There has been a drastic transformation when it comes to customer journeys. What used to be a much more linear campaign driven funnel has now evolved into a bespoke multichannel experience.
Marketing automation tools used to be groundbreaking, but now they are the bare minimum for success. The modern customer has an expectation of smooth, real-time interactions across every touchpoint.
Organisations now must embrace automation powered by data and AI. The customer journeys of today require an approach that goes further than old school marketing automation tools.
The limitations of legacy marketing automation
The previous marketing automation tools are a thing of the past. Customer journeys used to be very linear and static, with almost a ‘one size fits all’ approach. However, this approach would not work today as customer journeys are very much dynamic and omni-channel and very much multi touch.
Organisations were using siloed tools. This meant there was a lack of fluidity and consistency with the messaging across the platforms they were using and were not truly reflective of the real time customer touch points due to not having a single source of truth. Nowadays there is omnichannel orchestration which allows for a seamless experience across the multiple channels within the customer journey.
Previous tools also weren’t always dynamically refreshing meaning the insights could well be slightly out of date which could also present some compliance risks, as it was often the case that these were reviewed after the campaign meaning that insights were reviewed retrospectively. Conversely the modern tools allow for analytics to be released in real time. This allows businesses to react instantly and amend journeys before they are completed based on the data trends.
This means that businesses can now be proactive as it is now possible to acknowledge triggers for things such as intent cues reducing churn risk.
The demands of the modern customer
There are plenty of reasons as to why the automation tools have developed by fundamentally it is to match the demand of the modern customer.
These days customers progress seamlessly across multiple touchpoints including both digital and physical. This alludes to the idea that organisations require consistency across all their channels, which the modern automation tools must include.
Due to customer journeys being so dynamic, there is a demand for personalisation and particularly using AI to predict any trends and forecasting any needs that customers may have during their journey.
It is more than just automation
There is more to Customer Journeys than automation. This includes orchestration, intelligence and experience.
With journey orchestration, this is a strategy that allows customer data to organise and personalise engagements across different channels. To achieve this, there must be an understanding of customer behaviour and the ability to adapt the communication on an ad hoc basis.
You also need to utilise AI to identify any difficulties and optimise steps. Journey intelligence is an approach powered by data that allows for businesses to understand customer behaviour and where they might experience any issues and where they are succeeding. This allows for customer experiences to be more personalised and impactful and offering the right message at the right time on the right channel to drive engagement and loyalty.
Finally, businesses also need to incorporate journey experience in. This means that you must consider the emotional side to the customer. For this, organisations need to take into account the entire customer experience throughout their interaction with your business. This includes the different touchpoints from their first activity up to beyond the point of sale.
The rise of customer-led journeys
The adaptation of the customer journeys has seen a change from mass campaigns to more connected and personal journeys.
Continuity across all departments is crucial. It is important to remember customer history and that messaging across the teams remains a constant.
What it means for businesses
Adapting your customer journeys to meet the modern demands of the customer is essential for your business and consumers have come to expect this hyper-personalised engagement. It will lead to an increase in customer satisfaction and ultimately retention, customers will feel as if they are more appreciated by you if they are your top priority.
This will also increase revenue as you will have an increase in prospective customers converting into sales. Also, your business could see a higher number of upsells, which is vital as it is a lot cheaper for businesses to retain customers than it is to attract new ones.
Why Microsoft Customer-Insights Journeys might be for you?
If whilst reading this, you feel it relates to your business, then we might have the right tool for you. Introducing Microsoft’s Dynamics Customer-Insights Journeys.
CI-J can create personalised customer profiles, using data provided from all the interactions and touchpoints along the way. This will lead to an increase in customer satisfaction as customers appreciate the bespoke experience.
CI-J also has a native integration across the Microsoft ecosystem – e.g. Dynamics 365 – which means that will work with your existing Microsoft tools. On top of this it also has a no code/low code configuration to it, which means that it can be set up quicker meaning you will be able to see the ROI sooner compared to other tools.
It is time to rethink
Not only is the future automated it is also intelligent, adaptive and human-centred. These are all things you need to consider remaining successful. The brands that succeed will be the ones who are putting together customer journeys and not ones who just automate marketing tasks.
If this resonates with you, get in touch with one of our team and we would love to chat about Microsoft Customer-Insights Journeys and discover how it can change the way you interact with customers.
