Think back to the best restaurant experience you’ve ever had - what made it memorable? Location, quality and ambience all matter, but for me, the truly great experiences have always been where the service was exceptional.
In a small handful of cases, it was as if the servers anticipated my needs and delivered what I wanted almost magically at the exact right time – a small glass of extra ice for my drink, or the new salt shaker when my vigorous shaking seemed to be fruitless.
These have almost always happened for me in “fine dining” establishments, where such anticipation is almost expected. When it’s happened in “regular” places where it might be unexpected, such service is a pleasant surprise, but wherever it happens, it’s always a good feeling to be treated as if they really know you, isn’t it?
These types of customer experiences where your needs are anticipated are now possible in a wider variety of businesses and situations because economic activity takes place more and more in the digital realm. And more and more of the buying process is online and digital engagement is data-driven. In the digital realm, opportunities abound where analytics can drive marketing that is agile, meaning the ability to have the right message/offer at the right time in the right place for the right people.
Anticipation is at the heart of an agile, digital marketing strategy per noted thought leader Rachel Alt-Simmons. Such digital marketing strategies include listening, responding, measuring, adapting and anticipating customer needs so you can align with operations to deliver those pitch-perfect customer experiences. It’s analytically-driven customer intelligence solutions that enable forward-thinking marketers to go to market with agile digital marketing strategies.
And agile marketing is characterized by the ability to rapidly respond and adapt to customer, channel and environmental influences. The impact on marketing is clear – the data behind multiple customer stories support Rachel’s contention that the six-month marketing planning cycle is a thing of the past. These thoughts and many more are summarized in Rachel’s latest whitepaper, Digital Marketing: Are You Ready to Go Agile?
Download the paper and get the full story behind the central role of anticipation in an agile, digital marketing strategy. Let us know what you think. And as always, thank you for following!
