Digital Experience Management

Transcription

1 Why You Need to Deliver an Exceptional Experience at Every Digital Touchpoint

2 Introduction Will your business survive Digital Darwinism? 02 Don t look now, but your company is losing control. Your marketing brethren are already living with the challenge: Customers are now in the driver s seat, says Peter Burris of Forrester. 1 Not convinced this statement is accurate? Take a good look around you. It s an always on, always connected world and that s changing everything from the way we order pizza, to the way we choose where to live. The capability to out-execute and disrupt is quickly becoming a critical competitive advantage for the 21st century company. Randy Ottinger, Forbes 2 Digital technology has empowered customers in ways businesses have never before experienced. Your competitors are starting to grasp the reality of today s power swing to the customer and are moving to embrace all the new ways customers want to interact. Your company needs to adapt or be faced with a serious threat. This is a time of digital Darwinism an era where technology and society are evolving faster than businesses can naturally adapt. 3 The bottom line is that if you don t want your business to go the way of the dinosaur, you need to start acting now. So how do you embrace all the ways customers would like to interact with your company? You do it with (DXM ). Digital Experience Management is creating, delivering, measuring, and optimizing every digital touchpoint with prospects and customers. By delivering exceptional experiences at these touchpoints, you can turn prospects into customers and customers into brand advocates. This paper presents the reasons why focusing on the customer s digital experience is imperative and why needs to be a mandate for your business. 1. Welcome to the the Customer, Peter Burris, Forrester Research Blog, March 27, Disrupt or Be Disrupted, Randy Ottinger, Forbes, April 3, Digital Darwinism: How Disruptive Technology Is Changing Business for Good, Brian Solis, Wired Innovation Insights blog, April 18, 2014

3 Welcome to the the Customer Customer-centric is no longer enough. You need to be customer-obsessed. Recent advances in technology have customers truly calling the shots. The explosion of social media, portability (and affordability) of mobile devices, and an increasing number of platforms to consume and contribute reviews have propelled the customer to the throne of a new marketing dynasty. Customers have greater knowledge than ever before and they are using it to swing the balance of power in their favor. Forrester, a global research and advisory firm, is going so far as to state that only the customer-obsessed company can survive in this new age the the Customer. How did customers get all this power? From Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube, to name a few. Yes, knowledge is power and customers have profited since the Information Age, having instant access to the information they need when and where they want it. But now they have more than just knowledge. They have communication platforms in their purses and pockets that allow them to share their opinions with the world within seconds. A viral YouTube video, a scathing tweet or an embarrassing review can dismantle a year s worth of marketing in a day Which brings us to your business: maybe prospects are out there searching right now. With a few clicks, these prospects may find all the information they need to make a decision or to take the next step. Will they pick your business or property? That depends on how you re engaging with them at every digital moment. Google calls it the zero moment of truth the moment when a decision is made online without a tangible, sensory experience with the business or product ever taking place. And it happens a hundred million times a day on mobile phones, laptops, and wired devices. 4 AGE OF THE CUSTOMER Manufacturing Distribution Wal-Mart, Toyota, UPS, and CSX Information Amazon.com, Google, Intuit, and MBNA The Customer ? Ford, RCA, GE, Boeing, P&G, and Sony And if they do pick your business or property, what kind of experience will they have? Will it inspire them to post positive reviews or refer you to their friends? Making sure you gain not only a customer, but also an advocate is why you need to go beyond being a customer-centric business to being a customerobsessed business. Contenders include Facebook, IBM, Best Buy, and Apple Source: Forrester Research, Inc. 03

4 Creating Brand Advocates Drives Demand Wow them and they will pass it on. 04 How can a business be customer obsessed? By ensuring that every experience is truly exceptional whether it s in person or digital. Gone are the one-sided conversations where you tell your company story to a captive audience. Customers now want a richer, more satisfying relationship. They need to be wowed from their very first exposure to your company to the very last, and at every touchpoint in between. This is how you inspire brand advocacy, where your customers are recommending your business or property to other people in their social spheres. In effect, your customers become your digital sales force when they post positive reviews and advocate your business or property online and this drives greater demand for what you re offering. Forbes relayed these facts about brand advocates and their sphere of influence: Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher retention rate Brand advocates spend 2x more than average customers on favorite brands Brand advocates are 50% more likely to influence a purchase. Just 20% of brands use advocate and expert programs in their marketing 6 But many companies are still ignoring this new reality. A recent survey from Social Media Marketing University revealed that more than 50 percent of companies and brands are operating without strategies in place to deal with unhappy customers. 5 But, these customers have a large sphere of influence, and consequently, an effort should be made to turn these negative experiences into positive ones. Your company needs to be paying attention and participating in digital conversations with your prospects and customers. Only by doing so can you create a wow experience that rewards you with loyal customers and greater demand for your offerings Essentials of Creating a Sustainable Advocacy Program, Ekaterina Walter, Forbes, September, 17, 2013

5 The Mandate for It s not a campaign it s a fundamental shift in your marketing strategy. 05 Your prospects are actively searching for information long before they speak with someone from your company. In the the Customer, prospects are ready to make their decision, often well before you even meet them, based on the experiences they have online. So, what sort of digital experience is your company providing? When prospects search, will they find your company? If they do find it, what kind of experience are you giving them? Are they getting the information they need? What are your current customers saying about your properties? Are your current customers posting ratings or reviews about your properties? To deliver a wow experience and engage with today s empowered customer, you need to ensure your company effectively manages the entire digital experience. In fact, you need to create, deliver, measure, and optimize exceptional experiences at every digital touchpoint to ensure prospects are becoming valued customers and customers are becoming your brand advocates. Companies today are struggling to get their arms around the concept of managing the end-toend digital experience. They are struggling with disparate tools and lack of knowledge that limits their ability to deliver and optimize all the digital touchpoints throughout the customer lifecycle. What they need is a solution that brings it all together in a cohesive strategy. There s a singular tipping point for marketers and it happens the moment customers begin to see themselves as extensions of the brand sharing their experiences with others, cheering new products, even defending the company in times of crisis. It s called advocacy, and in the hyper-connected digital age, it s the apex of marketing achievement. Joe Chernov, Kinvey

6 Introducing the G5 (DXM ) Platform A solution designed for the property management sector. 06 Not surprising, many companies are starting to ask a similar question: How do we leverage the impact of digital innovation to better engage our customers and do so faster and more effectively than our competitors? G5 has the answer. Since our beginnings in local search marketing, G5 s guiding purpose has been to help businesses navigate an ever-changing digital landscape. Today, G5 is the only provider of (DXM) for the property management sector. is the oversight of how your customers current and prospective perceive all of their digital interactions with your property over the entire customer lifecycle from marketing to sales to customer service. They need to be wowed from their very first exposure to their very last and at every digital touchpoint in between. That s how you inspire advocacy, where your customers are recommending your property to other people in their social sphere. The result: increasing demand for your property, enabling you to increase rents without affecting occupancy. The G5 DXM Platform which hosts more than 5,000 property websites, representing over 1 million units and accompanying products and services help our clients transform the way they market, sell, service and generate advocacy in the digital world. And G5 helps our clients win online by creating and managing digital experiences that deliver quantifiable results. Prospect Applicant Customer Advocate

7 The Next Step Turn the empowered customer into your advocate. 07 The the Customer is the new reality, and the sooner your business takes steps to adapt, the sooner you ll be prepared to deliver the kind of digital experiences that customers desire and that leave competitors wondering how you do it. So, take the next step. Transform your marketing strategy into a strategy to begin wowing your customers. Get started by: Discussing with your marketing team how digital touchpoints are currently managed within your organization Learning more about how to create a strategy for your company Putting the tools in place that enable you to monitor and manage the end-to-end digital experience Seeking out guidance to help you succeed in delivering wow experiences at every digital touchpoint Is your company delivering amazing digital experiences? Find out with a Free Digital Experience Assessment. Visit to request yours today. G5 is the leading provider of (DXM ) software and services in the property management sector. The G5 DXM Platform enables owners and operators of Multifamily, Self Storage, Senior Living, and Student Housing properties to deliver exceptional experiences at every digital touchpoint turning customers into brand advocates. As brand advocacy grows, so does demand allowing properties to raise rents and revenue without adversely affecting occupancy. Founded in 2005, G5 was recently named one of the fastest growing private U.S. companies by Inc. Magazine (3rd consecutive year), one of North America s fastest growing technology companies by Deloitte (4th consecutive year), and one of Oregon s fastest growing private companies by Portland Business Journal (4th year). The Bend, Oregon-based company is backed by private equity investor Volition Capital. For more information, please visit or follow our blog at /blog