The rise of digital technologies

Digital transformation plays a role in almost every aspect of our lives and society nowadays. This situation urges companies to develop and adapt to the most recent technological advances to be able to give their services in an efficient and updated way. It is commonly believed that this digital transformation is making personal contact gradually scarcer. This fact has an impact in the business field, regarding the engagement between brands and customers. However, there are some strategies and techniques that will allow companies to take advantage of technology in order to improve the connection with customers and data collection to better offer their services and actually achieving an expected and useful digital transformation. In the following paragraphs, there will be a brief introduction to the strategies mentioned above.

Getting to know the customers

Every activity we take part in involves an information gathering stage and it is certainly a vital phase when it comes to improving the customer service in a company and fostering loyalty from clients. It seems obvious that new digital devices and applications are a priceless help to collect data when it comes to clients’ inclinations, tastes and expectations which are equally subject to changes than technological advances. Regardless the types of format in which the data are contained, these data are invaluable for companies when planning their performance and efficiency. As we mentioned before, it is key to update the processes a firm uses in order to gather appropriate and beneficial information necessary to sustain an up-to-the-minute brand in terms of being informed about the shifting trends, technological advances and customer’s experiences.

Analyzing Data

The aim of fostering loyalty from customers can be achieved through information about their experiences and expectations. Due to this reason, companies must analyze the wide range of options they have concerning data gathering, through different types of sources. In order to become more efficient and give a better service in every field, it is advisable for firms to review their process and adjust them to the requirements that need to be fulfilled.

Customers currently expect a tailored experience with brands. Therefore, advanced data about their behaviour might be invaluable and, accordingly, the right devices that aim at gathering this information should be incorporated in the data gathering stage. Firstly, companies need to identify what kind of data would be more beneficial for them in order to improve customer engagement. Once taken this fact into account, the different systems and devices should be assessed to adapt to their needs and get the best results.

As we mentioned before, there is a wide range of resources, marketing automation software being one of them, for instance. By this system, some messages or announcements are sent in order to evaluate customer responses and performances. On the other hand, there is the possibility of chatbots, which are used to directly interact with individuals, therefore gathering important information about their behaviour. Certainly, a company can gradually introduce different methods to adapt their needs to the ever-changing technological world.

Conveying a pertinent message

In the task of fostering loyalty from customers it is a key aspect to be pertinent in the messages that a company conveys to their aimed audience, since those will be key to attract their mindfulness.

Customer engagement improvement is certainly one of the most important motivations why firms enter the digital transformation and use the latest devices, which, as a result, backs up the idea of pertinence being vital in the field of offering a tailored and superior service to clients. After having analysed the gathered information about the aimed audience, conveying an appropriate message is the best route to follow.

What is the strategy to do that? Using the data and dividing customer in different groups, so that, companies could produce a different message for each one of the portions of audience and deliver them in the appropriate moment. The wide variety of public platforms, instant chat services and distribution lists offer a great opportunity to this purpose.

Mixing all these resources together boosts the prospects of customer engagement towards the company that introduces them. The development carried out in the field of location data is also very useful when it comes to adapting the relevant messages that have been previously mentioned. The firms can take advantage of the information about customers’ position to produce messages that adapt and benefit the users.

Future towards digital transformation

Once having considered the value that knowing the targeted audience and data gathering have in the success of a company, especially regarding customer engagement, firms must be aware of the fact that digital transformation is almost imperative. Selecting the appropriate resources and channels to achieve this technological integration into the different areas of business will be decisive for a successful brand.

However, since digital transformation is a continuously advancing field, it is not just a matter of a just once transformation. Companies must adapt and update their processes and practices to offer an excellent service to consumers. That is why firms should always have a digital strategy in mind to head to. This is nowadays the way to engage customers and foster their loyalty towards brands.

Overview

In the words of Greg Verdino, the eminent author in the field of digital transformation: “Digital transformation closes the gap between what digital customers already expect and what analog businesses actually deliver”. As a conclusion, we can summarize that customer expectations can be satisfied through different resources that only new technologies can provide, once that firms have information about their targeted audience.

The results of digital transformation are undoubtedly the following ones:

• Building and fostering loyalty from consumers, since they will expect and thank tailored messages and treatment through digital devices
• Efficiency and growth of a company
• More profitable business. Statistics show that companies that have introduced digital technologies are more profitable on average

Equality towards the rest of the companies. All firms are in the path of digital transformation, so not doing the same will be lagging behind.