Chapter 4
Why it pays to be social
Entertainment is everywhere. Indeed, the fact that upon release, every new film, TV show, song, book or game is simultaneously competing with everything that has ever been created as well as its direct, contemporary rivals means that building a social buzz, grabbing attention or going viral is now a crucial aspect of marketing and raising awareness.
It’s why some of the industry’s biggest brands have seized the opportunity to integrate social media messaging directly within their own apps — to encourage their customers to share their viewing and listening habits with the wider virtual world.
And even though this level of API integration is currently out of reach for many organizations within the sector, all media, entertainment and gaming brands still face the same potential risk when it comes to social sharing: not all buzz is good, wanted or confined solely to private messages.
Organizations need to dedicate resources to managing and monitoring the major networks, whether or not their CX delivery officially extends to social channels
This is why social media demands proactivity. Organizations need to dedicate resources to managing and monitoring the major networks, whether or not their CX delivery officially extends to social channels.
These platforms are now integral to discovering and moving customers through the sales funnel, but they’re also the forum for forming negative (yet often unmerited) brand perceptions or for publically articulating issues with a service or product that historically would have been expressed directly to an organization.
Nevertheless, the old adage that all publicity is good publicity still holds true, if organizations have the right tools at their disposal. Upstream social monitoring can catch and analyze this negativity for merit and, especially if the criticism relates directly to CX, take immediate action to lower the downstream impact.
Likewise, social media can be the first channel where technical issues beyond CX delivery’s remit — for instance, with gameplay or mobile apps — become apparent. And if they’re not caught and fixed, no amount of live agents or depth of self-service content will resolve the issue or deliver a positive experience.
Takeaways
Take a proactive approach and dedicate resources to social media marketing and management.
Use social media to identify and fix upstream issues with products and services.
Treat social media as a metric for monitoring CX performance rather than just brand perception.
Spotlight
The metaverse: Maintaining spatial awareness
The positive reception afforded Apple’s Vision Pro headset should have put the metaverse back on company memos. We’re no closer to living in a virtual, alternative world populated by avatars and cryptocurrencies. However, as changing trends and preferences in the world of gaming show, there’s a definitive move away from one-time content consumption and towards continuous, immersive, shared experiences. Therefore, media, entertainment and gaming organizations need to start thinking about customer experience in three dimensions.
If we forget the initial fanfare and promises and instead focus on the constituent elements that if correctly blended could lead to what social media executives and chip manufacturers purport the metaverse to be, organizations should be thinking about immersion, engagement, social connection, gamification and personalization.
Looking at the world of gaming, we see how the third iteration of the web offers new ways for consumers to discover and share products, services and content, enhancing the customer relationship. It enables brands to blur the lines between the physical and virtual. It can help to recruit consumers as co-creators, advocates and ambassadors. And it takes the potential for personalization to a new level.
As changing trends and preferences in the world of gaming show, there’s a definitive move away from one-time content consumption and towards continuous, immersive, shared experiences
So, to prepare for the metaverse from a customer experience perspective, consider these five points:
1. Data before devices
Mixed reality will be pivotal to the future of customer engagement. But before investing in AR or VR, invest in data collection and analytics to gain the greatest possible understanding of customer types and tastes. This will help to develop personalized experiences and inform other business choices.
2. Prioritize partnership
From tools and technology to customer experience and engagement, no one is an expert in all fields today, and that will be equally true tomorrow. So, start identifying potential partners to help develop ideas and deliver proofs of concept around more interactive experiences and, crucially, around supporting customers in those experiences.
3. A communal approach
If customers are going to have a direct influence on products or services; if they are going to generate ideas and content; or if they are going to connect your brand with their peers or followers, it needs to be within a community that your organization builds, nurtures and moderates. This community should also be secure as greater interactivity leads to greater volumes of potentially sensitive data generation. So, develop robust security controls in concert with all other projects.
4. Think globally
The data already at your disposal will provide initial customer insight, but the idea of building virtual worlds suggests that they could attract a global audience. Any immersive or interactive experience therefore needs to be accessible — think onboarding, initial learning curves and ongoing customer education — and reflect countries and cultures. AI breakthroughs are making real-time translation and multilingual support a reality, so make sure you can speak your customer’s language.
5. Train and maintain
Your employees personify your brand and retaining talent is critical. Conduct a learning needs analysis and actively identify and close any existing skill gaps so your workforce remains stable and ready to meet the CX challenges of tomorrow.