The world today is driven by technology and a lot of interactions happen online and people do not need to meet physically. While this is true of individual and personal interactions, it is also very true for business interactions.
Interactions between business and their customers are happening more and more online. These days, a larger percentage of customers contact brands via emails, instant messaging, or social media when they need support.
As more customers turn to online platforms, brands are expected to meet with them across these multiple channels. They must also provide a seamless experience for them.
Customers have preferred online platforms that they like to use and they also like to be able to move across different ones. Even at this, they expect interactions with a brand to be fast, smooth and delightful. You can see how to balance various experiences from this article.
The availability of these multiple platforms has inadvertently created a lot of challenges for brands. Customers are impatient and when they are not getting a personalized experience, they will not hesitate to leave your brand.
These challenges however have created a good opportunity for brands to embrace this new reality. They can find ways to prioritize it for their organization so that they meet customer demands. One way to do so is through digital customer experience.
What Is Digital Customer Experience About?
Digital customer experience or DCX can be said to be the sum total of customers’ experiences when interacting with a business's digital channels. These interactions include purchasing items, accessing data, checking transaction status, requesting help, etc. In other words, DCX talks of the impression a consumer goes away with after interaction with a business online.
DCX is an aspect of customer experience. However, it deals with interactions on online platforms like on desktop and mobile devices rather than physical interactions. It can include digitally mediated interactions using social media, websites, apps, voice-activated devices, etc. Ultimately, it is wherever a brand’s customers are engaging with the brand through the internet.
It is crucial to understand the digital points where customers engage with your brand and how this affects their perception and loyalty. One place to begin is to ask how user-friendly it is to carry out simple tasks like placing an order on your platform. Is it easy or cumbersome? Can customers ask for help and get it promptly and smoothly?
The experience customers get on your digital platforms will help to decide if they will return or recommend the brand. You must therefore not overlook the importance of the operational aspects of the whole experience. From ordering an item to making it easy to contact the brand, it should tell a customer-friendly story.
An excellent DCX implies providing a fast, responsive as well as smooth experience for your customers even while they use different platforms. Brands that do this delight customers regardless of the channel they chose to engage with the brand. You can learn more on this here https://hbr.org/.
How to Improve Your Brand’s Digital Customer Experience
Measuring and improving DCX is quite straightforward. All you need to do is gather important data and find insights from the data on ways to improve. Below are some steps to improve your brand DCX.
Gathering Data on DCX
There are multiple platforms and touchpoints where consumers interact with your brand. You can use a variety of methods to gather intelligence for each of the interactions. This includes deploying customer experience listening around crucial digital touchpoints and the associated in-person counterpart’s touch-points.
With this, you can compare as well as contrast these experiences. This will allow the brand to understand the particular situations that lead to a better experience for their customers. Another way is using management tools that can help in social media monitoring and responding on time to chats and live support.
Furthermore, you can use Customer Relationship Management and analytic tools to support customers and keep track of engagements. You may also use surveys to gauge customer experience.
Uncover The Gathered Insights
Having collected data based on various touchpoints next is to uncover them to know what they reveal. You should endeavor to read feedback and categorize them based on platforms, location, products and criteria.
Note the trends based on each category and compare them with any other data you collected. This will help to know where there is a need for improvement.
Take Steps to Improve Your DCX
The next logical step after uncovering insights into your digital customer experience is to take action to improve it. This can include ensuring faster response to consumer inquiries and support and following up with any passive customer. You can also turn satisfied customers into promoters of the brand and ensure to listen and learn from dissatisfied ones.
Additionally, your team should keep listening as well as measuring feedback even after implementing new measures. This would help to see how impactful this is and see areas for further improvement.
Conclusion
It is the digital age where most interactions now happen digitally and it is very competitive. Brands jostle to get the customer's attention so it is therefore important to take strategic steps on improving your digital customer experiences. A good place to start is getting feedback, analyzing the same and taking actions to improve on it.
