Handling the customer journey in 2014 is extremely complex. People expect information to be available instantly on the go that too free of cost. Marketers are now challenged in terms of producing content that will satisfy their customer’s insatiable thirst for information. Moreover,22% of average consumers want to interact with brands throughout their buying journey. There are some crucial points for marketers to observe while marketing to their audience in 2014.
Personalization
Ensure that your communication is as personalized and relevant to your buyer personas as possible. This is possible only by collecting as much data as possible pertaining to your buyers. Predictive analytics must be used to understand customer’s moves in advance and tailor your content accordingly.
Seamless Integration
Customers expect nothing less than seamless integration between different channels and devices. They do not want any communication unless it adds to their buying experience. For instance, a buyer who has already done her research and is considering whether to go for a monthly or a yearly subscription of your product does not want to receive emailers that are targeting prospects in their awareness phase.
Multi-Screen Engagement
The only way to engage prospects and buyers today is by enhancing and advancing their buying experience using multiple channels. A great example of this is the multi-screen engagement campaign “discovered” by Intel which was targeted at a younger demographic. The objective was to increase awareness and harness purchase intent among the youth for the Intel Ultrabook.
In order to achieve these objectives they executed their campaign using fun and informative content around Hollywood story lines and launched it on channels hounded by the youth such as the Xbox. Intel simultaneously released this content on an MSN branded content driven environment which meant that their target audience was able to explore and interact with the brand on two screens at the same time.
Marketers will only succeed in handling the customer journey in 2014 and beyond if they create content that enables personal engagement and works seamlessly across multiple devices such as TVs, PCS, consoles, tablets and mobile devices.
