Customer experience optimization is the practice of continuously improving the user experience with A/B and multivariate testing, real-time customer data, analytics, and personalization. Optimizing the customer experience is an effective way to connect with users and bring them the content that they need, when they need it.
To drive the most results from customer experience optimization, there are a few best practices that you should familiarize yourself with. Take a look at these four keys to optimization and learn how you can utilize them to create the best customer experience.
1. Know What Motivates Your Customers
It’s critical to know what motivates your customers to engage with your brand at any particular touchpoint. Whether they’re a first-time visitor or a returning customer, you must gain an understanding of their habits and behaviors in order to move the needle on the overall experience.
With each interaction, your customers are giving you data that can be analyzed and used to improve their experience. Leveraging this data can help you create a more relevant and personalized experience for each individual customer.
For example, you might tailor a homepage experience based on the customer’s location and local weather data, or present product recommendations that align with previous interactions and onsite searches. Gathering insight on customer behavior allows you to build more context into the experiences you deliver, and guides you to the most effective changes—making your customer experience optimization efforts that much more powerful.
Example: Understanding First-Time Buyers
Lovehoney, the UK’s leading online retailer for lingerie and adult gifts, used a Monetate solution to optimize the customer experience for new customers. By recognizing a unique challenge in customer acquisition – their first-time buyers were often inhibited by insecurities over this type of purchase – Lovehoney utilized Monetate’s advanced segmentation and personalization capabilities to give existing and new customers the confidence to buy. As a result, conversion rates increased more than 7 percent for new visitors.
2. Understand What Customers Find Engaging
Certain types of content or experiences are bound to be more engaging than others. Analyze which areas are most engaging and get to the bottom of why that could be.
If you see that customers are spending time on a particular type of page, consider optimizing for more interactive and dynamic content with a goal in mind, such as increasing conversions or average order value. Or, if you find that consumers are engaging with product recommendations, make sure the products recommended are in stock and updated. Focus your efforts on the areas of greatest potential impact, i.e. where the customer is already engaging.
Example: Optimize Conversion-Driving Pages
Office supply retailer Office Depot optimized their customer experience by maximizing their product description pages. By deploying Monetate’s machine learning capabilities, Office Depot was able to either prioritize or deprioritize product descriptions depending on the customer. In doing so, the company saw an increase in revenue of $6.9 million in just four months.
3. Identify the Most Effective Touchpoints
There is no doubt about it: the customer experience is now omnichannel. With a more fractured customer journey, brands need to be able to provide a consistent experience across channels. However, identifying which touchpoint is drawing in customers or driving conversions can then help you understand how to better optimize.
You might find from analytics that there are parts of your website, app, emails, call centers, or other touchpoints that aren’t operating as smoothly as they could be. The goal here is to prioritize your optimization strategy based on data analytics. In this way, you can achieve the biggest lift possible from putting optimization first.
Example: Streamlining Mobile Experience
Luxury cruise line P&O Cruises knew they were getting a significant amount of mobile traffic, but it was not translating to revenue and conversions. With the help of Monetate Test & Segment, they optimized their mobile user experience. By reducing steps in the booking process, P&O saw their mobile conversion rates rise by 7.8 percent and have continued to see revenue rise.
4. The Work of Optimizing Never Ends
Possibly the most important part of customer experience optimization is to keep doing it. It’s not a one-and-done kind of effort. In order to not only improve the customer experience, but also use it to directly drive results, optimization needs to be a constant effort. Whether it’s by updating product recommendations, dynamic content, or special offers to align with what you’re seeing in customer data, the ongoing application of adjustments and improvements can make a big difference.
When brand loyalty is at stake, customer experience is the first thing to look to. In fact, 73 percent of customers say they are more likely to expand their purchases if they’ve had a superior customer experience. Prioritizing customer experience optimization will give you the boost your business needs and nurture the strong connection customers are looking for.
Looking Ahead with Customer Experience Optimization
As you move forward with customer experience optimization, use both what you know and what you have learned to make changes. Think about not only what you are optimizing, but why you are optimizing. Effective optimization will yield results, from higher conversions to increased sales.
Take a look at our whitepaper “The Essential Guide to Personalization” to learn more about creating a personalized customer experience. Or, if you would like to learn more about Monetate and how we can help you get started with customer experience optimization, contact us today.