2020: key insights for successful customer experience solutions in the new year
When it comes to digital experience business and digital marketing, the only constant is change. In 2019, we saw expectations for personalized interactions soar as more brands used technology to put customers at the heart of their digital offering. We’ve already given you a roundup of our key insights from 2019, but are you ready for the challenges of 2020?
Here to help you realize your digital vision, Netcentric brings you the five key trends that brands must be aware of if they want to stay at the forefront of customer experiences in the coming year:
Adobe Experience Platform
Optimizing CX for the experience economy has been key throughout 2019 and for many businesses leveraging the Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) has been pivotal in this transformation. As we head into 2020, there will be a lot more at stake when it comes to implementing a superior customer experience. In fact, product usage metrics will become key indicators of a company’s value and will rank alongside financials in terms of measuring a digital business’ health and potential for growth. When a company files for an IPO today, if they are leveraging AEP, their easily quantifiable product usage metrics can be used to measure customer engagement and happiness. In 2020, usage metrics such as adoption, retention and stickiness will become crucial indicators for investors in the decision to back digital businesses. The transformative potential of leveraging AEP to achieve superior customer experience is, therefore, only set to increase throughout 2020.
AI integration
Gartner predicts that 80% of emerging technologies will have AI foundations by 2021. By 2023, they foresee that artificial intelligence and deep learning approaches will overtake traditional machine learning as the main approach for applying data science in digital communications. Whether marketers like it or not, AI will become an ever-more pervasive part of customer’s lives in 2020. That means the winners and losers of 2020 will be determined by how quickly and effectively brands take advantage of the wide capabilities of this technology: to optimize operations, learn more about their audiences, and to adapt their services better to the specific needs of those audiences. AI isn’t a tickbox to be checked symbolically in a single project, it’s a technology which will infuse all platforms and tools. Brands looking to stand out in the digital noise of 2020 should prepare for profound and wide-reaching AI integration.
Brand integration
In the past, a great service, product or output was enough for a brand to win a customer’s loyalty. Today, with so much choice available to them, the stakes are far higher. Studies show that young people, in particular, continue to want companies to serve a higher purpose than simply delivering them a service in 2020. Indeed, 62% of consumers said they wanted the organizations they engage with to have a clear message on relevant issues such as sustainability, transparency and fair employment in 2018. That desire has only grown in the last few years. So, to convert brand interest into lasting customer loyalty, your brand’s message must be present in every part of your business. This means that successful organizations will not only look at their outgoing operations in 2020, they’ll also look internally to align their organization around their values, establishing transparency protocols and empowering employees to deliver the best experiences possible.
Data compliance
We’ve heard for some time that ‘data is king’. But for businesses looking to get ahead in 2020, the way they manage that data and ensure compliance in the year ahead will be make-or-break. Thankfully, 2020 brings with it the promise of making superior data governance a reality. The increasing demand for data privacy means that data compliance will become a central feature in both software selection processes and marketing. Software vendors will offer compliance as a service, which will be key to companies’ ability to keep up in a constantly changing regulatory environment. While the safety net of software vendors ensuring compliance will be key in 2020 and beyond, brands will also need the correct tools to ingest the data they collect. By leveraging the Adobe Experience Platform, brands can weave together, manage and action the data themselves, while ensuring complete compliance with regulations.
Scaling with the cloud
Cloud technology is no newcomer when it comes to experience business. However, for businesses facing an ever more uncertain future, set to be radically disrupted by new technology and changing customer behavior, leveraging cloud technology will be the key to staying flexible in 2020. Large brands need a cloud-based, big-data architectural solution that lets them scale with ease and innovate at pace. Netcentric used Amazon Web Services to migrate a large AEM-based web portal to a new cloud infrastructure, allowing our client to access built-in monitoring, automation and a transparent cost model too. 2020 is the year for businesses to analyze whether their infrastructure allows them to scale dynamically within changing business landscapes.