Marketers do not know the customer

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE There is a wide gap between how marketing is perceived within a company and customers' actual experience. This is shown by a study published by IBM.

The relationship between customers and brands is a give and take.Customers not only consume, they also pass on very personal information to companies they trust. In return, however, they also expect unique shopping experiences - and this is where companies come in. Econsultancy has therefore conducted two studies in the USA to take a closer look at both sides. The first focused on marketing experts from 276 consumer goods companies, most of which generate sales of over one billion US dollars per year. The second study contains the direct responses of 1,135 customers, the very people who are heralding the transition from the digital decade to the decade of customer experience.Customers feel misunderstoodThe surveys revealed that 80 percent of marketing experts firmly believe that they always have a comprehensive view of individual customers and market segments in all interactions and communication channels. They are also confident in their ability to deliver outstanding shopping experiences, both offline (75 percent), online on PC (69 percent) and via mobile devices (57 percent).Despite this high level of agreement, only 47 percent of marketers say they can deliver relevant communications. In fact, this figure may even be too high: When customers were asked if they thought companies personalize the shopping experience (products, special offers and other information), the answer was a resounding no, even for the brands they trust. Here are some of the results:- Only 37 percent of respondents feel that their preferred retailer perceives them as an individual- Only 22 percent of respondents believe that the average retailer perceives them as an individual- Only 21 percent of customers believe that the messages they receive are "mostly relevant" on average- Only 35 percent of customers believe that messages from their preferred retailers are "mostly relevant" This lack of understanding and relevance could explain why many customers terminate the purchase process on company webshops prematurely. According to the "IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark", more and more customers are abandoning their online purchases prematurely - in February 2015, the figure was 72.9 percent.Brand companies cannot generate a cross-media buying experienceOne explanation for this discrepancy in perception could be that companies have not yet adapted to our current lifestyle, which is characterized by numerous communication channels. In the study, only 34% of marketing experts stated that they had successfully linked the online and offline shopping experience. Although there is already a certain link for customers, as they mainly research products online, they spend most of their money offline. However, in order to make progress here, marketing must close this gap. One problem here is technical implementation. Only 37% of marketers said they had the tools to create an exceptional customer experience.Customer loyalty leaves a lot to be desiredThose who do not offer such experiences must reckon with losses. To prove this, customers were asked whether they had changed their service provider in the past 12 months. This involved areas with notoriously low fluctuation, such as banking, internet providers and satellite/cable network providers:- 49 percent of customers stated that they had switched providers in the past 12 months, with customer experience playing a significant role.- 30 percent switched due to provider failure, with 51 percent citing customer experience as a key factor.- 59 percent switched because the new provider had a better offer, with 42 percent citing products as the most important factor, followed by experience at 29 percent.Gaining knowledge through customer trustCompanies that succeed in customer experience pave the way for a wave of brand loyalty, customer referrals and trust. In the study, customers were asked to what extent they would share their most valuable personal data with a brand company. The result: 38 percent would give an average company their geographical data, 37 percent would also give personal data. These figures rose dramatically for the brand companies they trust. Example:- 72 percent would pass on geographical data to a brand they trust. This marks an increase of 89 percent.- 61 percent would pass on personal data to a brand they trust - an increase of 65 percent.Further information is available at: www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/