On Wednesday, April 2, the Customer Journey & Experience theme tour took place: a route along five booths that each contribute in their own way to improve the customer journey and experience. From smart search technologies to AI-driven support and creative marketing strategies.
Quiztime at DEA.Online
The tour kicked off at DEA.Online, experts in digital advertising. No standard presentation, but an interactive quiz to demonstrate the power of imagery and urgency in communication. Visitors had to guess famous movies using only emoji's and were presented with several versions of a newsletter header: which one works better?
This interactive way of presentation was intentional: "We didn't want to just send information, that's why we chose for interaction." said Jelmer Ooyevaar, Digital Consultant DEA.Online.
"This is our way of keeping things fun.."
- Jelmer Ooyevaar, Digital Consultant at DEA.Online
CM.com presents new concept
The second stop was at CM.com, where their new concept HALO took center stage. An Agentic AI module, which was a new concept for most visitors, with which they help companies automate repetitive tasks and optimize their customer journey. For CM.com, the theme tour, as well as the overall trade show, was an excellent time to introduce this new concept to a larger audience.
| Laurens Atsma, Sales Lead at CM.COM, tips: "AI can help to make the Customer Journey more fluid. The more fluid the journey, the faster customers come back" |
Neople: your digital colleague
At Neople, we were introduced to digital support staff, designed to automate and improve the customer journey & experience. These digital employees are trained with content from your website and talk in your tone of voice. For many participants Neople was still unknown. That is exactly why the themed tour was a valuable moment for them to increase brand awareness.
MM 360° Agency and their 5k model
Time for the next exhibitor! MM 360° Agency, a full-service marketing agency, gave insight into their 5k model (look, choose, buy, get, cherish) and showed with a customer case how they map and optimize the entire customer journey.
"The themed tour added extra movement and excitement to the booth, giving us the opportunity to capture the attention of visitors who might otherwise have passed by."
- Kyra van Proosdij, Business Development Director at MM 360° Agency
Smart search with Doofinder
The theme tour ended at Doofinder, specialist in advanced search functionalities for web shops. They also used the themed tour to highlight their latest tool: an AI-driven decision aid that asks webshop visitors a few questions and recommends products based on these questions.
For Doofinder it was the first time at the Webwinkel Vakdagen, Event Manager Maite Rico found the themed tour a valuable opportunity: "The themed tour was a great way to present our company and the opportunities we offer to interested visitors."
| Future vision Doofinder ''AI will learn what the customer is looking for, and as a result, determine what content is most relevant to display on the website for that customer.'', Jesse Overduin, Account Executive at Doofinder |
Enthusiasm among participants and exhibitors
After an hour full of inspiration and impressions, the group returned to the starting point. The headphones were handed in and the visitors could continue their visit to the Webwinkel Vakdagen on their own initiative.
The reactions of the participants were enthusiastic. Melanie Kok of Orange Talent indicated that the tour made it easier to engage in conversation with exhibitors. Other participants especially appreciated the targeted introduction to relevant companies to return later on their own initiative for in-depth discussions.
Exhibitors also look back on the themed tour positively. Bas Ploeg, founder of Neople: "The themed tour was an opportunity to gain extra exposure and brand awareness. It provided additional touch points with potential customers, which increased our visibility.'' Jelmer Ooyevaar of DEA.Online, agrees with this: "For us it was not just about leads, but mainly about brand awareness. Thanks to the tour, we connected with people who may not have known us yet, but are open to what we offer.''
