Imagine this: a customer visits your site, in search of the right suit for an upcoming wedding. He's presented with the season's latest styles, all in his size - all thanks to context from his latest product reviews and other actions on the brand's website.
A week later, he needs shoes to match and tweets at the brand. Someone immediately contacts him with suggestions based on the suit he purchased. After the wedding, he gets an email asking him how everything worked out. Included is a promo code to use and share with friends. He raves about his personalized brand experience and shares their custom promo code - bringing in 20 new customers.
Ten years ago, the scenario above would have most likely come from a science fiction novel.
Today, it can be a reality.
The Future of Business Is Built Upon Experiences
By 2016, 89% of businesses will differentiate primarily on customer experience - according to research by Gartner. Altimeter Group has similar findings: their 2014 report on digital transformation found that 88% of organizations were undergoing a formal effort "to more effectively engage digital consumers at every touchpoint in the customer experience lifecycle."
So, the scenario presented earlier is not only not a work of fiction, it's possible right now for many companies.
Meet the Experience Cloud
The Experience Cloud is a complete, integrated, and collaborative platform intended to help brands manage all digital experiences. It gives brands a holistic view of the customer by uniting First Party and Third Party experiences (defined below).
- First Party Experiences: Experiences on a brand's owned properties and websites like ratings and reviews, gamification elements, customer care communities, etc.
- Third Party Experiences: Experiences on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and the other 20+ channels.
Within the Experience Cloud's architecture, information about the customer flows freely between these two areas and elevates the experience in both. A giant, continuous, digital feedback loop, if you will.
Experience Cloud finally unites social communities, the branded sites, and commerce. Moreover, it reinforces the fact that social needs to be deeply woven into your internal infrastructure, not just patched on.
If the future is business is driven by experiences, the Experience Cloud is the fuel that allows companies to shine.
If you want to learn more about the Experience Cloud, download this quick guide.