Customer Experience

The latest customer experience best practice, case studies, trends, training and more. From personalisation and design to user experience and usability

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Customer service and generative AI: a uniquely transformational moment for the industry

Software company Intercom has been implementing generative AI in its customer support toolset. VP Customer Support Declan Ivory speaks to Econsultancy about what the tech means for the industry, from agent support and QA, to customer-facing bots and new human roles.

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Setting Up an Effective Email Testing Programme

Holistic testing is a concept developed by Holistic Email Marketing. It can be implemented as a framework that imparts both a testing structure and a method for applying the results generated from those tests. This chapter discusses how to set up an email testing programme based on this approach. Holistic testing: An overview Holistic testing […]

10 minute read

Approaches to Email Testing

Advances in technology, particularly at the ESP level, should mean that testing becomes more widespread and with less drain on resources. The creation, launch and adoption of AI-based testing tools has also been a major factor in giving marketers more control over the testing process, including allowing direct access to testing and results. Different attributes […]

16 minute read

A Framework for Email Testing

Email testing is both art and science. Creative thinking helps drive the possibilities for testing, but science ensures that the results will be reliable and repeatable. It relies on a formal structure that identifies a problem, develops a framework to address it, follows a strict procedure that eliminates chance, error or bias, and delivers results […]

5 minute read

The Importance of Email Testing

The ability to optimise easily is one of email’s greatest advantages over other marketing channels. Marketers that routinely send messages to their subscription lists have regular opportunities to test and optimise. This allows for continuous improvement. Testing can be conducted on all types of messages, including promotional campaigns, newsletters or updates to whole subscriber lists, […]

5 minute read

Testing and Optimisation for Email Marketing: A Summary

An optimised email programme will generate more revenue and build greater engagement. It will add to the company’s understanding of its customers, making the channel an even more valuable resource, worthy of greater investment. Testing is the most common method of optimisation. Many email service providers now include basic testing modules in their platforms, which […]

2 minute read

Email Design Testing and Optimisation

Strategy for email programmes should include the regular testing of master templates and individual design components to ensure that they render successfully, using a variety of email clients and devices. This chapter discusses the benefits of pre-deployment testing, and also looks at how AMP for Email can benefit email design. Design render and pre-deployment testing […]

6 minute read

Checklist: Layout Elements for Email Design

The following checklist lists layout elements and best practice advice for how to include them in email design. Figure 1 provides an example of how these elements work together to increase brand trust and relevancy. Table 1: Key elements to consider for email layout Element Heading Distinct text headline Use a headline in a large […]

4 minute read

Considerations for Email Design

When designing email templates, it is vital to consider who will be reading the email. Email marketers should ensure they think about the different reading requirements and cultural preferences of audience segments. This chapter discusses some of these considerations. Designing for accessibility Accessibility has become a pressing issue as awareness of the difficulties many email […]

7 minute read

Best Practice for Email Design

This chapter looks at best practice for email design elements. The following tips will help marketers consider each component of email creative design in the context of their goals. ‘Above the fold’ and ‘below the fold’ These terms come from newspaper design and refer to the horizontal fold that divides a full-size newspaper in half. […]

15 minute read

Master Templates for Email Design

Marketers do not have to reinvent the wheel every time they want to send a new message. Every successful email marketing programme makes use of well-designed templates. These will have been tested for functionality across multiple email platforms and devices, and they can be modified in terms of content and messaging. This chapter discusses the […]

10 minute read

Layout and Creative in Email Marketing: A Summary

The goal of good email design is to design for conversions, not merely aesthetics. The combination of these two principles has elevated email design to both an art and a science. The science guides the construction of an email message, from the coding to the layout and the rendering. The art is in bringing all […]

4 minute read

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What does user experience (UX) mean?

This article is reproduced from Econsultancy’s report, User Experience and Interaction Design, authored by Steffan Aquarone and Will Grant, and also available as a quick guide. Jakob Nielsen, a UX consultant who The New York Times has called “the guru of web page usability”, wrote: “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end user’s interaction with […]

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Econsultancy’s digital and marketing trends for 2024

We’ve published a list of digital and marketing trends every January at Econsultancy for well over a decade, and have been training marketers for the better part of 20 years. Looking back at some of our annual predictions since 2010, three types of trend stand out: Trends that feel nostalgic, ideas that quickly became amusing […]

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Twilio’s Sam Richardson: Accessibility should be built in to customer engagement strategies

Sam Richardson is a consultant at Twilio. She describes the team’s focus at the customer engagement platform, as “firmly on helping our [clients] to understand the importance of developing deeper relationships with customers.” “We’re working with them to encourage a mindset shift,” she continues, “from thinking about one off transactions to how they can earn […]

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Quick Guide to Marketing Automation

This quick guide looks at the business benefits of marketing automation, including the ability to deliver personalised, omnichannel experiences to customers and improve acquisition, engagement and retention. It provides an overview of the main features offered by marketing automation platforms, and the key steps to successful implementation.

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