The customer journey (also Customer Journey Experience, Customer Engagement Cycle) refers to the stages customers travel through in their relationship with a specific brand. By analysing what the customer experiences at each touchpoint with a company, it is possible to pinpoint where improvements to efficiency and customer service can be made. This analysis is useful when making decisions about the extent and nature of the further investment, to boost the service level of customer-facing teams and to plan a coherent and beneficial restructuring plan through providing a ‘perfect’ customer journey. (1)
Kimpton Hotels creates unique customer journeys with mobile app
One of the things brands like Kimpton Hotels understand is that mobile apps are changing everything. The way we use our banks, purchase tickets, travel, and more is changing to be easier, faster, and more convenient. Today, the average smartphone user has 25 apps on their phone, a trend that we believe will continue to grow. There are 2.2 million apps currently available on iTunes and the Google Play Store (Apple and Google), every second 16,000 apps are being downloaded, and in 2013 102 million apps were downloaded worldwide (Gartner).
The issue with the app world is attrition – 20 percent of apps are used only once according to Localytics and 60 percent will be removed from the phone before being used 10 times. So it is important to think about how you are going to communicate to your customers in this new app-centric world. And in order to create a high level of engagement with each of your customers, you need a tool like the Marketing Cloud to put your customer at the center of everything.
An example customer journey that includes:
- Acquire/Booking: Kimpton Hotels has a Facebook Ad with the goal of getting people to book a stay. Tricia asks her friends on Facebook where she should stay in San Francisco and clicks on a Kimpton Facebook advertisement, which leads her to their mobile website. She browses local attractions and decides to make the reservation on her phone.
- Pre-arrival: Kimpton Hotels sends an email to customers three days before their trip with the goal of getting them to make a reservation at the hotel restaurant. Tricia skipped this offer and did not open the email.
- 2nd Pre-arrival: Kimpton Hotels sends a second email with a stronger CTA for customers that did not open the previous email the day of their trip with the goal of getting them to make a reservation at the hotel restaurant. Tricia books a reservation and downloads the mobile app (because it was easy). (2)
References
- What is the Customer Journey?, http://www.marketresearchworld.net/content/view/3684/78/
- Kimpton Hotels: Bring the Customer Journey to Life with Marketing Cloud, http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/kimpton-hotels-bring-the-customer-journey-to-life-with-marketing-cloud/
