We all live in a digital world, but as consumers, we don’t necessarily want to transact exclusively via digital platforms. So why does digital so often dominate the marketing agenda to the exclusion of most other channels?

CX strategies constantly reference seamless cross-device and cross-platform capabilities and specialist digital, and latterly mobile, marketing teams invest in the latest tech and work hard to eradicate every point of friction on an increasingly complex customer journey map.

Interestingly, the growth in the number of smartphone transactions and the convenience of click-to-call means that voice is fast becoming the response channel of choice for many mobile users.

According to Ipsos, 70% of mobile searchers say they click-to-call directly from search results (The Role of Click to Call in the Path to Purchase). Native Social ads that appear in newsfeeds are also driving significant call volumes.

AI and voice assistants

Yes, voice assistants can automate the simple stuff; we know that speed of response is important to customers and machines give you total control over the tone and content of every message; however, Ipsos also confirmed that most consumers prefer speaking to people!

Marketing mix

Click-to-call is a great example of an integrated digital and off-line service that uses tech to create a frictionless user journey, where simple requests for information can be automated, allowing real people to respond when there is an opportunity to add value to the transaction; a strategy recommended by Forrester in their recent report 2018 Mobile And New Technology Priorities For Marketers: Why marketers Must Keep Fixing Their Mobile Basics.

Indeed, Forrester attributes a hyper-focus on tech as the cause behind marketers failing “to deliver on foundational mobile experiences” and the cause behind 53% of marketers surveyed failing to use mobile to transform their overall customer experience.

People create memorable moments

Having people at the end of a marketing campaign offers many tangible and intangible revenue opportunities that can enhance the value of any brand. Here are just five examples:

• Better conversion – So long as your agent can answer questions and manage objections then customers are less likely to abandon than if they have to self-serve to find the answer
• More data – Skilled agents can articulate the benefits of opting in to marketing communications or tempt existing customers who have opted out, to change their preferences.
• Capture feedback – As well as collecting more data, an effective feedback loop will result in fewer or quicker support requests (or both) and an improved CX.
• Better cross or up-sell conversions
• And best of all, the opportunity to make a memorable moment and create brand promotors

An interaction with your business is made memorable in the eyes of your customer when it feels personal to them. Of course, you can personalise email messages and chat responses, but a well-trained operator can deliver a truly customised response.

Integration

Tech of course has an essential role to play in delivering an efficient and effective voice channel. Aside from the actual trafficking of calls, here are four features that enable marketers to integrate voice seamlessly into a CX strategy:

• Call attribution – Appending links and allocating unique telephone numbers to each campaign source will provide the attribution values needed to personalise the message and measure overall campaign effectiveness.
• In-call analytics – Capturing the motivation behind each call creates the triggers required to produce effective engagement email campaigns. This can be as simple as a list of call types, or a sophisticated AI solution that captures positive or negative signals and behaviours.
• CRM integration – Triggered email/SMS/voice campaigns are most effective when they are delivered at the appropriate moment, that could be within 10 seconds or 10 days, but campaigns will need to be automated and scheduled to have maximum effect. And don’t
• forget GDPR; customer preferences need to be logged and updated.
• Access customer order history is essential if you want to make a memorable moment.

Marketers can create transformational customer experiences by using all the tools in the marketing toolbox.

By creating an integrated multi-channel marketing strategy that delivers an exceptional CX rather than looking for a complete digital solution, marketers can reflect the way that we live rather to get results rather than reflecting the high-tech environment that most of us work in.