6 ways to deliver a personalized customer experience

In today's hyper-competitive world, you have every reason to provide a personalized customer experience to the people buying your products or using your services.

The days when people went with whichever brand was closest or least expensive are over. People now want to know the story of a brand and they want to be treated as unique individuals. Here's how you can deliver the personal touch consumers expect.

A personalized customer experience matters

According to McKinsey, 72% of consumers expect a business to recognize them as individuals and know their interests, and 76% are frustrated if that doesn't happen!

While personalization matters, it's even more important to get it right! As consumers have come to expect a hyper personalized customer experience, adding a user's first name to a message just won't cut it anymore.

So, what do customers really want?

Well, we asked them! We interviewed more than 500 consumers across the U.S. to find out what they truly expect from a meaningful connection with a brand. We've compiled these insights into the 2024 Sinch survey, The art and heart of meaningful customer connections.

According to the answers we got, these are the six main factors consumers expect your company to deliver for a personalized experience.

1. Communicate on the channels that your customers prefer

You can have the most thoughtfully crafted personalized message, but it's completely wasted if a customer doesn't see it. That's why it's key to reach users on the channels they prefer!

According to the Sinch Customer Connections report, traditional channels like email and phone still lead the way.

40% of users prefer companies to reach out via email and 23% say they like companies to call them on the phone.

Traditional communication channels like email and phone are here to stay.

At the same time, text-based interactions are becoming more popular. When combining all chat channels like SMS, chat, and messaging apps, 31% of consumers say that that's how they like companies to contact them.

But pay attention to the details! Customer needs vary by use case.

2. Step up your omnichannel game

As customers move through their customer journey and along different touchpoints, customer expectations shift, and they expect businesses to reach out to them on various channels, depending on the situation.

When it comes to pre-purchase communication, new customers prefer email (36%), SMS (18%), and social media (15%).

However, customer behavior changes after the purchase. For time-sensitive information or real-time notifications like order confirmations, delivery notifications, or identity verification, customers prefer messaging channels.

For time-sensitive information, users prefer messaging channels.

And for support, customer preferences change again, based on the actual issue. Think: chatbots for quick replies to FAQs, messaging for flexible back-and-forth communication, and phone for complex issues.

We often think of marketing first when it comes to successful personalization, but a personalized customer service is just as important. That's exactly what'll improve retention and grow the customer lifetime value.

So even if you've already gone omnichannel, you might need to fine-tune your personalization strategy to better meet a user's individual needs. It'll allow you to improve the customer experience and reach new audiences.

That's exactly what happened to Vinomofo. The e-commerce company is the go-to-platform for wine aficionados in Australia. Vinomofo's success comes from really understanding their customers' individual needs and offering hyper personalized product recommendations.

For this, Vinomofo was using a customized email flow. While emails delivered good results in the beginning of a campaign, Vinomofo was looking for a way to improve their more immediate messaging towards the end of a campaign. That's when they added SMS to their communication flow. With this combination, Vinomofo was able to achieve a 21% conversion rate and reach customers they previously weren't getting to with email.

It's exactly this customer-focused omnichannel approach that'll become a major factor in making your company stand out and improve brand loyalty.

3. Get the timing right

The right timing is crucial when it comes to customer communication. After all, you don't want to spam consumers, but you also don't want to underwhelm. Both can be a dealbreaker.

According to the Sinch Customer Connection survey, 26% of people say that hearing from a brand too often would discourage them from buying from a company, and 10% say that if a brand stays silent for too long, they move on. However, our data also shows that there's no "one size fits all" approach when it comes to cadence.

We found that for newsletters with updates or tips for existing customers, most users (40%) prefer a weekly cadence. Only 17% are open to receiving communications daily. However, this changes when it comes to promotional content.

Here, 24% of users want to receive new offers as soon as they're available, and 25% of users are open to daily deal alerts. On the other hand, only 15% say that they would only want to get monthly deal updates.

Getting the timing right for sending relevant content is important, but also very challenging. That's why we recommend letting your users choose their preferred frequency for an optimal user experience and the best customer satisfaction.

4. Be speedy

Customers not only expect companies to get the timing right, but they also want brands to message them quickly.

Over 80% of consumers told us that when they first sign up for promotional content, they expect to hear from a business within 24 hours or less, and almost 37% want to be contacted immediately.

Similarly, when it comes to time-sensitive communication like receiving one-time passwords, more than 61% of consumers expect verification codes to be delivered within a minute or less - regardless of the channel.

Even when it comes to purchase confirmations or invoices, 62% of consumers want to get these within five minutes or less after buying something online. Over 31% would actually worry if they don't receive anything.

This shows that speed and reliability have become an important factor in building trust, customer loyalty, and improving the customer experience through thoughtful personalization.

5. Don't let FOMO guide you, but keep an eye on innovations

You shouldn't implement every up-and-coming channel just because it's trending. At the same time, it's important to stay alert to innovations and consider how new rich messaging channels can enhance the personalized customer experience.

There's a reason why rich media channels like WhatsApp reach higher engagement and conversion rates.

The same goes for Rich Communication Services (RCS). RCS messaging is already billed as the future of SMS, and for good reason! As it supports multimedia features like images, GIFs, videos, and buttons, RCS can deliver a highly engaging experience that stands out.

In countries like France, where RCS is already available, companies have seen impressive results.

French frozen food retailer Picard is one of these companies. For their holiday season campaign, Picard used RCS to create an immersive experience. Consumers could get inspiration and shop for holiday meals - directly on their phones. This resulted in a 42% increase in customer engagement and over 10% more website redirections.

With Apple set to support RCS in the iOS 18 update in fall 2024, RCS is definitely a channel your business should be considering.

6. Integrate artificial intelligence thoughtfully in your personalized customer experience

ChatGPT might have created hype around generative AI, but the technology is far more than a short-lived trend.

As with any new technology, it's important to consider carefully how it can really benefit your customers. It's important to base your integration of AI on customer data to make sure that AI interactions meet your customers' needs.

The Sinch Customer Connection report shows that, while in some cases customers are embracing AI, there are also situations where they still prefer a human touch.

For instance, 33% of consumers say they would love for AI to help them with troubleshooting, 45% welcome AI if it can answer their questions, and 32% prefer AI over a human agent if it cuts down their waiting time. At the same time, consumers are still skeptical when it comes to AI solutions, especially when it involves personal information. So, as you integrate AI, remember to always maintain a human presence.

The balance between scaling processes with AI and keeping the human touch also proved successful for Belfius, one of Belgium's largest banks, as they were looking for a way to simplify the millions of claim filings they received.

Using Sinch's conversational AI application, Chatlayer, the company integrated a smart chatbot - MyBo - into its mobile banking app that was able to take over a large part of claim filings.

MyBo now processes more than 2,000 claims per month, saving the customer support team about 600 working hours each month. And Belfius' mobile app has won numerous awards for its quality and convenience.

Roundup: It's not about the "if" of a personalized customer experience, but the "how"

In 2024, consumers have high expectations when it comes to a personalized customer experience. They want brands to know them and customize the communication according to their individual needs. Knowing your customers and what they're looking for is what leads to loyal customers and what'll help your business grow.

Make sure to set up relevant metrics that help you measure relevant data points to really understand your audience. Also: Don't be afraid to ask for customer feedback and let them tell you what they want.

These insights matter because it's no longer enough to contemplate if you should personalize your messaging, you really need to start diving into the details. This includes a strategic omnichannel approach, fine-tuned timing, and impactful innovations.

For businesses, this means that it's never been more vital to understand just who your customers are. Because when you do, you can create experiences for them that other companies can't, deliver engaging and meaningful customer interactions, and build long-lasting customer relationships.

For even more insights, check out our full report, The art and heart of meaningful customer connections and take the assessment to get a personalized assessment of your own channel mix.

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