Achieving digital maturity with technology driven marketing

Marketing nowadays revolves a lot around the customer experience. You want to leave a good impression when you come into contact with an organization. How do you ensure that, so that the customer returns to you? Patrick van Eechoud, COO/partner at Uxbee and Sitecore Strategy MVP, explains that after years of development, the sector has now reached a crossroads where technology, connectivity, and social responsibility are shaping the future of customer interactions.

It's a significant shift and trend towards a more personal and emotional connection. Customers not only expect a personalized experience, but they also want to feel emotionally connected to an organization. This involves core values, storytelling, and user stories, among other things. Van Eechoud calls it resonating and touching and ensuring that the customer feels that your company is on the same wavelength as them. "The value-driven connection is crucial, where do you stand on that? Customers feel more connected to brands that take stands on social issues, promote sustainability, or actively contribute to the community. This kind of engagement shows that the company is not only focused on profit but also on making a positive impact in the world."

Uxbee provides the technology to deliver the right message to the right audience, at the right time, through the right channel. Online is an important channel, but he argues that physically stepping into a store and other relevant touchpoints should also be integrated. Data and content play a significant role here. How do you deploy and connect them? For example, you can ensure that your organization truly knows your customer, so they don't have to reintroduce themselves. Knowing which products or services they have already purchased allows you to focus entirely on potential upsells. Van Eechoud explains that many organizations still have silos where essential information is not shared with other departments. "Content, a personalization engine, and data are the most important things before marketing can even start doing anything useful."

Marketing doesn't get far without appropriate technology

Uxbee is the partner that optimizes marketing through technology. Theo de Wolf, CEO and head of sales at Uxbee, states that they make the marketing engine of companies work: "Marketing is a funnel where marketing qualified leads should lead to sales qualified leads."

Companies that invest in their digital marketing technology have an advantage. In designing and creating customer experiences, new propositions, and digital transformations, technology plays an essential role. Uxbee, as a Gold and Focus partner, implements Sitecore's technological marketing platform. With a lot of knowledge and expertise, they have four Sitecore MVPs on staff. A collaboration always starts with formulating objectives, then discussing how they can activate the marketing engine to work towards those goals. They do this on a strategic level, translating a company's strategy and marketing plan into a functional platform. Once they have a picture of the marketing landscape, they can precisely determine which technology works best.

"Many companies use their engine as a flat CMS, but you can personalize, set up marketing automation, perform A/B testing, and apply AI," De Wolf explains. Uxbee handles the strategic analysis as well as the technical implementation. This can be in the form of Sitecore as a content management system, a personalization engine, or through an integrated middleware where important data resides. They are technically specialized and speak the language of marketers. "We always start with a workshop to uncover the question behind the question. When a client comes to you, there's usually much more behind it than they initially reveal," says De Wolf.

About uxbee

Uxbee is a partner in technology-driven marketing. We translate objectives into a Digital Experience Platform that enables our clients to become digitally mature. Our specialties are the strategy, technology, implementation, and adoption of marketing technologies within organizations.

*This article was published in 'Financieel Dagblad' first, you can read the full articles (in Dutch) here on pages 6 and 8.*