Chris Wells | Critical Mass Chicago

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Consumers have a myriad of choices in today’s rapidly changing digital environment.  As a result, digital marketers have to work harder to deliver extraordinary experiences that resonate with customers.  Why is this important?  Because it’s the extraordinary experiences we create for customers that allow us to build lasting and meaningful relationships with them.

In order to meet this challenge, it can be a worthwhile exercise to take stock of the terrific brand experiences we’ve recently encountered. To gain some outside perspective on capturing customer loyalty in the new digital social age, I asked a few friends to share their recent experiences with brands.

One friend recounted a recent direct mail piece he received from Southwest airlines and how it produced a significant and lasting positive brand effect for him.   He explained that after coming home from a long workday, he opened his mailbox to find a birthday card from Southwest.  It was personalized with his name and arrived a few days before his actual birthday.  It was a simple birthday card that included a discount on an upcoming flight and a drink coupon.  The message was also very simple and direct and included a statement to the effect of “Happy Birthday!  Have a drink on us!” According to my friend, this simple gesture went a long way towards building a lasting relationship between he and the airline.  Now he always checks for flights on Southwest before any other carrier.

Upon asking another friend, she recalled a recent experience with ProFlowers, an online flower delivery company.  She received an email reminder about 2-weeks before her mother’s birthday.  The subject line of the email was personalized with her mother’s name, saying, “Remember, Evelyn’s birthday is coming up soon!”  Again, not a very complicated message, but a valuable one that made an impact with my friend and helped to ensure she’ll always think of ProFlowers each time she orders flowers for her mom’s—or anyone else’s–birthday.

Both of these are examples of simple but great customer experiences.  The mere fact that my friends were able to remember the messaging, timing and impact of these interactions suggests they are the kind of brand experiences most marketers strive to achieve with their customers.

What do these two customer experiences have in common?

• They delivered VALUE and/or convenience.
• They were RELEVANT.
• They were PERSONAL.

We could all take these insights as lessons learned and call it a day.  However, as digital marketers we are continuously challenged with how to take these kinds of customer experiences from “great” to “extraordinary” in order to build deeper customer relationships and brand loyalty. Forrester Research wholeheartedly supports this notion.  Their 2010 Customer Experience Index indicated that favorable customer experience correlates highly to loyalty — especially when it comes to consumers’ plans for making additional purchases.

Read more about how to take these experiences from Good to Extraordinary