The 2017 Digital Trends Report, based on the seventh annual trends survey conducted by Econsultancy and Adobe, highlights the key digital trends for 2017. This includes challenges and opportunities that marketers need to be aware of and covers topics like customer experience, personalization, mobile, and data-driven marketing. The report is based on a global survey of more than 14,000 marketers and e-commerce professionals carried out at the end of 2016.
In the survey, they asked companies to indicate the single most exciting marketing opportunity for their organization in 2017. For the third year in a row, the same answer came out on top: Optimizing the Customer Experience.
Other findings highlighted marketing priorities for content marketing, social media engagement, and targeting and personalization.
Today in the dynamic and vast digital world you must create an engaging digital experience to not only gain and retain customers but to also have an amazing and engaging customer experience. To do so you should…
BE A GOOD LISTENER
This allows for quality. It allows you to learn more about the customers’ likes, dislikes, interests, behaviors, and experiences. If you can be a good listener, it is more likely that you will take into consideration what people have to say about your brand. When you are getting true and raw feedback, it can only help to improve your brand’s digital experience.
HAVE A CONSISTENT BRAND IDENTITY
Not only is having a consistent brand identity important but so is having consistent mobile and web experiences. No one wants to see your brand “in-person” and then see it digitally and it has a totally different look and feel. Keeping a consistent brand identity allows customers to recognize you across multiple platforms. This will have people keeping you top of mind when thinking of a company that displays an engaging digital experience.
KNOW THAT CONTENT IS KING
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Imagine a beautiful house, but with no furniture inside. A house is not a home without furniture. The same concept applies to a brands website. Your website is your “home” where you can find everything out about your brand like who you are and what you stand for. Your website is where your content essentially “lives.” So, comparing your aesthetically pleasing website design to that beautiful house is the same concept. You need content, just like you need furniture to actually call it a home. The content of your website is like the furniture to your house and is an important essence of the design.
That’s why content is key, especially if it’s rich, original, meaningful and if you can make an emotional connection with a customer. Keep this in mind throughout all platforms. Don’t let your social media rise to the top, but your blog falls flat. Be sure to exercise content anywhere and everywhere for a better customer experience.
INTEGRATE SOCIAL
Integrating social media makes it easier for customers to share their thoughts or interact more. While it is a platform for customers, it is also one for your company to have a voice. Be active on social, have a presence, have a voice, be engaged even as the company. Comment or message them back about a question they might have, keep up with liking or retweeting industry trends or interesting articles. You never know what traffic this may give you. It overall heightens the customer experience and you can say you’ve done your job engaging digitally.
Customer experiences are valued higher than ever in this day and age, so creating an engaging digital experience is the key to keeping up. Keep these pointers in mind and don’t get lost among the competition in the digital world!
