Prioritizing the Customer Experience in Direct Marketing

Keypoint Intelligence’s 2023 direct marketing communications primary research highlights the importance of a positive customer experience (CX) when delivering marketing communications. Achieving a great customer experience is not without its challenges, but it is necessary for customer engagement and retention. This article explores the importance of a CX strategy, considers the best channels for engagement, and discusses personalization’s role in improving customer loyalty.

Over 90% of total business respondents have a CX strategy in place to guide methods and process improvements.
When respondents were asked which communication channel they thought offered the most engaging customer experience, their opinions varied based on the type of campaign.
Personalized communications are a key component of a positive customer experience, so it comes as little surprise that most businesses are experimenting with personalization or fully enjoying its benefits.

By Eve Padula

Introduction

Customer experience (CX) is a huge priority for most of today’s businesses. Creating long-lasting customer relationships is becoming more important as products and services become increasingly commoditized. A positive customer experience is key to business success because happy clients are more likely to become loyal customers who generate repeat business that can improve revenues. Satisfied customers can be a company’s very best advocates if they leave behind positive reviews or otherwise encourage prospects to try out your offerings too.

Ongoing communication between a brand and a consumer is integral to a satisfactory customer experience, and all interactions must be consistent and seamless regardless of how they are delivered. Maintaining strong relationships with customers who will demand a say in when and how they are communicated with is no small task, but a solid CX strategy can increase engagement as well as loyalty.

Research Findings

Earlier this year, Keypoint Intelligence published its 2023 direct marketing communications research to better understand how businesses’ direct marketing practices are changing over time as they strive to meet their customers’ changing needs. Several of the questions from this survey were specifically focused on how a positive customer experience can improve business results and increase customer loyalty.

According to our survey results, the vast majority of total business respondents (over 90%) have a CX strategy in place to guide methods and process improvements. Firms with 1,000+ employees were more likely to have such a strategy, but these strategies were also very common among smaller firms.

Figure 1: Presence of CX Strategy (By Number of Employees)

Base: Total Business Respondents in the US

Source: Direct Marketing Communications Business Survey; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

When respondents were asked which communication channel they thought offered the most engaging customer experience, their opinions varied based on the type of campaign. Specifically:

Email was considered the most effective channel for acquisition.
Online advertising was best for brand awareness and upselling/cross-selling.
Social media was best for referrals.
Printed direct mail was considered strong for acquisition and brand awareness.

Figure 2: Best Channel for CX Engagement

N = 318 Total Business Respondents in the US

Source: Direct Marketing Communications Business Survey; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

Regarding CX maturity, the greatest percentage of total respondents (42%) described their current CX level as “expanding.” Meanwhile, only 9% of respondents considered themselves to be CX leaders.

Figure 3: Level of CX Maturity

N = 318 Total Business Respondents in the US

Source: Direct Marketing Communications Business Survey; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

Diving deeper into the survey results by vertical market and number of employees, it is worth noting that 19% of banking/financial firms and 14% of businesses with 5,000+ employees classified themselves as CX leaders.

A strong majority of respondents (86%) had conducted a CX maturity assessment and another 12% were planning to do so. Although the highest share of CX maturity assessments (38%) were handled by internal staff members, assessments by technology vendors were almost as common (37%).

Personalized communications are a key component of delivering a positive customer experience, so it comes as little surprise that over 70% of total survey respondents are experimenting with personalization or fully enjoying its benefits. The majority of respondents (72%) are personalizing their communications one-to-one or one-to-few.

Figure 4: Personalized Communications

Source: Direct Marketing Communications Business Survey; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

The Bottom Line

Even in a digital first world, the customer experience must be front and center with direct marketing campaigns. Ongoing communication between a brand and a consumer is integral to a satisfactory customer experience, and all interactions must be consistent and seamless regardless of how they are delivered. Customers are more likely to engage with personalized communications that speak to their requirements, so one-to-one or one-to-few campaigns will generally be better received than mass marketing.

In addition to the top-level findings highlighted here, our new direct marketing business research covers data privacy/regulations, the role of outsourcing, and artificial intelligence (AI). Survey results are broken out by vertical industry, number of employees, and marketing budget. If you’re interested in learning more about our in-depth research, you can contact us by clicking here.

Eve Padula is a Senior Consulting Editor for Keypoint Intelligence's Production Services with a focus on Business Development Strategies, Customer Communications, and Wide Format. She is responsible for producing and distributing many types of content, including forecasts, industry analyses, and research/multi-client studies. She also manages the editing, formatting, and delivery cycles for many types of deliverables.