Businesses are constantly faced with the challenge of adapting to emerging technologies alongside maintaining a strong connection with their customers. 

The rise of new technology advancements is shaping the future of business, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance customer experiences and drive growth. 

At 383, we like to think we know what we’re talking about when it comes to where people should be investing in new tech. 

So, we got our crystal ball out to look at the latest game-changing trends and cutting-edge solutions that we think will be seeing massive growth, success, and crucially, where you should invest your budget in for the new financial year, and why. 

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TL/DR? 

Businesses need to be making room in their budgets in four key areas if they want to see growth:

Generative AI

Businesses investing in AI experience up to 15% revenue increase, and improvement in sales ROI up to 20%.

‍Hyper-personalisation

91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that recognise, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations and 52% agree that as personalised digital experiences with brands become more personalised, their satisfaction improves. 

Loyalty programmes

87% of UK respondents said that a loyalty programme influences them to buy again from that business. 

ESG 

77% of users are influenced by a company’s environmental achievements when they decide who to buy from, and 76% of consumers will no longer buy from companies that don’t prioritise the environment or their employees. 

If you’re not prioritising your budget in at least one of these areas, the likelihood is, you’re going to get left behind. 

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#1 The power of generative AI 

Alright, we didn’t need a crystal ball to see that generative AI is already revolutionising businesses.

According to a report by Gartner, by 2025, generative AI will account for 10% of all data produced, up from less than 1% in 2022. This enormous growth underpins the importance of this still-emerging technology.

Open-source platforms are making waves on the sales and marketing frontlines, with tech companies investing heavily in different factions of AI. 

And they’re investing for good reasons. As McKinsey have recently reported, “businesses investing in AI experience up to 15% revenue increase, and improvement in sales ROI up to 20%.”

The new Google

And we’re sure to see Gen AI becoming an all-purpose technology over the next 12 months. For users, it is going to be the go-to place to find the answers they need and for businesses, we’re going to see it implemented for faster product development, better customer experiences, and enhanced employee productivity.

But with so many areas of AI available for investment, where should businesses be investing their money? We’ve narrowed AI down into six key areas that we think offer the best ROI.

‍Experiences‍

From booking holidays, to purchasing products online, AI is going to be a key player in helping brands to analyse customer preferences and provide super personalised experiences, recommendations and tailored content. (Hyper-personalisation when booking hotels is something we’ve seen play out in real life with amazing success in our work with Hilton.)

Customer support 

We know that chatbots have a pretty poor reputation, but using AI to support chatbot interactions has shown to drastically improve customer support by providing personalised support, and reducing the burden and workload of stretched customer support teams. 

Content

From blog posts, thought-leadership pieces, social interactions and gaming, AI is making the creation of engaging content simpler. Gen AI allows marketing teams to automatically generate personalised content at scale, improve customer communication and nurture users better, drastically improving customer experiences. 

Personal assistants

Many businesses are turning to AI for virtual personal assistants to improve their productivity and efficiency. Adapting the way we work to support human colleagues means AI can fit seamlessly into business. 

Insights

Using AI to analyse large datasets not only speeds up the process, but can also mitigate against risks such as subjective interpretation and natural human error in your findings to help you discover valuable insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. And we’re helping people speed up the labour-heavy job of reading and interpreting customer transcripts manually, and level up customer understanding and product decisions with our CustomerVoiceAI tool.

Sales & marketing  

Identifying and qualifying leads using AI can help teams focus on the most promising prospects, while targeted ads will maximise reach and effectiveness. It can also automate proposals, contract negotiations, and real-time conversational assistance - boosting efficiency so teams can focus on revenue-driving activities.

But, this AI revolution not only inevitably impacts how businesses operate and engage customers, but also brings with it a set of considerations that have to be addressed. 

With great power, comes great responsibility

For those expressing concerns around the new technology removing the need for humans in the workflow, gen AI is a technology that can work to support us. “This (gen AI) is not about replacing the human in the loop,” explained Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, “in fact, it’s about empowering the human.”

Other worries include potential biases in the training data, concerns over data privacy and intellectual property rights, and the impact on employment are all critical issues that need to be carefully navigated.

But, these risks must be proactively managed. Establishing clear AI governance, ensuring transparency, and upskilling employees to allow gen AI to enhance their work will be important in its implementation within businesses.

But with a prize so golden - gained efficiencies, tailored customer journeys, and a competitive edge - it seems too good an opportunity for businesses to be missing out on. 

As long as companies pair innovation with responsibility, those striking the balance between the two will find themselves using gen AI's full potential, and building a trusted brand for long-term success.

If you are looking to reduce time-to-insight, level up your customer understanding and drive laser-focused product decisions take a look at our CustomerVoiceAI. 

The CustomerVoiceAI, you’re able to upload your customer transcripts and extract needs, pain points and map opportunities at rapid speed. 

Learn more about CustomerVoiceAI here.>

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#2 Mastering hyper-personalisation

And, as identified in the AI section, consumers know what technology can do, and have now come to expect tailored experiences, meaning hyper-personalisation has emerged as a key differentiator for businesses. 

"Digital personalisations are no longer merely an option; they’re a necessity,"

Jim Cramer, host of a consumer show in the US. 

Today’s customers expect better experiences from the brands they choose to spend their money with. They prioritise quality over quantity, and won’t hesitate to take their business elsewhere if they feel they’re not valued.

This is illustrated by a survey undertaken by Ninetailed, where they found 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that recognise, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations and 52% agree that as personalised digital experiences with brands become more personalised, their satisfaction improves. 

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Hyper-personalisation takes user experiences to the next level by combining data from various sources such as behavioural, demographic, and transactional information. And, for the most part, it is already being built into apps users interact with daily.

Business benefits

And it’s not just a good impact for users, in the same Ninetailed survey, they found that 90% of leading marketers say personalisation significantly contributes to business profitability, and 80% of companies are seeing an uplift in revenue since implementing personalisation. 

In the banking industry, McKinsey found that personalised customer experiences have shown a potential revenue increase of up to 20%. 

And in the travel sector, McKinsey found that personalised recommendations based on user data spiked conversion rates 23%. And, across industries, hyper-personalisation is helping businesses improve their bottom line.

And, for those concerned about respecting customer privacy vs the need for tailored experiences, 64% of people are happy for companies to retain their purchase information, if it means that they gain a better, more personalised user experience from that information. 

The comprehensive approach that hyper-personalisation brings to businesses means they can gain a complete understanding of customers, can delve deeper into their preferences, and create messaging and offers that cater to their individual needs and desires. 

Using data analytics, machine learning algorithms, and gen AI, companies can deliver highly customised products, services, marketing campaigns, and customer experiences that resonate with individual preferences and behaviour patterns.

Find out how we uncovered insights on a dynamic landing page through event data analytics, optimised product performance and improved site engagement by 65% for Hilton.

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#3 Loyalty programmes that delight 

Using data analytics for customer experiences means better loyalty to your brand, and harnessing that loyalty via programmes is becoming increasingly common in the business world.

“There was a time when having a loyalty programme differentiated you from others. Now, that’s not true,”

‍explains Emily Collins, a senior analyst at Forrester Research. 

Now, you can get loyalty programmes for coffee, clothes, food shopping, pet goods, and even your peri-peri chicken. And, to show the importance of having a loyalty programme, in The State of Brand Loyalty report by Yotpo, a massive 87% of UK respondents said that a loyalty programme influences them to buy again from that business. 

But what is the fuss about when it comes to loyalty programmes? Are they effective enough to increase revenue and make or break loyalty to your business?

Well, yes. With 65% of a company’s revenue coming from repeat business, according to Queue It, and it being up to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one, using a loyalty programme has never been better for business. 

Beyond points and discounts

But loyalty programmes are no longer just about points and discounts. They're about creating emotional connections with customers, making them feel valued and appreciated, and building a community around the brand.

More and more consumers are showing their loyalty to brands that share their values too. 96.8% of UK Gen Z say they are more likely to remain loyal to a brand that shares their beliefs. 

By being a transparent brand, with upstanding values, alongside offering easy to understand experiences that have exclusive rewards, personalised suggestions, and seamless integration across multiple channels, business will see users come for the perks, but stay for the experience. Simple, huh?

Loyalty in numbers

But when loyalty keeps customers coming back, the numbers can be transformational for business. 

When it’s done right, just a 5% increase in customer loyalty has the potential to increase profits by anywhere from 25% up to a whopping 95%. 

Even in the face of new competitors, lower prices and an uncertain economic outlook, keeping people loyal can see an 8.5x ROI and a 71.3% increase in purchases per customer when comparing loyalty redeemers v non-redeemers, which was found in a loyalty programme benchmark report.

Loyalty isn’t a given

But, with recent economic changes and people being savvier with their money, loyalty, even if a business has a great programme, is not a given. 

As the economy shifts, seemingly almost daily, customer loyalty to brands will shift too, and more is needed to be done to earn it. Customers now have lower tolerance for poor, unconsidered experiences and higher expectations of what they get for their loyalty. 

Successfully keeping customers coming back to a business means using a loyalty programme to create outstanding post-shopping experiences, keeping up communication and offering them worthwhile experiences. 

This comes from making users believe that the connection with them goes beyond a simple supply and demand transaction. This is only achieved by knowing an audience, and the individuals within it, inside out. 

Data storage 

But, as loyalty programmes evolve and incorporate more personalised features, it's important for businesses to prioritise data security, maintain transparency in their practices, and ensure compliance with relevant privacy regulations.

We know from the earlier section on hyper-personalisation that most people are willing to part with their data in order to get the best experiences, but not at the expense of being over-communicated with, especially when the communications are irrelevant to them. 

These poorly-crafted, impersonal communications can leave a negative experience for users and result in the exact opposite effect businesses are looking for - lost custom. 

So, whilst loyalty programmes are seemingly everywhere now, done well, they are still an effective way to increase retention, repeat business and relationships with customers. Done badly, they could make life more difficult. 

Need help nailing your loyalty and retention? Join our event, The Future of Loyalty, a share-and-discuss roundtable session about how you can leverage your share of the multi-billion dollar loyalty market.

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#4 Corporate responsibility and inclusivity 

As businesses navigate the complexities of emerging technologies and evolving consumer expectations, corporate responsibility and ethical practices have to become a vital part of that process too. 

The once separate “add-on” view of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as its own entity is beginning to fade, and it's now becoming seamlessly woven into the fabric of businesses. 

Companies aren’t viewing it as a check-box exercise, but as a way to optimise and refine existing processes within their business, to not only improve the lives of employees, but support their brand perception, and ultimately loyalty from new and current users. 

How to integrate ESG

To truly integrate ESG into the business, companies have to strike the delicate balance between innovation and accountability. Meaning that the business’ actions line up with societal values, contribute to a sustainable future, and uphold ethical standards.

According to a report by McKinsey, financially successful companies that incorporate ESG priorities into their growth strategies were twice as likely as their peers to generate a 10% increase in revenue. Companies integrating ESG into their core strategy are using their offerings to drive value creation and are actively tracking and reporting ESG and related data, making sure that it is worked into their organisation’s DNA and key performance metrics. 

This all highlights the growing importance of corporate responsibility in shaping consumer perceptions and actions, driving brand loyalty, and ultimately impacting wider business success.

Build the product, cause the least harm

“Building the best product while causing the least harm," should be at the heart of what every business does, says Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. "Customers are putting pressure on companies to take action, and that’s a good thing. Young people are voting with their purchases, and companies should recognise that customers are changing."

And the proof that this is the case is evident. According to Accenture, 77% of users are influenced by a company’s environmental achievements when they decide who to buy from, and 76% of consumers will no longer buy from companies that don’t prioritise the environment or their employees. 

From embracing sustainable practices and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruitment of employees and users, to protecting user privacy and upholding ethical principles, businesses are being held accountable for their impact on society. With failure to prioritise corporate responsibility leading to user mistrust, employee disengagement, and legal and regulatory challenges.

ESG frameworks

Although frameworks for evaluating ESG performance are still taking shape, businesses can no longer afford to sit idly by. 

Corporate stewardship demands a commitment to prioritising growth initiatives that bring together profitability with environmental sustainability and social responsibility. 

Business leaders need to look beyond short-term gains and allocate resources towards initiatives that generate revenue, while uplifting communities, empowering users, and preserving our planet's finite resources.

The integration of ESG principles is more than just a trend. It's a strategy for businesses aiming for sustainability and, crucially, future relevance. Companies that work to seamlessly merge these concepts will be better positioned for success.

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So, where’s your money going?

As we move into the new financial year, businesses have to prioritise investing their budgets in these technologies and responsible practices to drive growth and build customer loyalty. 

Generative AI, hyper-personalisation, robust loyalty programmes, and a strong commitment to environmental, social, and governance principles will be key differentiators to those who do well, and those who do, well, less well. 

Those looking to strike the right balance between innovation and accountability will be well-positioned for long-term success in meeting evolving consumer expectations while upholding ethical standards. 

And those that fail to adapt and prioritise these critical areas risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive and socially conscious marketplace. 

The future belongs to companies that can use the power of emerging technologies while upholding their moral and ethical obligations to society.