Customer experience trends are essential for brands aiming to secure a competitive advantage. According to Deloitte, people are likely to spend 140% more after a positive experience than those after a negative experience.
Customer experiences can make or break sales. But more than that, they have a huge impact on customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and revenue growth.
The CX big picture affects how companies launch and market products and services. But these trends also trickle down to the operational level of day-to-day digital marketing.
Here are 11 CX trends we predict people will expect from brands in 2024.
11 customer experience trends to start using
Table of Contents
1. Start with the basics
First things first, make sure your core customer service team is up to scratch. 50% of consumers value knowledgeable staff. 43% are willing to pay more for quality customer service. Needless to say, it’s important, your team delivers.
Make sure that what you offer is worthwhile in the first place. Good customer experience means a broad knowledge base, friendly staff, and fast response times.
Trader Joe’s ranks 5th in the Forbes Best Customer Service list. Right down to the supermarket floor staff, their CX is excellent. Happy staff means happy customers, and Trader Joe’s invests heavily in their employee experience.
2. Hyper-personalize the customer experience
71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. Use data and insights to tailor experiences to the customer.
Customer segmentation allows you to put customers into subgroups based on things like demographics, behavior, or location. Target segments with specific, valuable content. Your customers are more likely to engage when information is relevant and tailored to their needs.
For instance, you can send personalized emails, product recommendations, and targeted ads.
Personalized experiences also mean sending messages on the right channel. Some customers respond better to SMS marketing, for example.
Example of an SMS campaign in Brevo
Transactional emails are also hyper-personalized. These are emails that follow a transaction or specific action. Order confirmations, receipts, and password reset notifications reassure your customers that you are trustworthy.
Just be sure to keep content relevant and specific to your customer’s needs.
3. Stay consistent with omnichannel CX
Optimize omnichannel experiences to ensure that CX is consistent and seamless across all touchpoints.
Omnichannel CX is about bringing your services to your customers. Your parents might have taught you to bring your food up to meet you, not to bring your head down to meet your food. Be customer-centric so your customers don’t have to strain their necks to get support.
Know your customer journeys, and adapt messaging at different touchpoints. Whether customers reach you on social media, live chat, or via email, keeping up with their history is key for building a 5-star experience.
Never let a customer ask the same question twice with a universal inbox. A universal inbox lets you access conversations from all channels in one place.
With a CRM database, keeping track of customer interactions across channels is a breeze.
Example of live chat
4. Protect customer data
Customers need to trust that the data is being used responsibly. Good CX ensures there are no data breaches or wrongful use of information.
Be transparent about how you use customer data. Businesses that prioritize data privacy are at an advantage.
Even better, give customers autonomy over their data.
IKEA gives shoppers control of their data with their ‘Customer Data Promise’. In their own words, “You do your part and we do our part and together we create value. We are establishing a dialogue around people’s preferences, giving control back to them.”
There are data protection regulations worldwide. In the US, it’s important to follow CCPA, CAN-Spam, and other data protection laws. If you engage with the European market, you must be GDPR compliant. Future-proof your business with good data protection practices.
5. Improve accessibility
Make sure that your information is readily accessible. This also means adapting content to stay in touch with disabled users.
Include alt text to describe images so that visually impaired users. Use clear formatting, fonts, and colors so that software such as the KNFB Reader can scan your content and read it out loud.
Here are some more accessibility measures that might suit your business:
- Install voice recognition features for users who have difficulty with manual input.
- Provide lip-reading alternatives to phone calls for deaf or hard-of-hearing customers.
- Add real-time captions for video content.
- Use easy-to-understand language to accommodate people with cognitive disabilities.
- Train customer service employees on accessibility and inclusive communication.
You might not get it all right in the first instance, so encourage customer feedback. Engage in social listening and keep your communication open. You can always improve customer experiences by understanding what disabled users tell you.
6. Lean into sustainability
More and more, consumers are looking to brands to uphold certain sustainability standards. 70% of consumers switch brands based on product quality. A further 25% switch when a different brand aligns more with their values. Sustainability is no longer just a nice-to-have. It’s a necessity.
Keep your customers engaged and satisfied by aligning with their values. However, don’t fall into the trap of greenwashing. Communicate your sustainability efforts clearly and honestly.
Cult fashion brand GANNI is an excellent example of this.
Example of sustainability communication (Source)
They don’t claim to be a sustainable brand. Instead, they produce detailed responsibility reports. They are upfront about what they have fallen short on and provide great detail for their customers.
Being transparent with your sustainability communication allows your customers to make informed decisions about your brand.
Related reading: 50 Earth Day Subject Lines & Examples For Eco-Minded Businesses
7. Secure customer loyalty
Great customer experience can mean the difference between one-time users and loyal customers. 96% of consumers share that good customer service determines their loyalty to a brand.
A further 49% of consumers increase their spending after joining a loyalty program.
The Beauty Insider Program by Sephora is a prime example of earning customer loyalty. It is a three-tiered program based on annual spending – the more you spend, the better rewards you earn. Members accumulate points for everything they buy, which they can redeem for rewards.
Points earned in Sephora Loyalty Program (Source)
This program is widely recognized for its success in the retail industry. The highest tier of the program belongs to customers who spend over $1,000 a year. It’s no wonder how Sephora drives significant customer engagement and sales.
Here are ideas of how you can encourage loyalty in your customer base:
- Reward interactions such as social media shares and reviews.
- Offer exclusive benefits perks to loyalty program members.
- Encourage and act on customer feedback to improve.
- Create spaces for customers to connect over shared interests related to the brand.
Always act on feedback to meet expectations and improve customer retention.
8. Automate for customer satisfaction
Integrating customer experience automation (CXA) boosts customer satisfaction while optimizing operational efficiency.
Automate routine customer interactions and repetitive tasks to deliver service at scale. This also frees up time for service agents, so they can focus on the things that need a human touch.
One practical application of CXA is email automation. Many email marketing platforms allow you to create automated email workflows. These send timely emails triggered by specific customer actions, like welcome emails and onboarding series after new signups and purchases.
It’s about sending the right message at the right moment.
Brevo allows you to use workflow templates and create custom workflows.
9. Optimize self-service experiences
61% of consumers say that their customer service interaction begins with self-service. Since this is the first point of contact, ensure your self-service options are complete and easy to use from the outset.
Self-service options can be FAQ sections, blog posts, discussion forums or video content. Videos demonstrate common pain points and their solutions; instructional, how-tos, and Q&A videos are all great formats for self-service users.
AI-powered Chatbots act as digital agents, or the ‘first line defense’. They tackle common queries and help with around-the-clock customer service. Discover more chatbot examples to get your started.
Example of a chatbot scenario.
10. Leverage generative AI
We’ve touched on bots. Now let’s discuss other ways that emerging technologies can improve your CX strategy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can generate personalized customer experiences at scale. It can create responses, recommendations, and unique content based on customer behavior.
73% of marketers in the US use generative AI tools in their work. That’s why we recommend integrating it into your CX and marketing strategies.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Content creation. Speak directly to the customer’s interests in personalized blog posts, news articles, or video content.
- Conversations. Beyond standard chatbots, AI can power advanced conversational agents. They can understand context, remember past interactions, and even mimic human-like emotions.
- Voice assistants. AI can enhance voice assistants to understand user needs, even in complex conversational contexts. This technology is more intuitive and makes for a seamless user experience.
Set up a synthetic customer
A synthetic customer is a data model of a customer. Machine learning tools can predict the behavior of a customer based on existing data. Data-driven approaches anticipate your customers’ needs before they become issues.
Synthetic customers allow you to make informed decisions based on accurate predictions. It solves problems preemptively and provides proactive customer support.
Learn how to improve your marketing strategies using customer intelligence.
11. Consider augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) combines both real-world and virtual elements. It’s interactive CX and can bring an online shopping experience closer to that of a brick-and-mortar store.
When customers couldn’t come into stores during COVID, Ulta Beauty developed a virtual try-on experience. It used AR technology to simulate how makeup would look on a user’s face in real-time. This not only improved the online-shopping experience, but reduced the likelihood of returns.
Ecommerce AR is changing how we think about the digital customer experience. It’s a powerful tool for brands to set themselves apart with more interactive, personalized, and satisfying CX.
Moving forward with customer experience trends
Good CX will foster a deeper, more meaningful connection with customers. Understanding this, and investing in positive customer experience is essential for lasting success.
Incorporating even a few of these trends into your strategies will not only meet customer expectations, but place you well ahead in 2024.
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