Customer Journeys Are Now Hybrid

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“The focus should be on strategic goal setting, data privacy, data quality, data quantity, and also to enhance decisions that will improve customer experience and real-time personalisation,” says Yogesh Khanchandani, Co-Founder and Chief Business Strategy Officer, PivotRoots, in an exclusive interview with MartechVibe. 

While the world of marketing is shifting dramatically, customer experience remains the centre of it all. MarTech stack needs upgrading and rethinking, from data storytelling to hyper-personalisation tools, marketers need to upgrade their marketing strategies and rely on digital-first, omnichannel marketing for business growth.

PivotRoots recently launched its MarTech lab and consulting division PivotConsult to strengthen its data-led and consumer-centric approach. Khanchandani speaks about the impact of rapid digitisation and the future of customer experience.

Also Read: Where’s Your Customer? Mapping the Journey in 2021

What are the three most pivotal changes since the rapid digital transformation hit industries last year?

It has been a forced but impactful digital transformation since the pandemic. A lot of great things have come out of it. For one, the marketing strategies are digital-first or digital-only. Digital-first marketing does not mean just adapting traditional marketing strategies to digital as an afterthought. It is marketing that is deeply embedded in the digital world and has been created for digital channels. Unlike conventional marketing, a successful digital-first marketing strategy focuses on relevancy, user experience, along with their needs, hopes and pain points.

There has also been more focus on ROI, from growing your top of the funnel to conversion. While priorities vary from company to company, organisations have started identifying and measuring KPIs and ROIs based on their objectives rather than a uniform industry standard. 

As the focus on brand measurements become stronger, the transformation has led brands to adopt and embrace technology — CDPs and data-led marketing strategies have now started gaining traction.

Also Read: Take The Stress Out Of Marketing, Map Your Customer Journey 

How has the marketing and sales funnel changed due to the change in customer behaviour? 

The journey from online to offline has blurred now. People are adapting to the change and taking decisions online through more research, reviews and recommendations.

This can be seen through the rise in ‘near me’ searches that has liberated consumers. A survey by Uberall revealed that consumer preferences have diversified, and the gap between online and offline is now getting smaller. The customer journey has become hybrid, as they use multiple digital channels to make a purchase decision, whether online or offline.

Consumers also expect more channels from brands to engage with and make a purchase, such as click-and-collect, click-and-meet, home delivery, filters, and subscriptions. The marketing and sales teams must adapt to these preferences and alter their strategies to connect and engage with their audiences in a hybrid world.

If automation and AI provide data insights, what significant elements would you recommend marketing leaders to focus on?

Marketing has always been about understanding the consumer, their behaviour and their media consumption patterns. Enrich your data to identify your consumer touchpoint and use that efficiently for creating personalised experiences on the website, application, product, or advertisements. The focus should be on strategic goal setting, data privacy, data quality, data quantity, and also to enhance decisions that will improve customer experience and real-time personalisation.

Also Read: Is Data The Key To Customer Conversion And Acquisition? 

How can data storytelling help improve customer experience?    

The beauty of data is that it allows brands to build better consumer cohorts, understand their user funnel, show their users something relevant and new based on their last interaction or let the user continue their journey from where the user left off and increase conversions by showcasing a tailor-made offer. Brands and businesses that adopt this kind of personalised marketing and data storytelling see an average of 19 per cent increase in sales.

In your perspective, which technology has massive potential to innovate a better marketing experience?

Marketing automation platforms, CDP, data providers, web/creative personalisation tools — the combination of all these platforms should be a great success story for brands. IoT, VR, AI, and programmatic advertising are already making huge impacts in marketing and business. These will only evolve further to improve customer experience and impact the business results, not just the marketing experience.