The next time you plan your CX, marketing, service, and commerce strategy, try a simple exercise. Add the apostrophe “s” to make the customer experience possessive. What really matters is the “customer” experience. So this perspective will change the way you design your omnichannel strategy and the edge of the customer journey. It will center on how you design touchpoints, engage and shape experiences from an empathy perspective. I call this design #Ignitemoments.
I would like to share one of my most recent conversations Elizabeth Rothko of ClickZ Helping you design #Ignitemoments.
Do I have your attention? Creating “Ignite Moments” with Brian Solis
a view. at a glance. A pause. At that moment, I have your attention and you have mine. As we all move fast in our ever-evolving digital world, these “ignition moments” can have a huge impact on how and where you focus your marketing efforts.
at a special session in October 2021 Click Z to experienceworld-renowned digital pioneer and 8x bestselling author Brian Solis Shared his research on how customers change on a human level and how brands must adapt to their core.
Q: In our last dialogue We’re talking about the concept of “generational fiction,” specifically about creating an iconic experience. Let’s start there.
Brian: Yes, any brand as it understands its post-pandemic customers has to discover what they value. The good news is that they want you to know them.Moreover, they are willing to share personal information Get in touch if you can promise a personalized experience that adds value.
They value empathy, they value individuality, they value Experience. In fact, Repeated research Show that they are willing to share very personal information in exchange for a value-added experience.they value these types of Experience As much as products and services, and in some cases more.
When doing any kind of customer journey work, please, what are the moments that define the experience a customer has and leaves? Does your signature experience transcend every touchpoint? Have you defined your signature experience? What elements of the experience are conveyed to someone at each step? What are they going to remember and possibly share with others? Where does the weak link in the journey deviate from the desired experience?
This is the cornerstone of digital and hybrid customer engagement and the next generation of marketing marketing as customer experience.
Q: Before we get into the moment of ignition, briefly describe the concept of micro-moments, as the two are related.
Brian: micro moment, a term Google coined six years ago that we bring to market together, is a moment of high intent and engagement. They are the moment when a customer picks up their mobile device and intends to take the next step in a particular journey…
I want to go…
I want to do…
I would like to know…
I want to buy…
Many of these micro-moments occur during idle time, such as waiting in line, commuting, or generally when not focusing on other things. The journey then continues on a mobile device or through a completely different channel like a laptop or tablet. As a marketer, you can design for these mobile-first opportunities and design customer journeys that are intuitive and useful in these moments to achieve desired outcomes. Without a doubt, to this day, they remain the most important opportunity for engagement, not distraction. When considering omnichannel journeys, also make sure to optimize those journeys for device and context. They should be intuitive and end-to-end. After all these years, the mobile user experience is still undervalued and may even be misunderstood as an on-demand media and portable experience… Remember, the smartphone is a device that most customers almost always carry with them.
Q: What is an ignition moment and how is it different from a micro-moment?
Brian: Ignite moments are built on micro-moments and any key moments. In short, the moment of ignition is the moment when I get your attention and you get my attention. Now, what should we do? Well, let’s make that moment everything. Ignite is always aware of context, device, intent, and creates personalized dynamic journeys optimized for customers through personalization. And, with edge capabilities, Ignite Moments can also provide a higher-level experience in physical and hybrid applications.
As we said, customer experience is defined as the sum of all customer engagements with your brand. People are moving fast. They have also digitally transformed during the pandemic and are expected to work and live more online in the years leading up to 2020. I know they are distracted, we are all. I know they are moving fast. I know they are multitasking. If you’re looking for something incredibly personal or meaningful when you’re looking for the ideal result, and I, as a marketer, or better yet, as an experience designer, have to design for you in that moment.
Q: Where are these ignition moments found?
Brian: They are not discovered, they are created. I want you to think of your Ignite moment as a “wow” moment, an opportunity to sprinkle a little magic on every touchpoint. These special moments remind people that they matter, that you value their time, and that you intend to build a relationship based on extraordinary experiences—whether it’s an email, text, website, or landing page, whether it’s packaging, whether it’s a customer service script, or Processes or policies that affect customer experience in any way.
The experience is everywhere, even on platforms that you have no control over. Moreover, they are all opportunities to create ignited moments. They need design.
Another way to think about it is this. The experience is more emotional than the transaction. But for the most part, especially in this digital transformation race, the customer journey has become increasingly transactional. While transactional touchpoints and journeys are technically valid, they are most likely not enjoyable, enjoyable, or memorable. That’s because touchpoints aren’t usually designed for emotion, so it’s not that they aren’t experiential in nature, at least not intentionally.
An extraordinary customer experience is the result of extraordinary experience design. An experience is an emotional interpretation of any given moment. It reflects expectations, self-interest and ambition. If it’s unusual in any way, it becomes memorable, hopefully in the most wonderful way possible. It’s really fun, and maybe even counterintuitive, though. Any transaction that matches expectations is highly likely to be forgotten. But if a touchpoint is designed to be extraordinary, meaningful, and extraordinary, customers are likely to remember it.
If you want to create an unforgettable experience, it also has to be extraordinary.
Q: How does finding these moments further our marketing efforts?
Brian: Marketing is no longer a department or function. Because experiences are emotional, and the experiences people have can be memorable, good or bad, or easy to forget, the marketing department is responsible for the parts and sum of the customer experience. Just as IT is to business, marketing must align, collaborate and even unify with silos and functions to shape and unify the customer experience.
Start by defining your signature experience and make sure it aligns with the brand and brand promise. If branding doesn’t translate into emotion, then maybe it’s time to rethink branding for these new eras.
I recommend always looking at customer experiences in terms of existing experiences, and then comparing those experiences to the ideal moment of ignition. Look for what’s wrong, what’s adding friction, what’s causing it, what’s forgettable because we have to build on that. We must address these issues first. Then, look for opportunities to deliver your signature experience with every engagement. This is where the moment of kindling comes in… kindling.
Q: Any final thoughts?
Brian: Know what’s important to your customers. Research the best experiences in the world and go beyond your industry. Winning customer journeys and experiences will be rooted in these ignited moments.
Be the light of every touchpoint 💡
Build trust 🤞
Align with values 🤗
Have compassion 💜
Make customers smile 😁
Find opportunities to work your magic to make transaction touchpoints more experiential, memorable and desirable. ✨
create #ignitetime Engage your customers and enhance their experience on the edge and omnichannel journeys!
