How AI and Data will Help CMOs Put Customers at the Forefront

In a world where Amazon Alexa and Google Voice make talking to our devices more commonplace, it makes sense to integrate voice and conversational technologies to provide a new level of customer service and increase retention.

For instance, a hotelier can create a connected experience with Apple’s Siri on their iPhone or Apple HomePod in the room. They can take it a step further, to fully integrate their cloud platforms with Siri such that it remembers all the preferences of each customer.

For customers, this means every subsequent visit to that hotel or other hotels under the same chain becomes more personalized since guest profiles and data from multiple touchpoints are being integrated and analyzed.

Consumers’ personalization paradox

To build and leverage a 360-degree view of customers and deliver personalized experiences mentioned, brands must collect and utilize data from both digital and physical touchpoints. However, 57 percent of customers are uncomfortable with how companies use their information, which means consumers will be less willing to share their data with brands.

Interestingly, despite lower awareness of AI applications like product recommendation engines, respondents indicate significantly higher consideration for its usage, compared to other applications. In fact, 79 percent of customers are willing to share relevant information about themselves in exchange for personalized product recommendations.

This is seemingly a personalization paradox – how can companies personalize customer experience if customers are unwilling to provide the requisite data to create it?

The key is trust

The key to collecting and using the treasure of customer data to deliver personalized experience lies with trust. Ninety-five percent of customers say trusting a company increases their loyalty, while 84 percent of customers in Singapore and 73 percent in Hong Kong also indicated the importance for companies to treat them as a person, not a number, to win their business.

Trust earns data, which earns the ability to personalize. This in turn earns customer loyalty. In essence, trust, personalized customer experience, and loyalty form a virtuous circle.

Companies can earn trust by providing control and being transparent with consumers, and 92 percent of customers are more likely to trust companies with their information if they have control over what information brands can collect about them.

Factors that help build consumer trust include:

• Educating customers about how their data helps to enable a better customer experience, explain how their different touchpoints with the brand can be personalized better and faster if they provide data

• Being transparent and straightforward about how the data collected will be used

• Informing customers that the brand is committed to protecting their information, backing this up through solid privacy policies and reassuring that their data will not be shared without permission

Conclusion As we head into the new year, brands must recognize that data use and privacy should not be an all-or-nothing situation. Ultimately, the customer’s worldview is always stronger than what brands choose to tell.

To successfully deliver the experience customers want, brands must start by addressing concerns and fears of consumers in exchange for customer trust and their willingness to provide data.