2022 was a tumultuous year for the economy. Starting off strong, consumers rallied behind an economy firing up its engines after a crippling pandemic.
However, a storm of geopolitical and macroeconomic factors quickly darkened the celebration, triggering omens of a wider, looming recession. Since then, we’ve seen skyrocketing inflation, corporate downsizing leading to mass layoffs, and higher interest rates, amongst other symptoms of a struggling economy.
In response, companies need to adapt their business strategies to focus more on profit than growth. If you’re hibernating in a bear market, you need to conserve for the economic winter.
With 2023 likely just as turbulent, it’s time to reflect on what we can learn from 2022 to steel us for the coming year. Reviewing key business developments, we’ll explore the emerging trends that do more than prepare you for 2023 – they help you focus on profit-boosting strategies so you can succeed in tough times.
Customer experience is more important than ever
Although economists haven’t officially declared a recession, a recent Hubspot survey found that most people are already making fewer purchases.
When consumers prioritize their spending to be more needs-based and less frivolous in an economic downturn, companies must strive to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Providing an exceptional customer experience has repeatedly proven to positively impact spending and loyalty behaviours: existing customers make up an impressive 65% of sales, and 80% will even spend more to get a better experience. In fact, 89% of companies with above-average CX financially outperform their competitors.
Seamless, non-intrusive, and preferred by customers, business texting provides a superior experience compared to other digital market channels. Generic emails flood your inbox with one-sided monologues and phone calls frustrate almost everyone. By engaging the customer in authentic, two-way conversations – personalized to their immediate needs – business texting creates the curated, memorable, and informative experience they now expect from all digital services.
Marketing budgets will shrink
Often the first casualty of austerity, marketing departments will need to optimize their budgets to reach the most customers in the most efficient way possible.
Business texting excels at convenient, cost-effective, and meaningful outreach. Texts are more likely to be open, read, and responded to, making it the leading channel to deliver higher-performing and more engaging campaigns.
Business texting clearly meets the increasing expectations for personalization, which may explain the most salient reason why marketers should leverage it - customers want to be texting with businesses: 85% of smartphone users prefer texting to emails or calls when dealing with a company, while 91% of consumers already receive business texts or are interested in doing so.
Leading business texting platforms like Statflo let you be more strategic and efficient when creating different campaigns. Texting can adapt message types to the whole range of customer journey and lifecycle points, where implementing a versatile, multi-pronged approach that develops over time helps maintain positive, healthy, and loyal relationships.
The primacy of customer retention
Customer retention needs to be a primary focus of your business. Not only is it 5 to 25 times more expensive to attract new customers than to retain existing ones, but 20% of clients account for 80% of your profits. Loyal customers are the backbone of your bottom line.
A recent global survey found that loyal customers are five times more likely to repurchase and four times as likely to refer new business. Unsurprising, companies can grow profits by 25-95% from a mere 5% increase in customer retention.
As a frictionless, responsive, and personalized channel, texting delivers a customer experience that keeps people happy. More than that, it is designed to nurture relationships beyond sales interactions by offering support when customers need it and engaging in meaningful conversations that make them feel valued. And when customers are happy and engaged, they are more likely to be loyal and become brand ambassadors.
Strategies that build resilience
Your success in 2023 depends on adapting to a changing economy and implementing strategies that focus on customers.
By providing an exceptional and personalized experience that meets and surpasses customer expectations, business texting does more than just create savings to see you through lean times - it creates the loyalty that builds resilience so you can always succeed, regardless of volatility.
Book a demo now if you want to start preparing your 2023 CX strategy.
