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Originally Posted On: https://www.lumavate.com/blog/three-types-of-digital-experience-strategy
Digital customer experience is a term used to describe the sum total of all interactions a customer has with a brand, both online and offline. It includes the websites, apps, and other digital touchpoints that customers use, as well as the customer service they receive and the marketing messages they see. Each of these touchpoints is known as a digital experience.
As an organization it is your job to plan how your company will utilize these digital resources to your advantage. If you develop a cohesive digital experience strategy you will see a drastic improvement over companies that aren’t establishing a clear vision for their digital customer experience.
But what should your digital marketing goals be?
Well, there are three types of digital experience strategies that you should choose from:
1) Increase engagement and access
2) Generate demand and drive conversions
3) Decrease Costs
Increase Engagement and Access
The first type of digital experience strategy is focused on widening the channels that customers can use to engage with your brand in an efficient manner. The objective is to make it as easy as possible for customers to find your company and do business with you.
Here are some ways digital experiences can be used to enhance this strategy:
- Making sure your website is mobile friendly
- Developing an app
- Offering 24/7 customer service
- Diversify social media mix
- Develop a social media brand identity and post consistently
- Engage with customers in the comments
Any of the above suggestions are ideas that could work with any type of strategy you choose, especially regarding your site infrastructure. If you can’t access a site from mobile it could be a major problem in the modern age. So take a look at your current offerings and make sure you can move through the customer journey yourself without facing many challenges.
Generate Demand and Drive Conversions
The second type of digital experience strategy is all about generating demand for your product or service and then converting that demand into sales. In order to do this, you need to have a really good understanding of your target market and what they want. Once you know this, you can create content, advertising, and special offers that will appeal to them and prompt them to buy from you.
A few things you can do to generate demand and drive conversions are:
- Develop targeted content
- Create an effective social media strategy
- Invest in digital advertising
As we mentioned in the previous strategy, there is a lot of overlap when it comes to a strong digital presence. Creating targeted content is a great way to generate demand because you can specifically tailor it to meet the needs of your target market. And if you’re not using social media or digital advertising to reach new customers, then you’re really missing out but
Decrease Costs
The third type of digital experience strategy is focused on decreasing the costs associated with doing business. This can be done in a number of ways, but the goal is always the same: to make it as easy and cost effective as possible for customers to do business with you.
A few ways you can decrease the costs of doing business are:
- Outsourcing customer service
- Automating processes
- Using self-service options
- Using chatbots
Outsourcing customer service is a great way to save money because you can get it done for a fraction of the cost of doing it in-house.
Automating processes is also a great way to save money because it eliminates the need for manual labor.
And finally, using self-service options is a great way to decrease costs because it allows customers to do more on their own without needing to rely on you for assistance.
Using chatbots helps your company in a similar way by replacing the cost of full time support agents with AI helpers you can decrease costs at the expense of potential customer satisfaction.
No matter which digital experience strategy you choose to pursue, it’s important that you have a clear goal in mind. Without a goal you won’t be able to measure your success and you’ll likely end up frustrated with your results. So take some time to think about what you want to achieve and then develop a plan to make it happen.
Remember that once you choose the digital experience strategy in line with your positioning you should do everything to support the position. A great digital experience example in this case is chatbots.
If you want to brand yourself as a leader in customer service, you shouldn’t replace your customer service personnel with a chatbot to cut costs. However, the same technology could be used to enhance customer service in conjunction with your existing staff to increase responsiveness while reducing customer wait-times and the workload of your customer help staff.
Digital experience strategy is important for any business in the modern age. By understanding the three types of strategies you can choose the one that’s right for your company.
If you focus on improving customer engagement you’ll see an improvement in customer loyalty and satisfaction. If you focus on increasing revenue you’ll see a boost in your bottom line. And if you focus on decreasing costs you’ll save money and resources.
No matter which strategy you choose, make sure that you’re clear about your goals and that you have a plan in place to achieve them.
If you need help getting started developing a strategy in any of the areas above, consult our complete digital experience strategy guide.
