Winners and Losers in a Troubled Economy
The cScape/E-consultancy second Annual Online Customer Engagement Survey showed that the growing importance of digital marketing in strengthening customer relationships will be a key trend during 2008, when a compelling online experience will move from being a competitive differentiator to a prerequisite for survival. The stormier economic waters lying in wait will force strategic minds to focus on customer retention and the different components of the digital experience which can help to increase loyalty and advocacy. In the months ahead, consumers will be even more likely to jump ship if they do not feel in control of their environment or if they don’t have the functionality and experience they can increasingly get elsewhere. From the company perspective, 2008 will be about consolidation and refinement of the best strategies and tactics for integrated and cost-effective customer engagement. Prosperity over the coming months isn’t just about having the whizziest Ajax technology or the snazziest vodcast. It’s also about a joined-up proposition and experience born out of an understanding that a customer might be approaching a company from different angles and via different channels. Companies will sink or swim according to how well they deliver. At the same time, digital marketers must reject the notion that they only need to worry about what is happening on their websites. Companies should therefore think more about going to the customer—for example on social networks or via widgets for personalised homepages—just as much as attracting them in to their own websites. The reality is that even the most loyal customers will be spending the vast majority of their online time on other web properties. The ‘atomisation’ of online content and functionality, as a result of RSS feeds and open APIs, means that companies have to think about their off-site presence and engagement just as much as their own ‘destination’ websites. Organisations will continue to adapt to a seismic shift in the way that information now flows more easily in all directions, rather than being controlled by organisations which broadcast their message to their customers and prospects. Word-of-mouth is now more important than ever but it should not be forgotten that customer advocacy isn’t just about encouraging user-generated content. Advocacy is a by-product of a first-rate customer experience across all channels. It is encouraging that so many digital marketers taking part in the recent cScape/E-consultancy survey see ‘efficient and accessible customer services’ as being an essential strategy for successful customer engagement. Getting the basics right has never been more important. More worryingly, the 2008 survey also shows that lack of resources and experience, organisational incoherence and a lack of senior management buy-in are still barriers to better online engagement for significant numbers of companies.
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