by Rhonda Basler, Hallmark Business Connections
Jeannie Walters, speaker, writer and CEO of Experience Investigators by 360Connext, recently visited us at Hallmark and we had the opportunity to discuss the intricate weaving of the disciplines between marketing and customer experience.
Jeannie and I share something in common: a passion for human evaluation of the customer experience. We both enjoy dissecting the moments that matter to customers and employees to truly understand what fosters a great relationship and yields professional and personal results.
When you hear Jeannie in the video below, you’ll come to understand why billions of dollars are wasted every year on ineffective marketing—it’s marketing that doesn’t matter. It advertises, but does not build a relationship between companies and their customers.
So how do you make your marketing more effective?
Make it a customer experience—the kind of marketing that builds sales and profitability by being authentic, genuine and in the best interest of customers. Here are five of the key tips and insights we discuss in the video above:
1. Marketing plays a role in customer experience (and vice versa.)
How a company goes to market and the way they plan and execute their marketing plays a significant role in the customer experience, whether or not it is formally defined as a marketing responsibility.
2. Let the customer journey be your guide.
One of the best marketing planning tools is an end-to-end customer journey map. Ideally, the same map is used throughout the organization for all functional plans.
The leaders in #Marketing are being told ‘Guess What? You’re in charge of #CustomerExperience!’ …and not being told much about what that means.”
3. Rethink the role of a CCO and CEO.
A formal CCO (Chief Customer Officer) or CEO (Chief Experience Officer) is not important by title, but by the role they play in connecting the departments and employees of a company to create a unified, effortless, distinguished customer experience.
4. Measure both sides of the coin.
Customer experience and marketing measurement are two sides of the same coin. Impact to NPS (Net Promoter Score), customer retention, net customer growth, new product revenue, ROI—almost every metric you can think of—has commonalities across both disciplines.
5. Make friends inside and outside your organization.
Jeannie and I are proof that strong networks give the gift of colleagues who will challenge and support you and make life more fun. Networks lead to better cross collaboration, creativity and diversity in thought—all things that help you better represent your customers and their needs.
How does your marketing stand up to the “human evaluation?”
If it seems a little cold, stagnant or ineffective, maybe it’s time to revisit your customer journey maps and determine how you can turn your marketing into a customer relationship building engine.
This post was written for, and a version originally appeared on the Hallmark Business Connections blog.
Jeannie