The Future of Customer Experience: Trends and Predictions for 2020

Conventional business models are undergoing a massive change. 2019 has become a pivotal point for customer experience (CX). Now, more and more people are beginning to understand the depth of CX and how it should be implemented in the best way possible for the success of any brand. The concept of CX is completely multi-faceted. Some of the key trends that have been shaping brands and will continue to do so are discussed below.

Trends

With a progressive level of expectations, customers have entered into a conversational era with brands. The future of branding is now massively impacted by customers. Brands which are slow and do not respond to customer queries with utmost urgency often fall behind. Timely and effective customer service is very important if you want to grab the attention of your consumers or opportunities. Many new tools and technologies are evolving to take CX to the next level. Investing in the latest innovations is also a very important step to upgrade the CX of your company.

Advancement of the Conversational Era

It will always be a universal truth that innovative technology takes the brand forward but the user experience that is generated through real conversations is something that cannot be replaced by any tech. However, automated models of several customer operations are sure to arise. Brands are building trust and faith with their customers by leveraging the proper use of conversational apps like Messenger and WhatsApp and using the chatbots with proper strategy.

Self-service options are becoming increasingly popular among customers of all ages and demographics. Every customer wants to share their own opinion with the concerned brand and thus, this has led to the formation of several forums whereby like-minded customers get together in order to discuss the customer experience that they received from a particular brand. This, in turn, raises brand awareness. These conversations influence others. Moreover, adults often prefer speaking with a chatbot more than discussing their problems on a call with some live person.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has created a huge impact

One of the trends in CX transformation has been the implementation of AI at different levels. The growing trend of AI indicates that the present jobs may not even exist in the future. The impact that is taking place is affecting all sectors and also bringing about a social disruption. Therefore, brands are taking measures. These measures are not only for the future but also for today’s world and will help the customers to get ready for this impact to take place in full force. It is anticipated that in 5-10 years from now, there will be a collaborative approach between AI and workers, and both will be working in sync to maximise the company’s profits.

The vision is definitely going to place a big impact on companies in the sense that they can operate in a more cost-effective manner but transforming the low-value-added tasks into automated procedures.

Value-Focused Approach

Customers always seek value from brands. Automated systems or human-based channels are coming up with a better customer value proposition. The holy grail of improving your business in today’s world is to impress the customers, give them some value and accept all challenges deftly.

Predictions

IoT and Digital Branding

According to Marketo, IoT is going to remodel the marketing field and this has been foreseen by 51% of the leading marketers. Today, the world only has 15 billion devices but by 2020, it is supposed to have 200 million. A simple calculation says that this will mean that each person on Earth will have 27 connected devices. Thus B2B marketers are definitely going to benefit from this implication. One of the prime advantages of IoT will be personalisation. Custom and dynamic content will play a part in guiding the way customs interact with a brand.

Enhanced CX with Intelligent Assistants and AI

Gartner had declared that as much as 80% of the total consumer interactions in 2020 will be made by a non-human. Two of the most important role-playing agents in this are the virtual agents and chatbots. Google Analytics has always been a key tool of every marketer and now with the launch of the cross-device feature will allow the marketers to assess and judge how much impact their campaigns are making on their targeted customer group. Moreover, this will also be cost-effective as the marketers will be informed about their non-influential campaigns and thus make the necessary changes to transform them into something influential. Thus, all of this will enhance the marketers’ ability to design a more personalised marketing strategy and come up with a more tailored-to-fit CX.

Another hit in this context that is going to influence the market in 2020 is the concept of EmoBots. These will change the entire scenario as they help the brands to gauge the emotional reactions given by customers in real-time during the entire conversation made between the brand and the customer. Moreover, the expansion of AI-supported personal assistants is going to be a big game-changer for 2020. This includes Microsoft Cortana, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa to name a few. Authentic digital communication which will feel more human will be the main motive of AI and thus help to bridge the gap that still exists between humans and chatbots.

Hyper-Personalisation with Strategic Techniques

Implementation of dynamic strategies is definitely going to be one of the main focal points of enhancing CX in 2020. Technologies like geolocation, AI, and predictive analytics are some of the major ones which are thought to be incorporated in the marketing strategies at a huge level. Hyper-customised messages throughout the contextual conversations of a person are also going to benefit the brands. There is also a tendency of a rise in the individualised products and services in the market due to a rising demand between the customers and the brand’s focus on enhancing user experience.

The predictive analytics will take necessary data from a huge ocean and then help the companies to use that data and build a marketing campaign that will be most relevant to the targeted customer. There are intelligent models which will help the companies come up with suggestions on the next move of the customer and then devise a strategy accordingly.

Immersive Technologies for Greater Engagement

Zero-UI-driven solutions are necessary for fostering an engagement rate. Technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will have to work hand in hand in order to give the customer a fully immersive experience. To make the customers feel like they can touch and feel all of this, these technologies are going to dominate CX 2020. Greater animations with an enhanced video quality along with unmatched sound experience together with innovations like 3-D visuals, VR/AR headsets and so many other things will deliver the customers with a marketing message that cannot be separated from the reality. This will automatically hike the engagement rates.

Instant Gratification Techniques

Some of the instant gratification techniques that retail giants have already started implementing are super-fast delivery, extra-fast feedback loop and also answering to customer queries at their earliest. Quick responses will prove to be one of the greatest aspects of increasing customer engagement. Chatbots, expedited shipping policies and same-day delivery systems are some of the strategies that customers seem to love and they are going to continually enhance their functioning even in 2020 to aim for a progressive engagement. Moreover, refunds are being made even more flexible and slogans like “no-questions-asked” are being displayed in the refund policy of the website. The speed with which a brand can execute a task will prove to be one of the turning points of increased sales.

Thus, companies will be aiming for a unified approach to increase their engagement with the customers and driving the customers towards actually availing the services of the brand. Intelligent personalisation and innovative strategies based on nature and past interactions with the customer will be making it big among the companies for enhancing their CX in 2020. Automation tools are going to be playing a major role in marketing strategies. Campaign automation is rising in popularity and in 2020, it is going to be the only mantra.