How brands can secure their successes even after the pandemic

It is an understatement to say that customer behavior and expectations have changed significantly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Results of a cross-national study of consumers and marketers in the US, UK and Ireland by Sitecore show that a revolution in customer experience is on the horizon - and it will also take place in German-speaking countries.

More than three quarters (77%) of UK marketers have fundamentally changed their customer experience strategy in response to the pandemic. Most respondents report positive results as a result of this change in strategy. 75 percent feel "more connected with their customers". 74% of respondents also said they had made more progress in building their technology stack in the past year than in the previous three years combined. Unfortunately, many of these developments seem to have come at a cost: 71% of marketers admit that they have mostly implemented short-term measures rather than lasting innovations - and for 74%, the past year has been the most challenging time in their careers. Most marketers understandably want to develop these short-term measures before moving on to other priorities - especially in medium-sized companies.

Investing in technology to overcome the pandemic

Numerous trends can be identified from these seemingly contradictory data points. The most obvious: the coronavirus has accelerated the pace of digital transformation. When the pandemic hit, most companies began to review and expand their digital offering at full speed. Online platforms became the main, if not only, way to connect with customers. As a result, many companies focused their investments on existing platforms and their ecosystems. In particular, these were customer relationship management (CRM) systems, which provide a centralized location for customer data to respond to changing customer demand and ensure positive interactions. However, enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools also gained relevance as they can be used to automate and optimize operations and manage data.

During the pandemic, most marketing teams were able to use these central platforms to their advantage. However, CRM and ERP stacks can only support marketers to a limited extent because they only provide a partial understanding of customers. They do not provide a nuanced view of the customer's complete history, which brands could use to determine the best possible next marketing action, for example.

The technologies and tools used by most companies are not fit for purpose to deliver a consistent experience that can delight customers across all channels and touchpoints. This became particularly clear at the start of the pandemic. Companies had to focus on ways to secure revenue by expanding sales of existing products to existing customers. At the same time, other sales channels changed fundamentally or disappeared completely - in some cases overnight, as stores had to close due to the lockdown. Existing tools were often inadequate for the new challenge. As a result, companies had to offer experiences that were compelling enough to stand out from the competition and inspire purchasing decisions.

Long-term digital experience strategy with a focus on customers

To achieve this and to create relevant, practical and outstanding experiences that drive customer loyalty, content is crucial. We might not call everything we see on a website, in an app or in an email 'content'. But we all know that the images, videos or articles we view online create a reaction in us consumers - whether we find something interesting, touching or inspiring. The best digital content creates a physical reaction, such as a purchase or an emotional response. Experience-driven brands have spent years trying to create these types of reactions. However, the complexity of digital environments can make it difficult to achieve.

But it's worth getting it right. Because that's exactly what consumers want - especially after a year of lockdowns and closures. The shift towards online shopping has set high standards for digital customer experiences. According to the Corona Consumer Checks of the IFH KÖLN in March of this year, 43 percent of people in Germany made purchases online that they would normally have made in-store.

Most consumers expect brands to know and understand their shopping history and habits - and to offer them a consistent and personalized experience online and offline. Providing personalized content that rewards customers for their loyalty is also essential to attract and retain customers who are more conscious than ever about the online experience.

High-quality digital CX wherever it counts

Companies that want to respond to an increasingly digital world first need to know their customers. They need data about their purchasing behavior and must be able to create suitable content. In this way, they can awaken a feeling in customers that encourages them to take action and ultimately make a purchase. Marketing teams that want to develop and expand their technology stack against this backdrop face a major challenge.

Despite the huge strides made in online customer experience and e-commerce over the past year, many CMOs and CIOs still struggle to create a holistic strategy that combines marketing, sales and service. To fulfill all needs, they are often forced to piece together a martech stack from dozens of isolated solutions on different platforms. In the worst case, such isolated technologies can prevent what really matters - providing the right content for customers to tell a relevant story tailored to them.

That is why it is essential to have consistent end-to-end solutions. Integrating the existing ERP and CRM systems into a purpose-built digital experience platform enables marketers to focus on the essentials. This is because such a platform serves all consumer touchpoints from content to e-commerce.

Brands that were able to respond quickly and effectively to the changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic were successful with this type of digital customer experience. When the pandemic broke out in 2020, companies had to change - especially those that primarily approached consumers in person or through retailers. Even Sitecore customers who were already practicing digital orientation repositioned themselves to stand out from the new crowd of companies. Brands like Deloitte Digital and Johns Hopkins were thrust into new roles in public health and expanded their content-driven initiatives. Sitecore helped them implement deeper personalization from content to e-commerce and achieve experience-led growth.

A look into the future

More than a year on from the start of the pandemic, companies are now looking at how they can reorient themselves in line with the customer experience, which often begins online. Brands must continue to modernize their operations and meet dramatically changing customer experience expectations. The kind of customers that were only expected in 2030 have been around since 2020.

To meet these increased expectations for exceptional customer experiences, they need a stronger focus on providing the technology and infrastructure for marketers. This will enable them to further optimize their services, from content to e-commerce. Customers are more knowledgeable than ever when it comes to digital issues. It is therefore essential to be flexible enough to serve their needs in an intelligent and integrated way across all channels.

Marketers who were caught cold during the pandemic and didn't have the right technology in place often struggled to renew and ramp up their digital capabilities. Soon we will enter a post-pandemic world characterized by ever-changing consumer expectations and distribution channels - where a proper technological foundation becomes a must for marketers.

* Jill Grozalsky is Product Marketing Director at Sitecore and an expert in the field of digital marketing. Her focus is on personalization, user segmentation, testing and complex marketing strategies.