It has made life easier for users: shopping from home, online banking, education, and remote work, but what does this mean for companies? If it is said that they were not ready for what was coming at the beginning of social distancing, are they ready today?

More is demanded from companies and the experiences they provide.

The digitalization of a more significant part of the population seems good news and gives us a promising future for those of us who are dedicated to everything related to the delivery of experiences through digital media; however, we must also consider that users demand positive experiences, immediate resolution of problems and simplicity in their journey. This forces us to take steps forward by joining marketing, data, and technology.

Marketing Cloud

It is about taking advantage of the cloud infrastructure to receive, manage, analyze, and activate large amounts of data.

It all starts with customers who have contact with multiple channels of communication and marketing of a company (omnichannel). Potentially, they are the ones who have higher average tickets, are closer to make repurchases and recommend a product or service with which they interacted. Still, they are also the ones who demand more personalized experiences.

Marketing Cloud allows us to see data coming from different sources (for example, from the website, social networks, email marketing campaigns, etc.) and relate them to each other to understand the complete user journey better. In other words, these companies are user-centric, they don’t see the user as a different person at each touchpoint, but more like looking at puzzle pieces, which when put together, we can better understand a user’s journey, desires, preferences, and challenges.

According to Forbes (2019), Customer-Centric organizations generate 5 times more revenue than their non-Customer Centric competitors, and to get started on that path, 5 challenges need to be solved:

1. Scaling: the data obtained from users must be reliable and orderly in order to be able to unite them and analyze beyond the obvious, as well as to be able to handle a large amount of data at the same time.
2. From information silos to collaborative work: having scattered user data is like not having it at all. A customer-centric company demands different ways of working: agility, constant learning, collaboration, culture, and the ability to experiment.
3. Real-time visibility: In such a fast and changing dynamic as the one we live in today, acting in time is key, which means being able to make decisions in real-time or as close to it as possible and, of course, with reliable data.
4. Machine Learning: Human capacity for analysis is extraordinary, but it can be limited by too much data and too little time. This is where artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities can make a difference.
5. Insights activation: Everything described above will only make sense if the result of the whole process is to do something with the data and analytics, if that does not translate into better customer experiences and higher revenues for the companies, it will all have been in vain.

Companies whose vision is to be Customer-Centric have to ensure that every touchpoint with a prospect or customer is meaningful: understand their journey, personalize touchpoints, and improve their experience.