Marketers are wildly overconfident that they can meet customer expectations, with many consumers saying that marketers are doing it wrong, according to new research.
A new report by Acquia indicates that while 87% of marketers are confident they can meet the level of experience their target market expects, more than half of customers (53%) feel brands fail to meet their standards.
In a world where the “Amazon effect” exists, and failing to exceed expectations means you fall short, it is shocking to discover that almost two thirds of consumers can’t remember when a brand experience last exceeded their expectations.
Moreover, marketers are blaming this finding on other companies, with 87% believing other brands are behind the times with how they interact with customers both online and offline — while 44% strongly agree that online brand experiences need to be made easier.
The disconnect between marketer and consumer expectation is detailed in Closing the CX Gap: Customer Experience Trends Report 2019, published today by Acquia that draws on research of more than 1,000 consumers and 100 senior marketers in the UK.
The report examines what makes or breaks customer experiences in a highly competitive digital market and what marketers can do to meet and exceed consumer demands.
Sylvia Jensen, VP of EMEA marketing at Acquia said: “Marketers need the right technology in place to ensure customers have the best experience available. Currently marketers are investing large amounts in a multitude of vendors and technologies with the expectation that this will help them meet consumer demands. But if not done right, this investment can lead to disjointed experiences.
“This research enables marketers to better understand how customers really see their brands. In a multitude of areas from AI to personalisation in a GDPR world, despite their best efforts marketers are still not quite keeping up with consumer expectations and brands that fail to do this will struggle in a highly competitive digital world.”
These findings are part of Acquia’s inaugural global report on the state of customer experience. More than 5,000 consumers and 500 marketers across Australia, the UK, France, Germany and North America provided input for the report.