It’s a tough time for marketers — economic uncertainty and corresponding consumer behavior have created a hyper-competitive environment in which brands wish to thrive (or in some cases, stay afloat).
Businesses and the marketers that support them need to be more agile than ever before, and in an environment this dynamic, it’s crucial to pause and recenter your focus on understanding your buyers. Studying ever-changing customer behaviors, preferences and perceptions has always been foundational for marketers, but perhaps now more than ever. Embracing diverse research methods and regularly testing your assumptions will help you make informed decisions that ensure relevance and effectiveness.
In Q4 of last year, Merkle’s expert research team conducted a global survey of consumers and business leaders across eight major industries. Our aim was to understand consumers’ perceptions and expectations of their brand experiences and how the CX stacked up.
We uncovered surprising information about today’s consumers. While we recognize that consumers are not a monolith, there were consistent themes that rose to the top.
Consumers want cost effectiveness (55%), convenience (46%) and consistency (40%) from their future brand experiences. These three attributes outranked information, personalization, enjoyment and alignment to beliefs and values. Brands that are best equipped to meet these needs have a customer-first culture that transcends departments. Of course, critical to success is taking a deeper dive on what these attributes mean in the context of your brand and the supporting customer experience.
For the most part, consumers (48%) trust how brands are using their data. They are less certain, however (38%), that brands are using their data to better the customer experience. It’s important for brands to never lose sight of the value exchange they provide to customers for collecting their data. Consumer trust can be lost on a few bad data points.
When it comes to brands’ use of artificial intelligence, consumers are most concerned with security (e.g., privacy/identity protection [57%] and hackability [58%]) and surveillance (e.g., listening/recording [51%] and tracking [50%]). These concerns rose to the top above apprehensions such as putting humans out of work, unintended bias and inaccuracy, among others. For these reasons, we’re vocal proponents of ethical AI, which is the practice of establishing guardrails for AI use to respect consumer privacy, values and rights, and prevent discrimination and manipulation.
Consumers want more human-led brand interactions than brands may expect. Our survey revealed that, in general, consumers prefer in-person purchases but digital payment options. When requesting support from a brand, consumers prefer human interactions across every vertical. It’s imperative for business leaders to pay attention to these preferences and deliver seamless, connected experiences in which technology augments human touchpoints and vice versa. For brands that are known for great service delivered by humans, technology can give staff superpowers.
Post-purchase interactions have the most room for improvement. Our data shows that, on average, consumers want the later stages of their purchase journeys to be better than they are currently. There must be emphasis on the entire experience a brand has with its audience, especially given the influence loyal customers have on new customers — advocacy is critical! Brands that excel at delivering post-purchase experiences are likely to measure their program’s success through long-term metrics such as customer lifetime value.
Not all buzzy tech is created equal, especially to the consumer. Author William Gibson famously said, “The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” We found that to be true in our research. Some pieces of emerging tech, such as smart devices and voice commerce, are less used by brands but deliver the most impact on a consumer’s experience. Others, such as personalized emails and self-checkout systems, are more widely used but hold less sway. Constant customer feedback is critical to effectively implementing and evolving new technology.
Whether you’re beginning your customer experience transformation or have a mature customer-led organization, it’s imperative to regularly take stock of what connects you to your customers. It’s virtually impossible to expect consumers to follow the traditional path to purchase at your command. Brands that excel in today’s experience economy succeed at empowering customers — through information, ease of discovery or purchase, or ongoing service delivery — in every engagement.
You may view the data in Merkle’s 2024 CX Imperatives. The report provides key data points around customer expectations, examines how they differ across industries, and explores the themes above in greater detail.
In his 25-year journey in the marketing industry, Pete Stein has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to helping world-class brands deliver extraordinary customer experiences. As global president of Merkle and Dentsu’s CXM practice, Stein leads the development and delivery of its full breadth of capabilities that drive customer experience transformation. Stein partners across regions and practice areas to shape Merkle’s brand strategy and go-to-market value proposition.
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