In today’s complex and disruptive world, few things are as important to a brand’s success than customer experience (CX). But with customers having more choice and even greater expectations for positive experiences than ever before, delivering on it is sometimes easier said than done. 

In a recent study by Forbes Insights and The Trade Desk, 42% of CMOs identified customer experience as one of their top three challenges, and 36% said improving customer experience is their primary mandate for 2019. Today’s marketers are faced with fragmented media consumption habits, marketing-savvy consumers, and social and political divides at every turn. So, brands have much to gain by strategically balancing their focus (and budget) between customer acquisition and customer retention.

Abraham Maslow created a psychological theory of human motivation in which he espoused that for high-level motivation such as self-actualization to occur, more fundamental levels must first occur. Maslow’s model is a five-tier sequential model, which is hierarchal starting with basic physiological needs, safety, and belonging, and then progressing to self-esteem and self-actualization.

As an agency search consultant for almost two decades, I hear many complaints from marketers (and agencies) about their business partners. Note the nuance here… “partners” not “partnerships.” The reality is we are in the business of relationships and relationships, whether they’re good or bad, are based on the interaction between people.

Automation has transformed the marketing world as we know it from every digital touchpoint. From an advertising perspective, the development of biddable media has completely changed the game as far as how advertisers are purchasing ad space.