Personalisation is key to engaging consumers on mobile devices, according to research from Sinch. Yet most brands are not leveraging the data they need to offer the personalised experiences that customers want.

The year 2020 is predicted to be the year of hyper-personalised CX. Fundamental to driving success in offering highly personalised experiences is the ability to leverage customer data. Most brands, however, are unable to leverage their data.

Hugh Haley, Director Australia and New Zealand from Sinch, comments, “Breaking down data silos to deliver highly personalised mobile experiences will be mission critical for many brands in 2020. Successful CX brands treat digital and mobile as a means to empowerconsumers with better information, personalised recommendations, intuitive interfaces, more efficient services or just-in-time notifications”.

Haley adds, “Data-driven personalisation is at the heart of these interactions. Just as ‘digital

experiences’ defined the last decade of customer engagement, ‘mobile experiences’ will characterise the coming decade. At the heart of mobile experience is the need to personalise each experience to the individual”.

Sinch’s report Mobile Consumer Engagement 2020 is based on a survey of 2,300 consumers in August 2019. The reports aim was to understand consumer attitudes about data privacy, chatbots and customer engagement on mobile devices. A couple of key findings of the report include:

Safeguarding the privilege of data access: Consumers have become much more savvy about their personal data; when they share it, they expect value and a degree of privacy in return. They are particularly wary of sharing a mobile phone number because it’s a personal and direct way to reach them at nearly any time. In turn, companies must safeguard this privileged access. Just as ridesharing apps mask drivers’ and riders’ phone numbers despite enabling messaging between the two parties, marketing leaders in other verticals will also need to think carefully about safeguarding the sanctity of mobile access.

Consumers suveryed say they often disable app-based notifications and avoid downloading apps without knowing the company that developed it. Members of the boomer generation are particularly app-wary, but even the millennial and Generation Z cohorts are on the alert about protecting their data.

Relevant and just-in-time Notifications: Overall, consumers say “imminent notifications,” such as a reminder of upcoming car repairs or a medical appointment, are useful. But consumers seem less enthusiastic about promotional reminders, such as abandoned cart reminders from e-commerce websites or promotions from banks or airlines urging them to book that trip they’ve been casually eyeing.

Brands should experiment with new functions such as:

Mobile wallet -As consumers increase mobile wallet adoption, some brands use it as a new channel to reach consumers (more than half of consumers currently use a mobile wallet, though only 1 in 3 use it at least weekly). Particularly for companies with strong loyalty marketing programs, the wallet may be yet another way to touch consumers, send notifications, and add value.
Mining messages – Companies already using messaging (mobile messaging or web-based messaging and chatbots) find that those dialogues can be a rich source of information, both around customer sentiment and to inform product development.
Real-time translations: For customer care and service enablement, real-time translations can add a tremendous amount of value in certain verticals. Ridesharing companies, for example, use real-time translations to facilitate conversations between drivers and riders. There are countless applications for messaging translation in travel, transportation and healthcare — most of which are not yet being used today.