Digital Strategy Begins With Your Customers

In his recent post – “Use Your Digital Strategy to Differentiate” on his blog, digalicious, Rich Nadworny  points out “that for many, a digital strategy means deciding to have a blog, or putting up a Facebook page with the goal of gaining X number of followers”.  Further he asks, “ …how does this differentiate you?  His answer is right-on, it doesn’t!  No amount of great content will counter-act a poor customer experience across the continuum of multiple digital touch points they demand.  A digital strategy is about connecting the dots across your entire organization.  It isn’t about your Corporate Communications tweeting a link to your next press release or product announcement, it isn’t about redesigning your website to be search engine friendly, and it isn’t about setting up a company YouTube channel.

It starts at the core of your organization.  Who is held accountable within your company for customer experience?  Is it the customer service department or is it integral to the DNA of your entire organization?  Is your customer data accessible across the company or does it live in line-of-business or departmental silos?  Where does customer feedback fit?  Do you actually do anything with it?  Are you modifying business processes or making organizational changes to better deliver on the customer experience?  This is where a digital strategy begins.

 

Customer Experience Management

I just returned from the Adobe Enterprise Partner Community Days Conference in New Orleans, LA. While there were a number of interesting presentations, one of the most engaging was by Bruce Temkin, entitled “The 6 Imperatives of Customer Experience”.  His blog is called “Customer Experience Matters”.  It is a gold mine in terms of great, to-the-point info-graphics that highlight the research Bruce and his organization is doing.  See below for example:

Consumer Experience Sharing by Channel

As a start, check out his FREE e-book, The Six Laws of Customer Experience

 

The Art of Story in Presentation

Nancy Duarte’s talk at TEDx East from Duarte Design on Vimeo.

How would you like to present your Brand’s next big idea with the precision and passion of Apple’s Steve Jobs iPhone introduction or Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech?  A friend sent me an email this weekend with the link to Nancy Duarte’s video presentation at TEDx East on Vimeo (embedded above).  Having recently read Nancy’s book, “Resonate“, the video codified the elements she puts forward in the book:

  • Connect with your audience empathetically
  • Craft ideas that get repeated
  • Rely on story structures inherent in great communication
  • Create captivating content
  • Inspire enthusiasm and support for your vision

The video is 20 minutes long but well worth the investment of your time and attention.