In a recent episode of the "Making Fun of Marketing" podcast Scott Logan invited James Gilbert, the CMO of Flip, to discuss the significance of customer experience in marketing. Gilbert shared valuable insights on why marketers often neglect customer experience and provided advice on how to improve it. This blog post summarizes their conversation and highlights key takeaways for marketers.
Here is a link to the episode: https://www.kronologic.com/podcast-james-gilbert
Overreliance on Marketing Automation: Gilbert pointed out that marketers tend to rely too heavily on marketing automation, which can lead to a disconnection from customers. The rapid growth of technology in the B2B landscape has resulted in the adoption of various niche solutions without considering their impact on other business functions. Instead of automating everything, Gilbert emphasized the need to strike a balance and ensure meaningful interactions with customers.
Crawl, Walk, Run: Good Enough Isn't Good Enough: The "crawl, walk, run" approach is commonly used in marketing to gradually scale efforts. However, Gilbert cautioned against settling for "good enough" in customer experience. While marketers may perceive their campaigns as adequate, customers often view them as flawed. To build a strong community and gain customer advocacy, it is crucial to prioritize and deliver exceptional customer experiences from the start.
Collaborating Across Functions: Gilbert stressed the importance of involving key stakeholders from different business functions, such as product, customer success, and sales, in marketing campaigns and strategies. This collaboration ensures that all perspectives are considered, identifies potential gaps, and aligns messaging across departments. By involving these teams, marketers can drive a cohesive customer experience and improve overall business outcomes.
Marketing as the GTM (Go-To-Market) Pulse: Marketing plays a crucial role in the go-to-market motion of a company. Gilbert highlighted that marketing executives, often referred to as Chief Market Officers (CMOs), should be at the forefront of understanding industry trends, addressing market needs, and coordinating efforts across functions. By focusing on customer experience, marketers can become the pulse of the organization, guiding decisions that impact all stages of the customer journey.
Customer Experience as the Foundation: Customer experience should be a priority in marketing campaigns, as it sets the stage for customer satisfaction and advocacy. Gilbert shared a personal story where a small mistake in a campaign caused a significant negative impact on the customer relationship. This illustrates the importance of considering every campaign from the customer's perspective and ensuring alignment across sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams.
In an era of shifting focus from acquisition to retention, marketers need to prioritize customer experience. Avoiding overreliance on automation, involving key stakeholders from different departments, and maintaining consistent messaging are crucial steps in delivering exceptional customer experiences. By embracing the role of Chief Market Officers and actively considering customer perspectives, marketers can build stronger communities and foster long-term customer loyalty.