be linked to their home address and personal email.

 

It’s like you don’t know me

A fractured data picture leads to decisions that are based on only a partial understanding of customers. Inevitably, it results in experiences that leave customers feeling unrecognised, unvalued – and yes, unloved.

The sense that ‘the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing’ can be all too evident during personal service encounters. When a customer talks to your service teams, they expect you to know the totality of their relationship, not just the last time you spoke.

A fractured data picture leads to decisions that are based on only a partial understanding of customers. Inevitably, it results in experiences that leave customers feeling unrecognised, unvalued – and yes, unloved.

The fact that your data is siloed is of no interest to them, but if you genuinely want to build customer loyalty and value, it should be critically important to you.

 

I want a complete picture, and I want it now

The ability to get a single customer view, and in real-time, is what’s preventing many businesses from becoming truly customer focused.

The problem is traditional processes and systems can’t keep pace with the volume of data being generated by today’s customers. This results in large amounts of customer data being overlooked and unused.

Even if data can be accessed, extracting insights takes so long that any commercial value is lost –particularly in dynamic, fast-moving markets. Thankfully hope is on the horizon, in the form of a new breed of technology platform.

 

With CDP’s everything is clear

The emergence of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) is giving service organisations the opportunity to see their customers as they really are – often for the first time.

Hosted in the cloud, a CDP integrates customer data from multiple online and offline sources, often in real time, to create a true single customer view.

This complete picture is available in dashboard format on the desktop of each user. It puts the awesome power of customer data in the hands of the people who need it most – your marketing and service professionals.

Equipped with true insights, your people can deliver personalised experiences that maximise opportunities and mitigate risks in the context of a customer’s entire relationship with your organisation.

The hottest topic in the world of data-driven marketing, Customer Data Platforms are being widely adopted as much for their ability to improve customer satisfaction as their capacity to boost sales.

 

Take customer centricity to the next level

Being customer focused requires more than good intentions. It demands a technology I want a complete picture, solution that lets your organisation recognise each customer individually and enables your and I want it now people to deliver highly personalised customer experiences. That solution – the Customer Data Platform – has arrived.

This guest article was written by Tony Rambaut, Co-founder of our partner UniFida Australia. Originally published in the FOCUS Quarterly March 2021 magazine by CSIA.

 

Are you considering a customer data platform? Find out how developing use cases can help you understand what your business needs from CDP technology.


UniFida logo

UniFida is the trading name of Marketing Planning Services Ltd, a London based technology and data science company set up in 2014. Our overall aim is to help organisations build more customer value at less marketing cost.

Our technology focus has been to develop UniFida. Our data science business comes both from existing users of UniFida, and from clients looking to us to solve their more complex data related marketing questions.

Marketing is changing at an explosive speed, and our ambition is to help our clients stay empowered and ahead in this challenging environment.