Projections for 2023 suggest a technological, hyper-personalized, automated and predictive customer experience. Omnichannel customer experiences, privacy concerns and Total Experiences (TX) also stand out. Take a look at the 8 most important CX trends for 2023.
At the beginning of a new year, organizations around the world are paying attention to the economic predictions for 2023. Experts forecast that 2023 will be a volatile year marked by a global economic slowdown.
However, despite market volatility, companies should be optimistic and focus on the growth and innovation opportunities that are already arising for the new year. Among them, the consolidation of an advanced and modern customer experience (CX) is emerging as one of the great economic opportunities for companies in 2023.
Obviously, e-commerce will continue to grow in 2023, increasing the competitiveness of the market. In this context, it is essential for companies to focus on customer loyalty. According to the latest studies on customer retention, an efficient customer experience is now the best method for building customer retention. According to Gartner, 66% of the times companies detect an increase in customer loyalty are linked to the improvement of the customer experience, which is already more influential than price in consumers' purchasing decisions.
The new year sets a scenario in which companies must invest in technologies to improve their customer experience.
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All signs point to the fact that, as was already the case in 2022, customer experiences in 2023 will continue to be technologically advanced and increasingly personalized. The creation of personalized customer experiences is positioned as one of the main trends in CX for the new year.
On the other hand, ethics, values and mission also stand out as important factors that continue to increasingly influence customers' purchasing decisions.
Today's consumers have the ability to distinguish when an interaction is sincere and authentic, just as they are able to appreciate when a brand listens to them and pays attention to their needs. In this sense, it is essential for companies to adopt active listening to the voice of the customer (VoC) models and to invest on customer intelligence and customer analytics technologies.
Today, leveraging customer data and analytics to better know and understand the customer is the foundation of any customer-centric strategy.
Here are the most important customer experience trends for the new year.
The personalization of the customer experience allows companies to meet their customers' specific needs and offer them individualized treatment, which consumers appreciate.
Today, generic communications no longer work. Customers expect you to know them and treat them as an individual. This is where customer segmentation plays a key role and is essential for companies to tailor their experience to consumer preferences.
On the other hand, leveraging artificial intelligence to create personalized experiences will also remain one of the main areas of investment in CX in 2023.
As the level of customer demand continues to rise, companies require new resources to adapt to the speed and personalization demanded by consumers.
Meeting these demands without the help of technology is nearly impossible. Automation is critical to accelerate the processes involved in customer relationship mnagement and the customer journey.
In particular, marketing automation, stands out. Marketing automation allows marketing teams to leverage martech tools to automate routine tasks and focus on strategy, analytics and customer engagement campaigns, for example.
One of the main characteristics of the new generation of customers is their eagerness for immediacy and a more impatient nature than previous generations.
Today's customers want companies to provide them with immediate answers to their questions and to anticipate their needs without them having to explain them or make explicit requests. In this regard, predictive analytics in consumer behavior and customer experience is positioned as another key trend for 2023.
Companies need to take full advantage of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to consolidate a new predictive and proactive mindset. Customer data collection tools can help identify trends that can forecast when potential problems or increases in demand may appear. Moreover, it will be important to employ proactive monitoring tools and leverage real-time customer insights technologies so that companies can provide solutions to potential problems immediately.
In the last few years there has been a progressive growth in the number of customers who prefer self-service when communicating with a brand. Consumers have become more independent, especially with access to automated tools and bots that speed up problem resolution times and the communication of their dissatisfactions and needs.
Increased investment in artificial intelligence, machine learning, workflow automation and conversational analytics tools confirm that self-service is here to stay.
However, companies should not entrust their entire customer service strategy to chatbots and virtual agents. On the contrary, they must find the balance between new self-service options and human attention and interaction, which remains irreplaceable.
Community building continues to position itself as one of the most relevant online marketing strategies for the new year.
Buliding communities already was one of the most successful customer loyalty strategies in 2022. Everything indicates that, in 2023, customer loyalty will also be linked to the success of those brands that manage to build communities and genuine commitments beyond commercial transactions.
One of the most effective methods for creating communities is for customer service or marketing and sales agents to position themselves as leaders and experts in topics related to the company's sector of activity.
The success of building a satisfying customer experience is increasingly linked to omnichannel strategies.
While decades ago multichannel customer experiences were the goal, multichannel strategies outdated after the appearance of omnichannel customer experiences.
According to a 2022 study, 70% of customers say that a successful customer experience is a consistent and cohesive experience across all channels and touch points, both physical and digital.
Today's customers want to be able to communicate and interact with brands effortlessly across multiple channels and to be able to follow up an action they started in one channel from another touch point without having to start the whole process again.
One of the most important dichotomies in the new era of marketing is the demand for personalization as customers give more and more importance to how companies use their personal data.
Clearly, customer data is the basis for personalization and data-driven marketing strategies.
Therefore, organizations must find a balance between ensuring customers' privacy and the correct use of their data, while leveraging customer data to offer a better service.
Keep in mind that customers are willing to share information in exchange for value. Therefore, companies must communicate to their customers that their data is being leveraged to provide them with a better experience, as well as strive to demonstrate that their data is protected.
It is important for companies to prove that they are complying with the latest data protection regulations and that they are adopting the best security measures to protect their customers' confidential information.
Cutting-edge customer experience trends understand the customer experience as a part of a total experience.
The U.S. consulting firm Gartner suggests that the approach that companies should adopt for the future is the 'Total Experience' (TX). This approach consists of understanding the customer experience and the customer journey as part of something bigger: "Successful organizations know you cannot separate customer and employee experience strategies into silos. More organizations across industry sectors, including retail, embrace total experience (TX) to provide a more integrated approach internally and externally. Total experience is a strategy that creates superior shared experiences by weaving together the 4 disciplines i.e the multi experience (MX), customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX) and user experience (UX)."
In other words, the Total Experience (TX) goes beyond the customer experience and involves all the processes and people involved in building the customer journey, giving special importance to the experience of the employees who deal with customers.
Gartner also predicts that companies that adopt a TX model will outperform their competitors by 25% in both customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.
Before you go...
Customer experience is one of the biggest growth opportunities for companies in 2023. As customers become more connected and informed, they expect more personalized and seamless experiences. Companies that invest in understanding and responding to their customers' needs will succeed in building more meaningful relationships with their customers, which can ultimately translate into increased sales and revenue.
Do you want to build a more pleasant and satisfying customer experience? Start now with our exclusive e-book on customer experience in which you will find the 10 steps to follow to optimize the experience you offer to your customers.