Customers are the most important asset of every business. There is no better feedback on your performance than what your customers can tell you. While most companies claim to understand the importance of listening to the Customer’s Voice, a study conducted by Bain and Company revealed that only 8% of customers agree that brands deliver experiences that align with the customer voice.
Read on to learn how marketers can effectively utilise the Customer’s Voice and use it to forge a closer bond with their customers.
Making Customers the Heroes of Your Brand
Instead of positioning your brand or product as the solution and hero of the story, companies can empower customers and use the Customer’s Voice in promoting their brand through co-creating content and experiences with customers. When we position the customer as a hero and the brand as a supporting role, this small but powerful shift shows customers that you understand their pain points which helps them resonate with your brand.
Involving All Stakeholders
It is crucial to ensure that Voice of the Customer insights are not just accessible to the Marketing teams. Findings and insights should be disseminated to cross-functional teams such as Sales, Operations, UX teams who can then take the insights and turn them into action plans. Aside from using customer insights to tailor our communications, getting all teams aligned provides a consistent and superior customer experience throughout all touchpoints.
Including the Customer’s Voice in Communications
Social media is a two-way street and brands that fail to engage in two-way communication lose out on the opportunity to garner valuable insights. By participating in conversations, consumers are encouraged to share more which enables brands to listen and gain deeper insights while forging a closer bond with the customers. Some brands go further by integrating Customer’s Voice into their social media, website content and even mission statement through addressing common customer requests in their communications. When it comes to announcing a new product or feature, for example, a simple “You asked, We listened” post on social media helps in assuring customers that their feedback is valued.
Show Your Authentic Side
There is no better way to forge bonds than to demonstrate the brand’s human touch and authentic side. Brands that take a genuine interest in what their customers are saying help customers connect and reciprocate by listening to what the brand has to say in return. A great way to show this is to enable participation and make customers feel involved, such as through social media polls, quizzes and encouraging customers to share their reviews. Find out what the community cares about and address the pain points in your communications. Through incorporating authentic customer voices into the brand voice, customers are more likely to become advocates as a result.
At Mashwire, we relentlessly focus on understanding the customers. Check out how we built an engaging social media concept for SMU Admissions by leveraging on Customer’s Voice.
