previous icon Back to blog
Jan 08, 2025
6 minutes read

Customer engagement technology trends 2025

As we begin 2025, the customer experience (CX) landscape is moving faster than ever. Significant progress is being made in advancing Generative AI towards Agentic AI, driving efficiencies from service to marketing, Apple has also launched RCS on iOS, leading to new channels to engage customers, and finally, businesses are using automation to meet customers’ demands of personalised interactions and instant responses across every channel.

With that, Forester predicts 2025 is the year for bold CX leaders ready to kick things into high gear. But what does this really mean?

To find out, we spoke to two CM.com customers and CX experts, Kai Bentley-Grey, Senior Technology Business Partner at DFS and Ed Rice, Head of Commercial at Glamorgan County Cricket Club, to explore how businesses can use technology and automation to stand out, empowering agents and consumers whilst continuing to build long-lasting loyalty and driving business efficiency.

“Now more than ever, customers know exactly what they want and have a wide variety of options available to them, meaning it’s more important than ever to provide good experiences to encourage brand loyalty.” Kai Bentley-Grey, DFS

The “data meets personalisation” sweet spot

“Customer engagement will be much harder to come by in 2025. Businesses will have to work harder for open rates and click-through rates because all sectors are improving in this area and customers are savvier,” Ed Rice, Glamorgan County Cricket Club

Customers expect more bespoke and relevant content delivered to them, which is why automation and data collection are so important now. Gartner states that 86% of B2B customers expect businesses to be well-informed about them. At the same time, customers are increasingly concerned about how personal data is used. So, what is the right balance between data and personalisation?

At Glamorgan Cricket, Ed highlights the importance of personalisation and automation in engagement to benefit the customer and the role of data in driving this strategy. "Segmented data enables us to tailor content to individual preferences and improve engagement metrics, a win-win for customers and businesses."

Moreover, with automation, tailored journeys can be created depending on the customer’s entry point, “when customers sign up, complete their first purchase or become a member, we use automation in welcome emails, confirmation emails and birthday emails, which are all defined by what we understand about the customer.”

"The more we know about a customer, the more relevant we can make the content we're sending them, which will ultimately be of more interest to them.” Ed Rice, Glamorgan County Cricket Club

Kai agrees that using specific data to add value to the customer is key to personalisation. “Whilst customers are expecting a more tailored experience, transparency and security are key. We should be focusing on what is right for the customer, what provides benefit to the customer through that personalisation.”

“Functional" and "conversational" channels have a role to play

The continued ‘will it, won’t it’ conversation around SMS usage has been going on for a few years. And while many businesses would believe SMS has had its day, Kai and Ed believe it is very much here to stay… in a functional capacity.

While there has been a shift from SMS to WhatsApp in a conversational sense, Kai believes “SMS still serves a purpose” when it comes to functional communications such as order updates or One-Time Passwords (OTPs). In a sports capacity, Ed explains how “SMS has been particularly helpful in enabling us to notify our customers quickly when our fixtures are close to selling out, or an early bird offer is coming to an end.”

Yet, both believe that when it comes to conversational interactions with customers and boosting engagement, WhatsApp is the right channel.

“From a conversational point of view, you can see businesses moving away from SMS into WhatsApp because that's where people expect conversations to happen,” explains Kai, “for example, customers want to open WhatsApp, communicate with a company, and instantly resume messaging a friend.”

Furthermore, the intertwined use of conversational channels will shift in 2025 and beyond, as Gen Z and Gen Alpha come through into the consumer market, becoming more digitally native.

Ed notes how Glamorgan Cricket launched its WhatsApp channel in 2024 to boost engagement. “By using WhatsApp, we aim to foster closer relationships with fans to create vibrant online communities and strengthen loyalty, particularly for younger and more tech-savvy audiences, ensuring they stay informed and involved.”

But it isn’t purely the channel, it is also the content shared that truly engages audiences, from Millennials to Gen Z, “we have always seen that behind-the-scenes content works great for us but we’re making a move to more personality-driven content that profiles our players and isn’t always cricket focused to drive engagement from existing and new audiences alike,” explains Ed.

The shift from AI adopter to AI native

“Consumers are becoming more and more native with AI and they're expecting higher quality and less friction than ever before,” explains Kai. Therefore, this year, AI will come together with customer experience. Kai notes the key questions to ask when defining your automation and AI strategies are “What are your goals? What do you want to achieve for your customers and your agents and how will the technology align with those goals?”

Customers will be more comfortable using AI for straightforward commodity queries, such as Where Is My Order (WISMO) requests, but human agents remain vital for addressing nuanced, emotional issues where human empathy is indispensable. “There will still be a need for human empathy and understanding, in those instances where there's not a straight systematic answer, and a customer needs somebody to talk to about their issue. I don’t think that will ever change.”

From the customer-facing perspective, businesses should experiment with integrating Generative and Agentic AI to improve engagement and offer 24/7 service, answering FAQs and WISMO requests.

On the agent-facing side, Kai believes AI can have a massive impact on the agent experience from an employee engagement perspective, simplifying business processes, such as using AI to provide suggested answers to customer issues and summarising previous customer conversations to give the agent context. “If the agents are engaged, they will deliver excellent service. Equipping them with the right tools benefits customers and empowers agents to provide the best possible customer results," explains Kai.

“Reducing the commodity calls and tasks which could be completed by clicking a button or checking a delivery date, allows our people to support with issues that are more emotive, more complicated, and require more expertise and reasoning.” Kai Bentley-Grey, DFS

Advice from the experts: “Take learnings from your industry peers”

Data for personalisation, multiple channels and Generative and Agentic AI will all become more prevalent to the customer experience in 2025. Customer expectations will shift; higher expectations for interactions on digital channels, better service from agents and a channel of choice are going to be massive.

So, what’s one piece of advice from our CX experts? “We try to keep up with industry trends and take learnings from our peers within the sport as to what is working for them and where they are seeing increased engagement from supporters,” explains Ed, “We have a really collaborative approach with other counties so we can learn from each other’s experiences.”

From Kai’s point of view, businesses need to be cognisant of the impact on all stakeholders. "In the age of such quick-paced technological advancement, it can be tempting to implement multiple changes in quick succession to start getting the benefit as soon as possible. But you can’t forget the people—your customers, agents, digital marketers and everyone else on that journey who may be nervous about the use of AI. It’s about bringing them along on the change curve. The key is to start small, get good at one thing, then use what you’ve learned to tackle the next challenge and let the outcomes speak for themselves.”

“The end goal is for customers to have a truly unified omnichannel experience where they can contact businesses through their channel of choice and get the same level of CX and efficiency, using AI and automation to support them.” Kai Bentley-Grey, DFS

Are you interested in exploring technology trends in 2025? Or would you like to implement personalisation, conversational channels or AI to enhance customer engagement? Reach out to CM.com and speak to one of our experts.

Explore customer engagement technology trends in 2025 with CM.com

Was this article interesting?
Share it!

Latest articles

halo
Feb 06, 2025 • CM.com

Agentic AI Agents: Helping you get things done

Looking for a smart and capable employee that never sleeps? A little helper that can take over all your menial and repetitive tasks to make your life a little easier? One that will continuously learn and improve itself to keep assisting you the best it can? This may sound like a dream (and an unrealistic one at that), but it's much closer to reality than you might realise! Discover agentic AI!

Live 5 ways to optimize customer service in leisure
Jan 08, 2025 • Customer Experience

Make your contact page irresistible: 8 essential tips for improved customer service

Your contact page is the ultimate business card for your customer service and provides a direct connection to your customer service team. It's a crucial part of the customer experience where you have the chance to significantly enhance the experience right away! To make this happen, the page needs to be well-designed. In this blog, you'll discover 8 steps you can take to make your contact page irresistible!

blackfriday-2024-blog-featured-global
Oct 16, 2024 • Conversational AI

The art of simplicity: Helping your customers make quick decisions this Black Friday

Black Friday 2024 is just around the corner, bringing with it a great opportunity for retailers to maximise their sales. However, standing out in such a competitive event isn’t easy. Consumers expect attractive offers, fast deliveries, and top-notch customer support. In this article, we’ll show you how to simplify the purchasing process during Black Friday, optimising everything from promotions to logistics and 24/7 customer service. Discover the best strategies to ensure a seamless experience and increase customer loyalty. Don’t fall behind this Black Friday!

engage-platform-effect-customer-service
May 10, 2024 • CM.com

Happy clients, happy agents: The "platform effect" in customer service

As a member of the customer service team, you stand on the front lines of customer interaction every day. In a world where customers demand quick and personalised service - long wait times, impersonal responses, or worse, incorrect answers, can quickly drive a customer away. Your goal, however, is to connect customers with your organisation and deliver the best answers and service possible. It’s incredibly satisfying to see a customer leave a conversation happier and eager to purchase your product. Your efforts can significantly enhance the customer experience, but you need the right tools to truly excel. Integrating these tools into a platform amplifies your capabilities and lets you experience the power of the platform effect.

customerservice-channels-blogimage
Jan 15, 2024 • Mobile Service Cloud

What are the most effective customer service channels?

Today's diverse array of communication channels encourages customers to naturally gravitate towards their preferred social platforms and anticipate brands to be readily accessible across these channels. Rarely will customers go out of their way to switch between channels just to reach you; instead, they are likely to opt for a brand that not only provides the desired product but also ensures excellent customer service (on the channel they like most). How easily can your customers reach you via their preferred channel?

digitalizacion-administracion-publica-y-educacion
Jan 12, 2024 • Customer Experience

Experience Elevation: Customer engagement tech trends 2024

As we approach 2024, the ever-evolving landscape of technology continues to shape how customers connect, consume and communicate with businesses. Forrester even predicts customer experience (CX) will improve for the first time in three years, meaning 2024 will be a pivotal year for engagement with every touchpoint becoming a make-or-break opportunity in the customer journey.

whatsapp-business-girl-on-phone
Jan 12, 2024 • Mobile Service Cloud

WhatsApp Business: Making customer service enquiries simple

WhatsApp has experienced over 60% growth year-on-year as a customer service channel. It’s growing fast, but what are the benefits of using WhatsApp Business for customer service? How can customer service agents manage the increasing inbound enquiries via WhatsApp? In this blog, we'll discuss why WhatsApp Business benefits customer service and how to efficiently handle incoming messages with CM.com's Mobile Service Cloud.

How the timing of the booking is relevant and can work for you with personalization
Oct 17, 2023 • Conversational AI

How Timing Increases the Booking Value and Improves Customer Relationships

When it comes to planning a vacation, people have diverse habits. Some individuals meticulously arrange their holidays months in advance, while others prefer last-minute spontaneity. And then there's a substantial group that falls somewhere in between. To effectively connect with travellers year-round and ensure the timeliness of your messaging, it's vital to provide tailored offers and booking details when they're most relevant. In this article, you'll discover how Artificial Intelligence can be your ally in achieving this goal.

Is this region a better fit for you?
Go
close icon