Digital experience optimization is a team sport

Returning to SYZYGY was a matter close to my heart. SYZYGY has developed excellently in recent years, has grown and, like the entire digital economy, has come of age. The solutions we develop together with our customers are business-critical. At the same time, I am pleased to see that some clients that I was already able to support at the time are still clients of SYZYGY today. This is not only a testament to the quality of our services, but also to the quality of our personal relationships. As expected, I had an easy start. Everything feels like home and we are jointly developing a vision for our “way forward”.

SYZYGY’s range of services is impressive, both in terms of breadth – from strategic consulting to performance marketing – and depth, from experience design to application operations. We focus on configuring the best range of services for the various challenges our customers face. This requires flexibility in the composition and collaboration of teams across competencies and locations. In addition, we are strengthening our ability to collaborate with our WPP network partners and within our customers’ partner ecosystems.

There is sustained demand in the areas of e-commerce, the modernization of CMS and DXP platforms, and content operations. In addition, readiness for the entry into force of the Accessibility Strengthening Act is a major topic.

In the area of data, the focus is on achieving a certain sovereignty vis-à-vis the large platforms, keyword through first party data, on the one hand, and on data value creation for better targeting, conversion optimization and higher relevance through personalization, on the other.

In the area of AI, the requirements are becoming more specific. While we did a lot of educational work last year, the focus is now on specific use cases and results in terms of efficiency or scaling, for example in the area of content creation. We also see opportunities in optimizing the customer experience through AI-supported agent systems.

Optimizing the digital experience is a team sport. Companies that are organized in an integrated manner with a focus on the customer have an advantage: marketing, sales, customer service, and IT must work together to optimize the customer interfaces.

In structural terms, this means a shift towards a customer-centric organization, at least in the areas of marketing, IT, customer service and sales. The big CX champions like Amazon and the new DTC players in finance, automotive and retail are leading the way and setting benchmarks in terms of DX customer expectations.

Many companies have invested heavily in technology in recent years, which has often led to increased complexity in the application landscape. Mastering and, ideally, reducing this complexity and using technology in the sense of customer centricity is becoming a critical success factor.

In my opinion, data is a means to an end when it comes to customer centricity. Not every company will be able to develop a data-based business model like the large platforms. But most companies can become customer-centric companies. To do that, they need a high level of understanding and empathy for the needs and requirements of their customers. Data can help to achieve this understanding. Data also helps to optimize marketing investments and customer touchpoints, as well as to leverage cross-selling and upselling potential. Overall, in my opinion, it is more about a mindset shift from inside-out, i.e. company-focused, to outside-in, i.e. customer-centric. Company-wide data literacy is an advantage here.

The optimization of DX products thrives on the constant feedback of actual user experiences with the hypotheses of the development teams. Organizations that organize this feedback seamlessly, without loss of time and with a high degree of transparency, i.e. with direct access to analytics data instead of aggregated insights, have a competitive advantage. And not only in terms of time to market, but also in terms of product- market fit. If the abbreviation “Biz” also integrates marketing and sales, the feedback is even more effective because feature prioritization and goals are based on real customer requirements and not just on management objectives.

As customer touchpoints continue to digitalize, the demand for DX services will continue. At the same time, companies are building their own DX capabilities as digitalization increases and the corresponding solutions become mission-critical. For us as a service provider, this means that we need to strengthen our ability to flexibly integrate into our customers’ partner ecosystems.

The digital experience market will be heavily influenced by AI and automation in the coming years, as companies seek to create scalable and personalized experiences more efficiently. It remains to be seen what impact regulatory measures such as the EU AI Act will have on the ability to innovate in this area.

The big platforms and global CX champions remain the pacesetters of the DX evolution. The widespread acceptance of augmented reality among a broad user base since the pandemic has further blurred the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds. Will we eventually drop the “D” in “DX”? In any case, we should not fear for the future of DX services companies.