Tech is so important, but it's a utility. What we all want tech for is the human need of facilitation, speed, efficiency, getting stuff done.
Introduction
Technology plays a pivotal role in shaping the way brands engage with their customers. It offers incredible opportunities for enhancing the brand-consumer relationship. But there's a need to strike a balance. It should serve as an enabler of human interaction, not a substitute.
However, brands are letting technology dictate how people experience them rather than using it to improve the experiences. It is not the technology that creates disconnection, but how brands choose to employ it. The focus needs to be on employing technology and data thoughtfully, ensuring the human connection is not lost.
A balancing act
Left unchecked, our use of technology and data can erode brand trust. Research from PwC’s ‘Experience Is Everything’ report shows 74% of consumers worldwide say they want more real people to interact with, even as technology improves [4]. Direct interaction remains the gold standard for issues like the nuances of problem-solving. While not always necessary, and available technology often helps to efficiently and quickly fix issues, completely removing ability to reach and speak with another person when it is required for those more specific problems enforces distance between brand and human, souring the experience.
I think all of us have experienced this Amazon customer service page, where it's intentionally designed to be a blockage. And that feels really like abandonment — this is like the one moment I have as a working mum to call you and just sort out this one thing, which is not my fault. And you're making it so that I can't talk to you.
With the level of technology available to us now, consumers expect it to be integrated into their experiences so that it can make their lives easier. But in the same swoop, it is essential to consider its purpose and the role it fulfils for you at every turn. As Peter Cross, consumer expert and retail consultant, says, “technology is at the service of humans. And if it isn’t doing anything that’s making your customers super delighted every single time, then what money are you saving?”
The key above all else is ensuring that technology is used in a way that actually enhances those experiences. The error on the brand side is pushing tech that may, on the face of it, save them some time or money in the short-term, but makes the experience less enjoyable for the consumer, damaging its standing among the people who matter most.
When deployed with people in mind, tech can deepen those relationships and take the experiences to a higher level. But its integration has to be considered with those people at the forefront of a brand’s approach above all else.
It is about using tech wisely to make the experience better. To answer needs better, to make their lives easier. To serve them better. Technology doesn’t exist merely to drive efficiencies.
Using big data wisely
You're swimming under a sea of data and information. And, oddly enough, it's my experience that in that sea of data, the real feeling of customers actually often gets lost.
Data should be an invaluable tool for understanding consumer behaviour and personalising experiences, but brands often misuse data to simply sell more products or services. The human aspect of marketing can be lost in automated data-driven campaigns, particularly when attempts to gauge consumer behaviour do not involve speaking directly with consumers to know and understand them as people.
The value of quantitative data is clear and well-established, but the trend towards using it in lieu of qualitative research is another area where brands are driving distance between themselves and the people they want relationships with. They are less understood and, because of that, far less connected to the brands in their lives.
Understanding, in depth, the drivers and motivations of people, and the needs of people when they’re close to your brand is better done by spending a lot of time with a small amount of people than looking at a million data points.
“You sit in the lobby. It’s what we did every day at The Hoxton. You talk to people, you see what gets them cross at checkout,” adds Katie Brinsmead-Stockham, Hospitality Brand Strategist and WePioneer Specialist. “It’s not quite qualitative or quantitative. It’s the people who are building it seeing when people are happy and when people are annoyed.” The value of direct interaction and observation cannot be overstated when it comes to understanding consumer behaviours and motivators. To connect best with an ever-diversifying customer pool, we have to work hard to understand them, and not rely on broader data to provide the entire picture around which campaigns and strategies are based.
With that bank of understanding and knowledge, brought together through combining those interactions with the qualitative and quantitative research, a more relevant and powerful experience can be crafted. Personalisation, driven by artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics, can make customers feel genuinely understood and valued. By crafting experiences that reflect a deep understanding of customers, brands can create a sense of belonging and loyalty that transcends the transactional.
Big data allows us to cast a wide net, but if used on its own, the insights are shallow. Deeper understanding begets deeper connection. There is no shortcut to that, but that effort pays off in those relationships and in the resilience they give a brand.
Roadmap to resilience