How The Experience Economy Will Save Your Business From Going Bang

It should come as no surprise that after years of economic evolution, businesses have come to the realization that customers want to be treated like people and not numbers.

The experience economy is so evident in marketing that the 2019 report by Salesforce, the State of Marketing, found that 45 percent of marketers are leading customer experience initiatives across their business. But, how did the experience economy come about?

Most people won’t remember when the Harvard Business Review unpacked the idea of the experience economy in its 1998 issue, where the development of economies was described as the “evolution of the birthday cake”.

From the time of “the agrarian economy, mothers made birthday cakes from scratch” which then saw the “goods-based industrial economy” advance where moms started paying for cake in a box bought at any grocery or convenience store. Then, busy parents were able to order cakes from the bakery or grocery store, effectively costing a lot more than the packaged ingredients.

Today, in 2019, it’s almost unheard of for parents to spend money on and then take the time to make a cake by hand. Instead, parents hire experience specialists in the form of party planners or leave the whole party in the hands of kids entertainment chains, like Monkey Joe’s or Pizza Hut.

Here are a few ways your business can participate in the experience economy.

From products and services to memorable experiences

As a business, there’s nothing too complex about understanding how to offer products and services to your customers. But, in the experience economy, you will need to offer your audience something far more memorable and engaging. This requires a connection.

This makes sense if you think about the fact that human society currently exists at the beginning of the technological revolution. With advancements that allow customers to try on clothing items via a website which uses a simulated mannequin that has been custom-designed to your size and shape, it’s no wonder customers are seeking more personal connections that appeal to their human side.

Crafting personal connections while staying digitally visible

Every business, operating on a local or global scale, needs to remain connected with its customers. As a small business operating in the advancement of the experience economy however, it’s ever so important that your business chooses to create these connections on your customers’ preferred channel.

Sending tailored messages to your customers on a platform not frequented by the particular audience you’re targeting is risky, and doesn’t make sense when you are able to access helpful insights about your customers.

Once you’ve delved deep into choosing the right channels for your customer persona as defined by your small business marketing strategy, it’s time to focus on the type of message you want to be sending.

Crafting messaging to improve your customer experience needn’t be a challenge if you know what you’re looking for. Most businesses don’t, and that’s okay, but it’s important to put this task in the hands of professionals. It can make or break your business.

You wouldn’t want hours of craft and energy put into tailoring the right messages, offerings, discounts, and information sent to the wrong audience. With successful small business marketing, you’ll want to be able to track who’s opening and sharing what, and which platforms you’re receiving your traffic from.

Your company culture determines the customer experience

Simply put, your business’ success is riding on your reaction to the experience economy.

If you want to succeed and be relevant a decade from now, your business must foster human experiences, not just as part of your small business’ marketing efforts, but for the sake of its company culture too.

Think about it, with flexible and remote working, co-working benefits, and the need for more personal engagement with senior staff in the office topping the list of workplace musts in the 21st century, your company needs to focus on fostering human experiences as much as your customer marketing does.

The workplace is made up of humans, who need to connect with each other, not just with work and the technology needed to perform their jobs. No business will thrive on the belief that their employees should leave their personal lives at the front door.

Real game-changers make sure their employees are offered support to ease the stress of life and work. Benefits like free office lunches to give employees more time to unwind during breaks, subsidizing skills development training, and well-supported health insurance and medical aid schemes are examples of ways you can connect with your employees on a human level.

Connect with customers on their favourite device

Consumers are increasingly choosing to shop online using their mobile phones. It’s important that business owners and marketers alike plan mobile marketing strategies and content for consumers who are always on the go.

And with mobile marketing rising in prominence, businesses need to take note of how to make the most of this device. Luckily, there is an abundance of technology that supports creating personalized and unique messaging for your customers, like Clickatell’s bulk SMS technology. Simply put, SMS cuts through the noise in a world bombarding them with meaningless marketing messaging.

Customers are seeking offline experiences, a new trend when it comes to building personal connections with brands, which is why a mobile marketing strategy that incorporates offline, two-way messaging is appealing to customers.

To discover more about the opportunities in mobile marketing, Clickatell offers a thorough deep-dive into the mind of the mobile marketing customer and how you can tap into this audience.

Create lasting, meaningful connections with customers

While it’s true that bigger companies have more capital to spend on experiences, these same businesses struggle to make meaningful connections with their customers, which is where you have the advantage. Your small business likely has a focused audience with specific goals that need to be met.

Be confident in the insights you have about your customer, and use them to your advantage — because building meaningful experiences for your customer, whether online or offline, is possible!

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