Delivering personalized experiences in 2024 requires the right technology and data along with human oversight and transparency.
Looking back to 2023, we witnessed the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and personalization with most businesses (92%) embracing AI to tailor experiences for their customers, and 69% of businesses planning to increase their investment in delivering personalized experiences. At the same time, researchers found that most consumers (82%) say that customer experience personalization influences brand choice at least half of the time when shopping.
Looking ahead, we expect 2024 to be the year that personalizing the customer experience (CX) becomes the norm — table stakes for optimizing journeys and retaining customers.
To find out what teams need to achieve success in this new era of personalization, we asked leading innovators in AI and experience for their advice. We connected with Medallia’s partners Adobe, Salesforce, LivePerson, Five9, and Riptide who shared the following insights on why personalized experiences are essential in 2024 and the key ingredients brands need to deliver customized interactions this year.
Why Personalized Experiences Are Essential in 2024
Tailoring the CX is the new normal for ensuring seamless cross-channel journeys and driving value in a competitive landscape.
#1: Consumers expect them
“In 2024, personalized experiences will be imperative as consumer expectations soar,” says Amanda Miller, Director of ISV Partnerships at Five9. “Customers now demand immediate fulfillment, making personalized interactions crucial. Businesses that prioritize personalization will gain a strategic edge in meeting individual needs.”
Social media has only amplified consumers’ expectations and desires for personalized experiences, adds John Morello, Vice President of Customer Experience Operations at Riptide.
“Social media influencers tout ‘magical experiences’ — we see that constantly and we want them for ourselves,” he explains.
#2: Modern customer journeys require a connected, tailored approach, across every channel
“Nearly everything is now managed online, and digital experiences need to be connected and tailored to customer preferences,” explains Nik Shroff, Senior Director, Global Technology Partners at Adobe. “Customers are interacting with brands through multiple channels that each require a unique approach.”
#3: Personalization can help brands create value and boost loyalty as consumers decrease spending
“With consumer spending cooling, sales will be increasingly dependent on retailers creating personalized shopper experiences to create new value and increase customer loyalty,” says Michael Affronti, SVP and General Manager, Commerce Cloud, at Salesforce.
Consumers want to feel valued by the places they spend money with, adds Morello. “And the best way to do that is by making it personally fulfilling for the guest. That experience drives a desire to have it again, as well as let friends and family know about their great experience.”
One of the reasons personalized experiences add value and fuel loyalty is when companies synthesize massive amounts of customer data to recommend the next best experiences for customers using the best tone at the best time for a given individual, adds Ethan Selfridge, Senior Director, Data Science and Machine Learning at LivePerson. This can happen before a customer event asks for help.
“We can learn from the outcomes of those interactions and use it to improve the customer’s experience next time around,” he adds.
4 Key Ingredients for Delivering Personalized Experiences in 2024
Brands need to invest in the right solutions, gather the necessary data, and ensure human oversight and transparency to create customer experiences that foster engagement and retention.
#1: The right tools to enable automated customer experience personalization at scale
Advanced brands are using AI in customer experience to get to know their customers better, provide faster resolutions, simplify feedback analysis to guide the right actions, and personalize every customer interaction.
Affronti shares that Salesforce data reveals AI is enabling brands “to personalize interactions and experiences at scale.”
“Our data shows over half of retailers use AI to offer conversational digital assistants to help online shoppers and give them personalized recommendations, and three in five retailers say they already use AI to help store associates recommend products.”
#2: The right data
All of the experts we spoke with agreed that the right data is foundational to getting personalization right.
“The key ingredient to deliver a personalized experience is to leverage available data to tailor interactions, content, and services to each individual customer,” says Miller. “By analyzing customer data, businesses can determine individual preferences, behaviors, and needs. This approach empowers organizations to anticipate consumer expectations and deliver a memorable experience to exceed expectations and form a lasting connection.”
By combining customer profile data with AI-powered insights, brands can curate experiences for every stage of the customer journey, adds Shroff. To get the right data, brands need to unify data silos, implement data governance, and leverage advanced analytics solutions capable of evaluating real-time interactions.
At the end of the data, brands need to understand what their data is telling them — what’s driving customer behavior? Morello says the goal is to understand each and every customer’s expectations — whether that’s to be greeted warmly, have a frictionless experience, enjoy the freedom of choice, or be part of an unforgettable moment — and act upon that data to personalize experiences in a way that encourages desired behaviors.
#3: Human oversight
While AI can help brands scale their personalization efforts, human oversight is critical to minimizing risk along the way, says Selfridge.
“Since personalization is, by its nature, more personal, we need to be effective stewards of our customers and keeping humans in the loop ensures that five-star experience,” he adds.
For instance, in the contact center, AI-powered tools might be able to suggest multiple actions or messages that can be used and then a human agent should step in to use their knowledge to select the best choice to make sure it’s in line with the brand’s goals and values.
#4: Transparency
Too much personalization can be, “for lack of a better word, creepy,” says Selfridge. “We all have experienced something akin to a suspiciously relevant social media ad a day after a random web search, and we need to be careful about getting too personalized too fast.”
To avoid alienating customers, brands should be transparent about the data they’re using and how they’re using it. As an example, brands could include messaging like, “Because you [bought, tried, or viewed] X [product, service, or content], you might enjoy Y [product, service, or content].”
“This will create trust between the brand and the consumer, which will in turn drive more ROI than the non-transparent alternative,” explains Selfridge. “As that trust grows, we can increase the level of personalization using data and humans to ensure it drives optimal outcomes safely.”
Final Thoughts
From increasing sales and revenue generation to improving a brand’s reputation and image, personalized customer experiences accelerate business growth. The right data, technology, and action are crucial to an effective personalization strategy. Medallia’s AI-powered customer experience platform and our partners — including Adobe, Salesforce, LivePerson, Five9, Riptide, and more — enable the world’s best brands to launch impactful personalization efforts at scale. To connect with Medallia and our partners, head to Experience 24, our premier global gathering for the world’s experience leaders, where leaders from around the globe will be discussing personalization, AI, and the future of CX.
Medallia has a world-class ecosystem of partners that are sponsoring Experience. Stop by the sponsored booths in the Experience Hub to meet with these game changers to take your CX and EX programs to the next level.
Source: Medallia
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