A Customer-Centric Digital Marketing Strategy Is at the Foundation of High-Conversion Experiences
In today’s digital age, good customer service goes far beyond over-the-phone support and an individual’s in-store experience. As technology has evolved, so have consumer behaviors and habits. More and more people are spending time on devices, like smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and making purchasing decisions online.
That means, to capture your audience’s attention, your business also has to adapt. Crafting a true omni-channel digital marketing strategy is crucial to building brand awareness, generating leads, and ultimately growing sales.
The digital landscape may have shifted how we communicate, but meeting consumers’ unique needs should still remain at the heart of how you do business. Keep reading to learn what it takes to develop exceptional online experiences and how you can implement a customer-focused digital marketing plan.
Why Customer Focus Matters in a Digital World
A winning business marketing strategy involves putting your customer first. Viewing your customer’s experience as a journey, rather than a linear exchange, is what separates good brands from great ones.
It’s not just about how your interactions benefit your bottom line, but instead, how they can contribute to greater customer satisfaction. To do this successfully, you must understand who your customers are and how they prefer to engage with your brand.
Over the past couple decades, the digital transition has spurred less face-to-face contact. This has resulted in more consumers seeking out ways to solve problems on their own and progressing through the buying process without much direct outside input.
For example, a simple Google search may bring up your website, leading a user to browse your offerings. However, they’ll likely want more information about your business and what you do before making a purchase. By thoughtfully placing frequently asked questions, reviews, social media platforms, and more on your site, consumers can instantly gather details that help them make an informed decision about your products or services.
If you’re selling tangible items, you can take this a step further by optimizing your website for e-commerce. This gives customers the freedom to buy on their terms, making their experience more convenient and fostering a positive association with your brand.
Although training your company representatives on customer service is undeniably important, it’s becoming increasingly essential to provide opportunities for your audience to help themselves. Modern customer experience is comparable to a concierge, where consumers have access to resources and tools that allow them to quickly find what they’re looking for.
By approaching digital marketing with a customer-centric mindset, you can create experiences that not only empower buyers, but keep them coming back for more.
How You Can Use Digital Marketing to Strengthen Customer Relationships
With more devices and digital platforms, marketing a business online is more competitive than ever. To stand out from the crowd, your digital experience must be as cohesive and frictionless as possible, from the moment users see your ad to when they finalize their purchase.
Ensuring your business is accessible helps establish a loyal customer base and boosts your brand credibility. Consumers still seek connections digitally, and utilizing a variety of touchpoints (any type of interaction between a customer and a business) puts you where your audience is and makes it easy for them to interact with you.
Here are a few ways to bring customer service to the forefront of your digital marketing strategy.
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Offer multiple contact methods: Today’s consumers want choice when it comes to how they engage with your business. Not every question or concern warrants a phone call. In fact, some prospects may be deterred by the idea of waiting on hold to speak to a representative if their inquiry is a relatively small ask. You certainly want your support line to be widely available, but it’s a good idea to also offer other contact options, like a live chat or website form.
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Respond to customers in a timely manner: This one may sound obvious, but too often, we’ve seen responsiveness put on the back burner in the digital space. The Internet has fueled the desire for instant gratification, meaning speed is key. And with competitors only a click away, customers can take their business elsewhere in an instant.
Make sure your team is prepared to respond to customers quickly and effectively across all relevant platforms. You can also implement auto replies on some social media channels and live chats, which comes in handy for after-hours queries and commonly asked questions. Consider adding an FAQs page – or at the very least, a section – to your website, so users can search for answers even prior to contacting you.
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Prioritize user-friendly design: Design is a critical component of customer-focused digital marketing. Having a website or app that’s difficult to navigate or that isn’t optimized for mobile reduces the likelihood that a consumer will make a purchase or even continue browsing. Research has found that it takes just 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about a site, and if they don’t like what they see, they’re unlikely to come back. Creating sleek and straightforward experiences moves users further down the sales funnel and encourages them to visit your digital spaces again.
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Keep it consistent: An omni-channel digital marketing strategy refers to the seamless integration of online and offline touchpoints. Customers and prospects don’t tend to consider the individual platforms they’re communicating with you on, but instead, perceive their interactions as part of one larger experience. If a user first engages through your website’s live chat function and then moves the conversation to the phone, there’s the expectation that the representative they speak to will be familiar with or have access to any previous correspondence.
Regardless of how an individual opts to connect with your business, they should be able to receive the same commitment to service across the board. Ensuring consistency across your communication channels builds trust, saves you and your customers time, and establishes a more unified brand voice.
Your Journey to Customer Focus Starts with Our Kansas City Digital Marketing Firm
Customer-focused digital marketing allows you to connect with your audience on a deeper level and leave a lasting impression where it counts. Developing a strategy that’s right for your business and those you serve is simple when you have iFocus Marketing as your trusted partner.
Numbers tell us a lot about what’s resonating with consumers, which is why we perform regular data analysis to inform what we do next. There’s nothing one-size-fits-all about marketing a business, and our team is dedicated to providing custom solutions tailored to your growth objectives. We work diligently to understand you, your industry, and your target audience, so we can help you optimize your online presence and drive results.
Interested in learning more about how you can make customer centricity a core part of your digital marketing strategy? Our Kansas City digital marketing firm is ready when you are! Call (913) 578-8578 or send us a message online, and let’s get started crafting a campaign that puts you one step closer to reaching your goals.
Zarah Eads brings several years of marketing experience to her role as a digital copywriter at iFocus Marketing. With a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she’s a storyteller at heart, combining shrewd attention to detail and compelling imagery to bring a voice and personality to a brand. She’s passionate about helping small- and medium-sized businesses better market their products and services with interesting, meaningful, and SEO-rich content. When she’s not writing, Zarah enjoys exploring the local culinary scene with her husband and spending quality couch time with her hound dog, Luna.
