In her years of experience as a marketing analyst and advisor to the C-Suite, Erna Alfred Liousas has worked with businesses of all sizes. From small SMBs to large enterprises, she’s seen it all. And it’s through these interactions with marketing departments of all sizes that she found clarity on all the areas where marketers are struggling most, including where a marketing team is most-frequently struggling in designing the customer experience.

“Marketers are recognizing that customer experience consists of numerous touchpoints, including all of the ones that marketing owns. The true definition of customer experience is the perception that customers have of an organization. And that perception is formed by the interactions across all of the brand’s touchpoints. So it’s not just marketing. It’s not just a product. It’s not just service. It’s everything.”

Erna is the founder and CEO of U*Realized, and on this episode of Marketing Trends, she discusses why marketers need to start placing a greater emphasis on customer service and the feedback loops those interactions provide. She also discusses how messaging specificity can make all the difference when trying to reach your target audience, and why playing in three channels as opposed to one, might pay huge dividends.

Main Takeaways:

• There’s Gold in There: Customer services are  a way to directly capture thoughts and insights from the customer, and smart marketers should be using those insights as a peek behind the curtain at some of the unspoken or indirect feedback customers are thinking about. Marketers should view customer service as another channel that can supplement some of the information that you would be getting elsewhere.
• Be Intentional: Make sure you are doing your due process before you commit to any one channel. Now is the time for marketers to review all of the channels that they’ve been leaning on and calling successful and ask themselves tough questions, such as: are customers actually engaging with us or are they just liking the content? Your social channels must accomplish a goal, so make sure you are setting KPIs in order to reach that goal.
• Make it Sing: When it comes to messaging, specificity and relevance are what will have the most impact. Make sure you understand what the message is you’re trying to convey, the importance of it in relation to the customer, and which of their channels they would prefer to see that message or content.

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