You’re probably neglecting the CX metrics that matter most in 2023

But in 2023, in a world captivated by AI and emerging technology, neither of these groups are focused on the right thing. It’s not that conversions and brand aren’t important, but neither capture the CX metrics that matter most this year. That title belongs to the often-forgotten metrics around engagement.

Why engagement? Organizations recognize the importance of two-way communication with consumers; that’s not a secret. But engagement also tells companies where their customers are along the buying journey – whether that’s learning about the product through a video on the site or commenting on one of the brand’s social posts. If they’re close to purchasing, nurturing tactics can be adjusted to lean them toward that final decision. It’s essential intel for creating positive customer experiences.

Why engagement is underappreciated

Companies often struggle to make sense of engagement data. Scoring engagement metrics requires more strategy and thoughtfulness and may need to be customized to the organization’s specific circumstances.

Businesses also tend to pull investments out of engagement-focused campaigns first because they don’t see how they tie directly to a conversion event or long-term brand building. This is a major mistake, but a common one – being overly reactive if one doesn’t see positive performance results from media investments focused on engagement. When those investments are reallocated to campaigns driving conversions and lower-level returns, the gold mine of potential engagement data is lost and the CX suffers.

What companies need to remember is that the purpose of investing in engagement is to help prime the audience as they progress along the buying journey. Depending on the type of business, specific engagement metrics can be defined for everything from a product and product launch to target audiences and sentiment. As an under-appreciated area, engagement provides a ripe opportunity for those looking to set their customer experiences apart from the competition.

Engagement is about quality, not quantity

The best places to find valuable engagement data are on owned channels, such as the company’s website, social pages and CRM. Understanding what the customer is trying to do by seeing the data of how they’re browsing or viewing content can provide key insights.

While it’s useful to observe volume-based metrics like clicks, dissecting the underlying actions is much more compelling – the most valuable engagement metrics are qualitative, not quantitative. A video view is a single data point, but capturing the mindset of the consumer as they watch offers so much more.

Access to these metrics can take a company’s CX to the next level.

There’s more data than ever, and that’s not necessarily a good thing

In 2023, customers are navigating a digitally native environment with many different signals. From standard online purchases to digital wallets, organizations have a lot more to make sense of when trying to create positive experiences in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic era.

The biggest difference today from the past three to four years is that far more data is measurable, which is a good thing. However, because there’s more connectivity across platforms, there’s also more room for noise. Companies are often in the mindset that more data is inherently better and are eager to track anything and everything.

But it‘s important to consider the mindset of the consumer. Is it necessary to capture every single activity to figure out where they are in their journey with a brand?

Knowing how to use and incorporate the most valuable data is more practical than trying to collect everything available, as too many touchpoints and too much data can be a distraction from homing in on the key insights. Not all data is applicable for each use case – it needs to be contextually relevant and relevant to the specific brand.

Back to the CX basics

There are two spotlight stealers in the world of CX metrics: brand awareness and conversions. What’s being lost is a prime opportunity to gain a competitive advantage through engagement.

In today’s digitally connected world, it’s never been more important to focus on making sense of and getting value from the ‘why‘ behind customers’ activities. If brands can capture the qualitative insights that engagement metrics provide, and see through the noise created by a never-ending sea of data, they’ll deliver more relevant and memorable experiences for their customers in 2023.

Sisi Zhang is executive vice-president of data science and analytics at Razorfish. Additional contributions by Rob Silver, executive vice-president, head of media at Razorfish.