Improving Your CX Metrics with Better Content

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of providing unified omnichannel customer experiences. Yet many organizations fail to deliver one of the fundamental elements for engagement—relevant content that connects on a human level.

According to a recent Salesforce report, 88% of customers say the experience a company provides is just as important as its product or services. A brand’s written and visual content is a key part of that experience and the cornerstone of the way it communicates with the world. Well-crafted content empathizes with your customers, anticipates their needs, builds trust, and inspires them to invest in your brand.

The Growth and Value of CX

Since the pandemic, many top brands have prioritized developing a successful CX strategy. Industry research firm Gartner reports that more than 5,000 companies worldwide have a dedicated CX leader, with nearly half reporting directly to the CEO. Gartner analysts suggest that this increasing CEO oversight demonstrates the importance of CX improvements to the bottom line.

How are companies measuring their CX impact? Primarily through customer surveys. Typical survey-based CX metrics include the Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and Customer Effort Score (CES), among others. Read our CX Measurement Model E-book for recommendations on developing a more comprehensive CX approach based on real-time customer data.

While CX metrics’ visibility across top-level management is rapidly increasing, measurement should not be the end goal. CX is a tool marketing leaders can leverage to understand how customers interact with their brand and to identify ways to strengthen customer loyalty, retention, and overall satisfaction. 

So where should you start? To generate real value and demonstrate ROI from your CX initiatives, focus on delivering omnichannel customer-centric communication.

Build Trust Through Clear Communication

In Salesforce’s study of more than 13,000 customers, 74% say communicating honestly and transparently is more critical now than before the pandemic. “As customers navigate a rapidly changing world, questions of trust, values, and integrity are coming to the fore.” 

Building customer trust starts with clear, transparent communication and follow-through. From truthful claims about a brand’s product and services to an authentic stance on environmental or social issues, what a brand has to say—and how it says it—can deepen relationships with customers or instantly lose their loyalty.

When developing customer-centric content, a few things should stay top of mind:

And perhaps most important to establishing meaningful connections, committing to an authentic approach to meeting the customer’s needs will humanize your brand.

Personalized Content Drives Engagement

One of the most effective post-pandemic trends in CX is leveraging data to deliver personalized content for a seamless customer-centric experience. Acquia reports that over a third of global brands (35%) have relied more on personalization in the past 12 months than ever before to adapt to new customer behaviors. This trend is even higher in Singapore (53%) and Australia (45%). 

Marketers are embracing personalized content experiences for good reason. A 2022 Broadridge CX report finds that 74% of consumers want brands to customize their experience based on what the brand knows about them. And 63% of consumers are more likely to engage and respond to interactive and personalized messaging. 

To build a one-to-one relationship with consumers, many organizations with mature CX programs rely on a digital experience platform (DXP). These DXPs enable brands to create tailored cross-channel experiences for each individual customer. Discover how to connect with customers better through a DXP, with insights from CI&T.

Better Content Makes Better Experiences

If you want to improve your brand’s CX holistically, start with customer-centric content. Expertly crafted written and visual content can positively impact every touchpoint in your customer’s journey. It also significantly impacts internal metrics such as employee training and development. 

Original (and actually helpful) content helps your brand stand out in search results and can entice a potential customer to click to learn more. It can definitively tell your brand story, communicate your company’s values, articulate your unique value proposition, and educate and empower your employees. Share-worthy content keeps your customers engaged and solidifies their brand affinity, helping turn one-time shoppers into loyalists, and even advocates.

Whether you are looking to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction, decrease customer churn, boost employee engagement—or all of the above, great content can be a key driver of real-world results.

---