Page 27 - How Top Merchants Create the Best Customer Experience

SPONSORED ARTICLE

An executive conversation
with Cristy Garcia,
chief marketing officer, Impact

The most successful retailers build
trust and authenticity with consumers

Consumers have taken the wheel. They have more control than and ad costs spiking across all platforms. And although retailers
ever when engaging with brands. If they don’t want ads, they aren’t necessarily responsible for these challenges, they still
can block or skip them. If they don’t like salesy emails, they can affect the perception consumers may have.
delete them and unsubscribe. Today, brands that want to evolve
meaningfully must create real value for the consumer. To discuss What strategies should they implement to
how creating the authentic, purposeful and helpful experiences improve customer experiences?
consumers want will let brands break through the noise, Digital Go back to the basics: authenticity and trust. Retailers must build
Commerce 360 spoke with Cristy Garcia, chief marketing officer trust with their customers. One way to establish trust is to place
at Impact.
the customer in the center of your marketing strategy. Trust can
grow when customers feel they are valued; spamming them with
How would you describe consumer behavior ads, intrusive retargeting and dishonest messaging breaks it. So,
today? how can you show your customers their value to your business
Over the years, consumers have been through the ringer when it while also hitting your revenue goals? Partner up! Research
comes to intrusive targeting and pop up ads. They have become shows that 93% of consumers research new products, consider
skeptical when they see brand promotion online, in print and reviews from people they trust and don’t make purchasing
in stores. As a result, brands and advertisers must work harder decisions on price alone. They are listening to their networks
to create and nurture good, productive relationships with including peer reviews, product comparison content and
consumers. It’s more than just working harder, though. This conversations among influencers, opinion leader and publishers.
change represents a significant power shift.
Brands can benefit from leveraging these sources as partners,
What customer experience trends should across many channels, allowing authentic and trusted voices to
retailers have on their radars? speak on their behalf.

It’s a new era where brands leverage influencers, publisher
partners and complementary brands to create an authentic Why is the power of partnerships so
exchange with consumers. These partnerships hinge upon important to retailers?
garnering a trusted, positive reaction from audiences, which is When brands form partnerships with other brands or individuals
key to any impactful relationship’s beginning — and maintenance. with influencer, brands can be introduced to a new audience
For many, these partnerships are the key to success. through that partnership. And there is a good chance that these
partners have already built trust with their audience; why try to
Brands like Spotify, Uber, Airbnb, BarkBox, Harry’s, Stitch Fix engage with that audience alone?
and Casper, and established enterprises like eBay, Lenovo and
Walmart have leaned into partnership programs. These brands Impact.com helps brands power those partnerships by removing
are meeting or exceeding their revenue goals despite budget the manual process of discovering and recruiting partners,
cuts and ad spending. dynamically paying partners based on the value they bring to
your brand without duplicating payments, and allowing you to
What are retailers’ biggest challenges today understand the value each partner brings to your products.
when trying to provide great customer
experiences?
There are so many brands out there competing for customer
attention. Digital marketing analysts now say that the average
person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 ads each day! There’s
also inflation raging, supply chain issues, overwhelmed workers