S5 | 382: Building Customer Enagement with April Mullen, Braze
About the Episode
Braze recently released its 2023 Customer Enagement Review, and there are a number of interesting insights found with in it, relating to the customer experience.
Today we’re going to talk about 3 of the key insights within this report, and to help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome April Mullen, Senior Director of Content Strategy at Braze.
About April Mullen
April Mullen is currently the Senior Director of Content Strategy at Braze. She has over 16 years of experience as a marketer for brands, agencies and has spent the last decade focusing her career in the martech niche.
Outside of Braze, Mullen has been an Adjunct Professor of Digital Marketing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis since 2013. Mullen was named to DMNews’ 40 Under 40 list in 2018 and DMNews’ 2019 Marketing Hall of Femme Women to Watch list. She contributes thought leadership at conferences and through writing for industry publications, including Forbes and MediaPost.
Resources
Link to 2023 Customer Engagement Review: https://ter.li/1pe3xx
Braze website: https://www.braze.com
The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcast
Sign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com
Get the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/
For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems.Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow
The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
Synopsis
The episode emphasizes the importance of cross-channel retention and advises against cutting spending on it during uncertain times. The host highlights that having a thoughtful cross-channel customer engagement strategy is often the quickest path to return on investment. They also mention that top-performing brands in their study, which have implemented exceptional customer engagement programs, have seen success. In fact, 78% of these brands exceeded their revenue goals within the last year. Additionally, 90% of them stated that they would be increasing their marketing budgets. The episode suggests that cross-channel retention is not only beneficial during uncertain times as a "life raft," but it can also serve as a "killer accelerant" once the market becomes more favorable. Therefore, the episode recommends leaning into cross-channel retention instead of cutting spending on it during uncertain times.
In the episode, the speaker emphasizes the importance of creating magical moments for customers through personalized experiences. They explain that customers should feel like their interactions with a brand are a series of these magical moments. The speaker further elaborates that these moments should feel like happy accidents, where the app or service seems to read the customer's mind without being creepy.
The speaker also discusses the significance of addressing pain points and anxieties that customers may have. They point out that while marketers often focus on driving revenue and making recommendations, it is equally important to consider the pain points that customers experience. For example, if a travel company's customer misses their flight, it is crucial to think about how to alleviate that pain point through real-time data across channels.
The episode suggests that creating these magical moments and addressing pain points can lead to game-changing experiences that drive customer loyalty. It implies that by providing personalized experiences and addressing customer needs, brands can cultivate a strong emotional connection with their customers, ultimately leading to increased loyalty and retention.
In the episode, the speaker emphasizes the importance of breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional collaboration in order to deliver the right customer experiences. They mention that silos do not encourage innovation and hinder the ability to solve complex problems that customer engagement marketers often face. The speaker highlights that the best performing brands are more likely to have marketing teams that meet with cross-functional teams several times per week.
To achieve cross-functional collaboration, the speaker suggests setting up regular cross-functional syncs with teams across the organization. This allows for the sharing of problems and solutions among diverse perspectives, leading to more impactful outcomes. The speaker also mentions that breaking down silos can result in a better customer experience. When there are fewer barriers between departments and teams, customers are more likely to feel like they are experiencing a series of magical moments.
Additionally, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding customer pain points and using data to address them in real-time across channels. By doing so, brands can create game-changing experiences that drive customer loyalty. The speaker suggests that even small steps towards breaking down silos, such as regular meetings with cross-functional teams, can yield internal and customer benefits.
Overall, the episode highlights the need for organizations to break down silos and foster cross-functional collaboration in order to deliver the right customer experiences and drive innovation.
April Mullen, Senior Director of Content Strategy, Braze
