Maximizing Media In Your Customer Experience When Words Just Don’t Cut It

Words are beautiful, tangible, and have the ability to flow across a page like a river of gold. At the same time, words also have their limitations. A series of characters that have to be understood, interpreted, and then hopefully communicated in a similar fashion to all readers to get across a unified message. It almost makes you understand why this digital, internet driven age is focused so much on media – videos and images, to get marketing messages across quicker, easier, and more fluidly.

I just had an inspiring customer service experience over at SquareSpace.com. As the hosting company of my freelance business website, I was trying to figure out how to inject some programming code to display a certain graphic on my website. Needless to say, it wasn’t going as planned. SquareSpace advertises having 24/7 support, and for most companies this usually means that while you can send in a ticket whenever you please, you might not get a response within that 24-hour time frame. Not so with these guys. I sent in a support ticket about my situation, and not 5 minutes later received a detailed reply. We’re off to a good start here. I reply back, and 5 minutes later I get another response, and this is where things get really awesome.

Instead of typing out what I need to do in a bulleted list fashion, this customer service rep decided to send me a video of exactly what I needed to do in my account with what I was trying to accomplish. The video was 10 seconds and showed exactly what I desired. And the best part is, it answered my question completely and actually showed me a feature in my account that I wasn’t aware of, a total win-win for me! This experience has led me to become fully convinced that all businesses, large or small, should take the time to utilize various media formats when dealing with customers for some simple reasons:

• We all have unique learning styles. Everyone learns differently. Some of us prefer written manuals, while others learn better through hands-on videos. By providing multiple channels of media for a customer to digest, you ensure that you get your message across as fluidly and efficiently as possible.
• Media provides an experience that words might not convey. When it comes to learning about a service, sometimes explaining it in words can be rather dry and boring. Nothing better to spice up a customer experience than a video or image to get a point across.
• Time is a precious, limited commodity for many. We live in a fast-paced society, and most people really just want to know how to do something and get on with their day. What’s more effective, a series of paragraphs trying to describe a set procedure, or a quick video that can be digested on a mobile device while on the go?
• A more personal connection with a customer. Nothing says hey, I’m going the extra yard, like creating a personalized video for a customer. Anyone can type up a sentence or two, but to take the time to really ensure a customer has a fantastic visual experience is another matter all together.

What SquareSpace provided me with is simple and tangible – an emotional, feeling based experience that hit me deeper than what words alone might have. They touched both my heart and my mind, and left me wanting more. All of this begs the questions, what are you doing as a business to win not only the minds, but the hearts of your customers as well? Maybe it’s time to go the extra yard.

[custom_author=derricka]