How Asia Pacific marketers can navigate the future of digital experiences

Customer expectations are accelerating at rapid speed and brands need to step up to keep up.

To stay relevant, brands must be delivering experiences that blow their customers’ socks off or risk falling behind in the digital economy.

Adobe’s Future of Digital Experiences report found consumers in Asia Pacific are raising the bar when it comes to customer experience, and brands aren’t delivering on their expectations.

There’s no denying the digital economy is here to stay, so how can brands find CX success?

Here are four areas for experience makers to consider.

1. Experiences matter more in uncertain times

In times of economic uncertainty, consumers’ expectations for better brand experiences rise.

Asia Pacific consumers have higher standards than the rest of the world, with 71 percent saying they expect brands to deliver more engaging experiences when the economy is down, compared to 55 percent of global consumers.

Trust is the driving factor for consumers when assessing brand experiences during these times of economic downturn.

More than 80 percent of Asia Pacific consumers say trust is important when choosing where they do business, and 46 percent say it’s the most important factor, compared to 40% of consumers globally. In a challenging economy, it ranks as the top factor when consumers are choosing where they spend their money – ahead of price, selection and relevance.

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Marketers must start prioritising how they deliver on their brand promise and take a privacy-first approach to every interaction with a customer.

2. Don’t assume customers love your CX as much as you do

In some parts of APAC there is a disconnect between marketers’ perceptions of the quality of their company’s customer experience, and how consumers feel about their experiences.

Across Asia Pacific, 89 percent of marketers say their CX is amazing and that they’re impressed with their brand’s ability to keep up with rising customer expectations, yet 27 percent of consumers say they rarely have a memorable experience with a brand.

Australians and New Zealand consumers are more critical, with 45 percent saying most of their experiences are average. However, Indian brands are delivering on their CX promise, with 82 percent of consumers saying most of their experiences are amazing.

“We know that we're not just competing with companies in the wagering space, we're competing with a global stable of digital brands, so we want to try and be at the forefront of that.”

Brands’ ability to leverage digital technology is a key barrier to CX success.

3. Embrace immersive experiences

In the next two years, 73 percent of consumers in Asia Pacific say they will spend most of their time shopping digitally, whether that’s in online stores, on social pages, or in immersive worlds. But this varies across the region – just 33 percent of consumers in both Australia and New Zealand say they will spend their time shopping in virtual spaces.

Zankhana Srivastava, Assistant Vice President Marketing at ICICI Securities, says brands must deliver content and experiences in the way that customers demand.

"Content will stay as king,” she says.

“Relevancy is very important right now in the market and, of course, content has to be relevant, it has to be personalised, and it has to be customised to a person who is trying to buy a product or offering or anything."

Now is the time to experiment and explore new experience frontiers. Start innovating and find new ways to deliver experiences that truly cut through. The technology tools are at your fingertips.

4. Seize the generative AI opportunity

The rise of generative AI is truly reshaping the marketing landscape and unlocking endless potential to more efficiently and effectively power customer experiences.

A whopping 93 percent of marketers say Gen AI will help them do better and more work. But looking beyond the obvious efficiency benefits, when it comes to customer experience management, that’s where the real opportunities lie – and it’s safe to say marketers are excited.

From helping them reach the right customers (cited by 91 percent of marketers as a benefit), to helping identify new customer journeys (94 percent), and even enhancing their ability to use creative tools (93 percent), the opportunities are endless.

Himanshu Mody, Founder and CEO at Tekno Point/DEPT, is most excited about the impact Gen AI will have on content velocity.

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Gen AI isn’t slowing down, and embracing the vast opportunities this technology can offer will help marketers stay ahead of customer expectations.

The future of digital experiences is always evolving. Navigating the rising customer expectations and advancing technology innovations creates both challenges and opportunities.

Unlock all the insights from our Future of Digital Experiences report, and ensure your brand is always one step ahead.