Digital Customer Experience: 101

Digital customer experience has only one difference from customer experience.

Digital CX consists of all the interactions and experiences people have with your brand and company online. Many of the digital touchpoints can be measured, but the emotions and experiences of people can be even harder to measure than in the real world.

As an example: When a customer visits your brick-and-mortar store, you can see from their face if things go south. It gives you the chance to save the situation on the spot.

Digital customer experience management is harder because you can’t see the non-verbal reactions your customers have at different touch points. That makes building customer loyalty and knowing your customers harder.

For example, I can’t see the exact reaction a user has on our app when it doesn’t work as the user expects it to. We’re forced to gather data from people using our software and analyze it to understand where people get stuck to improve the software.

Next, I’ll go over how to:

• Effectively measure digital customer experience
• Do customer analytics for the digital experience
• Improve digital customer experience journey
• Case examples of how to improve digital customer experiences

What Is Digital Customer Experience (And Why It Matters)?

Digital customer experience (DCX) refers to the interactions customers have with your brand through digital channels like

• Websites (browsing, downloading a guide, signing up for a webinar or newsletter, using a chatbot, and so on)
• Mobile apps
• Social media channels and advertising

Everything from browsing your website to engaging with a chatbot or leaving feedback after a purchase.

DCX is a critical factor in how customers perceive your brand. With so many options available, customers are quick to move on if their online experience doesn’t meet expectations.

I’ve seen companies overlook this too many times over the years.

Just think about your own behavior. If a website takes forever to load, do you stay and wait or just leave and find another solution for your problem?

53% of mobile site visits are ended if the page takes longer than 3 seconds to fully load.

Causes of Negative Digital Customer Experience

• A slow website
• Poorly designed app
• Impersonal and spammy emails
• Jargon-filled copy
• Not finding the right payment method
• Bad customer service (or none at all!)
• Not finding contact information on website

And the list goes on and on. There are so many aspect companies need to consider to ensure their digital customer experience journey is smooth.

Benefits of Mastering Digital Customer Experience

Businesses that prioritize DCX often see improved customer satisfaction, loyalty, and even revenue.

Delivering seamless, intuitive, and personalized digital experiences shows customers that you value their time and needs. Companies like Amazon and Netflix have set the bar high for DCX, making it essential for other businesses to follow suit to remain competitive.

In short, digital customer experience isn’t just a component of your overall strategy—it’s a cornerstone of how you connect with and retain your audience in a digital-first world.

How to Measure Digital Customer Experience

I wish I could be a fly in the room when people use Trustmary to observe their facial expressions.

Because I can’t do that, we’re tracking their satisfaction in a few different ways.

Methods to Track Customer Experience

• User interviews
• Feedback surveys to users at different touch points
• Tracking the usage of our web pages
• Adding surveys to blog posts: One asks why the user is there, and at the end a satisfaction survey
• Heat maps and user recordings of the key web pages and app usage
• User data logs
• Analyzing the sentiment of support chat interactions

The best way to measure digital customer experience is to have tracking tools that give loads of quantitative cx data but combine it with ratings and open feedback users give about that specific touchpoint.

Tracking method in Real Life: Example Case Disturb

Set a customer satisfaction survey at the end of your purchase journey as the last step to get insights into what your customers thought about the process.

This can give you actionable insights on which payment methods you should consider adding. In other words, you gain context into what customers think and feel instead of just seeing how many sales you did and what the dropout percentage of your purchase journey was.

– We closely monitor the conversion rate of the checkout process. Sometimes, in the open feedback after a purchase, customers have requested a new payment method, for example. These are important development suggestions for us, says the owner of Disturb, Petri Skinnari.

More about these later on, let’s look at the key components of doing DCX well first.

Key Components of a Successful Digital Customer Experience

Building a stellar DCX requires focusing on several key areas. At its core, it’s about making sure every touchpoint is simple, personalized, and efficient.

Well-Designed User Interface

A well-designed user interface (UI) is the foundation for great user experiences.

Customers should be able to navigate your website or app intuitively, find what they need, and complete tasks with minimal friction. Slow loading times or confusing layouts can frustrate users and push them toward competitors.

Personalize Content

Personalization is another essential piece. Today’s consumers expect experiences tailored to their preferences, whether that’s personalized product recommendations, targeted emails, or dynamic website content.

Leveraging customer data can help you deliver these personalized touches while maintaining trust.

Personalization means more than just adding the [first name] variable to emails. It’s about adding relatable social proof to the right services pages and continually improving and refining copy to describe the problem and solution you’re providing.

Consistency Over Channels

Finally, a seamless customer-centric approach across all channels ties everything together.

Customers interact with brands across multiple platforms—desktop, mobile, social media, and more. Ensuring these channels work together to provide a consistent experience is critical to avoiding frustration and confusion.

When these components are aligned, you create an ecosystem where customers feel valued and empowered, making them more likely to return and recommend your brand.

Every single person in your organization should have the same level of commitment to serving customers in the best way possible.

How to Build a Digital Customer Experience Strategy

I’ve founded a handful of companies, and in every single one we’ve paid attention to creating a CX strategy.

Step 1: Crafting DCX Strategy

It all starts with understanding your customers. Begin by gathering insights into their needs, preferences, and pain points. This can be done through surveys, user testing, and analyzing existing customer data.

Look at your customer engagement numbers and combine them with open feedback to get the full picture.

Do a few in-depth customer interviews, if possible!

Step 2: Map Customer Journey

Mapping the customer journey is another crucial step.

Identify every touchpoint where customers interact with your brand and assess how these moments contribute to their overall experience. Are there bottlenecks or opportunities for improvement? A well-defined customer journey map helps pinpoint areas to focus your efforts.

Step 3: Automate Feedback Collection

Feedback plays a central role in refining your strategy. Encouraging customers to share their experiences allows you to identify issues and areas for enhancement.

Tools like Trustmary make this process seamless by collecting and presenting customer feedback in actionable formats, such as reports and dashboards.

Step 4: Rinse and Repeat

Finally, implement changes iteratively. DCX is not a one-and-done project but a continuous effort to adapt to customer expectations and industry trends.

Regularly monitor performance metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and conversion rates to gauge the success of your strategy and make data-driven improvements.

If you notice a dip in conversion numbers, figure out what’s the underlying cause and fix it ASAP. Similarly, if your customer satisfaction numbers drop, figure out how to turn unhappy customers into happy customers again.

Digital Tools and Analytics Tools to Try

Managing customer experience effectively is impossible without the right tools and analytics. These resources enable you to

• Understand customer behavior
• Identify areas for improvement, and
• Measure the impact of your efforts

Let’s look at must-have tools.

CRM or ERP

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, like HubSpot or Salesforce, are invaluable for tracking customer interactions and preferences. They allow you to segment your audience, personalize communication, and build stronger relationships.

If your company has more than a dozen employees, you should have a CRM or ERP. Where else would all customer data and knowledge be stored?

Support Chat and Chatbots

Because our employees are in one timezone, but we still serve customers globally, having a combination of human-operated chat and AI-powered chatbot has been crucial.

We tried outsourcing our chat outside of our working hours to a third-party, but the AI-chatbot we trained works better. However, we’ve spent time training the bot and creating help documentation, so just turning on an AI bot will probably not work.

Chatbots and AI-driven tools can enhance customer support by offering instant responses to common queries. These tools save time for both customers and support teams, creating a smoother experience.

Tracking and Analytics Tools

Analytics platforms are another cornerstone. Tools like Google Analytics or heat mapping software can reveal how users interact with your digital assets. Metrics such as bounce rates, session durations, and conversion paths offer insights into where your digital experience succeeds—and where it falters.

By combining these tools with actionable data, you can continuously refine your digital customer experience, ensuring it aligns with your customers’ needs and expectations.

Trustmary Method is a great way to get customer insights that you can use to improve your services – but also to show prospective customers that you can be trusted!

Common Challenges in Managing Digital Customer Experience

There are three most common issues with DCX:

1. Lack of consistency between channels
2. Data privacy vs. personalization
3. Fragmented customer journeys

The lack of consistency between channels means that customers expect your website, app, and social media platforms to work seamlessly together, but achieving this requires significant coordination and a lot of work.

The user experience should be similar from one platform to another, but also the people interacting should be telling the same story. If your social media team gives snarky responses in the DMs, your support team might need to take the heat for that.

Data Privacy vs. Personalization

While personalization enhances DCX, it often relies on collecting and analyzing customer data.

Having a balance between providing tailored experiences and respecting privacy can be tricky, especially with evolving regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

Pro tip: Check the regulations and laws in all regions you operate in to avoid legal problems. This is also a way to localize content for your target audience.

As an example, German laws require businesses to have an Impressum on their website that is easy to find. An Impressum contains the name and contact information of the business owner. If you don’t have this, you’re breaking the law, but also seem very untrustworthy in the eyes of Germans.

Fragmented Customer Journey

Fragmented customer journeys are another issue. Customers may start an interaction on one platform and continue on another. Ensuring their experience remains smooth and connected requires highly advanced backend systems and cross-channel tracking capabilities.

As a concrete example, we need to track people across:

• Website and which actions they make (WordPress + Google Analytics + GTM)
• Actions done within our app (Mixpanel + GTM)
• How users interact with our newsletter (Active Campaign)
• Who asks what in the chat (Tawk)
• Who books meetings (GTM + Active Campaign)
• When someone start paying (ChartMogul)

And that’s just to name a few different solutions we use to track users’ behavior. Then we also need to blend the data to get real insights and see what influences, for example, customer retention the most.

I haven’t even mentioned all the social media channels and their tracking yet…

Addressing these challenges requires a proactive approach, clear communication, and the right technology. By focusing on these areas, businesses can overcome roadblocks and deliver exceptional digital customer experiences.

How Trustmary Can Help You Improve Digital Customer Experience

Trustmary specializes in collecting and utilizing customer feedback to enhance your digital experience strategy. By leveraging Trustmary’s tools, businesses can easily gather testimonials, reviews, and satisfaction scores, turning customer insights into actionable improvements.

For example, Trustmary simplifies the process of creating feedback forms and integrating them into your digital channels. This means you can gather real-time insights directly from your customers without disrupting their experience.

Moreover, Trustmary’s tools allow you to showcase positive feedback on your website or social media platforms, building trust and credibility. This can help convert visitors into loyal customers.

With Trustmary, improving your digital customer experience is no longer guesswork. It’s a data-driven process that empowers you to create meaningful, personalized, and seamless interactions across every touchpoint.

I know I’m biased to say this, but look at what our customer have to say:

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

Managing digital customer experience holistically involves more than just upgrading your website or adding a chatbot.

It’s about understanding your customers, creating strategies that align with their needs, and continuously refining your approach using the right tools and feedback.

By focusing on usability, personalization, and integration, you can deliver experiences that not only meet but exceed customer expectations. Trustmary can be your partner in this journey, providing the insights and tools you need to thrive in today’s competitive digital landscape.

FAQ on Digital Customer Experience