How Custom Merchandise Enhances Your Customer Experience Strategy

Connected consumers are flipping the marketing game on its head. The days of creating static ads and distributing them through one-way channels have given way to an era where experience rules. Whereas traditional marketing is about your business, modern methods put the customer squarely at the center of everything from advertising to final sales.

Why Elevate the Customer Experience?

This shift to a new way of marketing means changing your perspective to reach consumers based on how they perceive your brand. It incorporates every channel through which you connect with your audience and involves making interactions as personal and simple as possible.

Research by Esteban Kolsky of think Jar reveals just how much consumers value experiences:

  • 55 percent pay more for a guaranteed “good experience”
  • 86 percent are willing to pay more for “upgraded” experiences
  • 72 percent share good experiences with six or more people
  • 66 percent switch brands because of poor service
  • 91 percent of unhappy customers move on without voicing complaints

Since so many consumers don’t give reasons for leaving, your company must pay attention to the chatter surrounding your brand. Gauging the prevailing opinion helps you design a more successful marketing plan

Building the Perfect Customer Experience Strategy

The goal of a strategy focused on customer experience is to show consumers why they should choose your brand and continue doing business with your company. Establish your brand as an essential part of their lives by:

  • Embracing the customer persona: Get to know the hopes, dreams and needs of your ideal customers
  • Following the journey: Trace consumer shopping habits throughout the sales funnel, and figure out how your business fits in to the process
  • Practice excellent service: Train your staff to deliver stellar service in stores and through online engagement

Adjust your customer experience strategy based on feedback to ensure ongoing satisfaction.

Custom Merchandise: A Targeted Approach

Making branded custom merchandise part of your customer experience strategy marries the idea of personalization with the concept of brand loyalty. Offering specialized items customers will use at work or at home every day makes your brand a fixture of their routines.

Use your customer personas to select the best custom merchandise for your target audience. Find out what speaks to them and how your branded promotional products can fill certain needs or solve nagging problems in their lives. Office workers need supplies, tech buffs appreciate gadgets and homemakers can never have too much functional décor. Include these products as gifts with purchases or give away free items during special events to demonstrate your dedication to quality service.

Enhancing the shopping and buying process for your customers results in a better response to your products and services. When you add custom merchandise to the equation, consumers learn to associate your brand with a positive experience and will talk about how your company helped make their lives better. Increased consumer loyalty and ongoing word-of-mouth advertising establish your brand as a leader in customer service and help you reach your goals for sales growth.

Want to learn more about the connected consumer? Visit our downloads to get a copy of our free guide to millennial marketing.