Resolution Digital’s head of experience, Myles Humphrey, takes us through why creating a tailored customer experience is key to driving conversions and organic rankings.
There are 100s of different journeys to guide a potential customer through your digital ecosystem – however big or small – and it is our job to understand what they could be, answer questions, alleviate concerns, reduce anxiety when it arises while all the time informing and nurturing towards a clear objective. Finally, we need to be flexible enough to understand that one size doesn’t fit all.
The question is – how do you successfully navigate each customer to the desired outcome when each customer’s needs are different? The answer is knowing your audience and being as prepared as possible.
We all deal with it every day in our normal lives. For me, the clearest example is when I pick my 2-year-old up from day care and take her home. Firstly, I’ve got to figure out who I’m dealing with; Is she the wonderful angel wanting to play in the park or is she the tired little monster who I need to inspire and motivate?
The objective is still the same: get her home, snacked, fed, bathed, read to, hugged and ultimately in bed on time – the desired objective – but the journeys are completely different. Without being flexible enough to manage her needs and having the right tools and information on hand to keep her plodding along, getting her home would be a nightmare!
Most importantly, I understand that it doesn’t all change the moment I get her through the door. I’ve learnt what mood she’s in, what has inspired her and what she needs – along with the promises I’ve made – so why wouldn’t I use all that information to build the best experience for everyone?
Now, this is clearly a super idealised day, with the reality being, there are usually plenty of dramas and distractions along the way. However, it’s my job to understand my daughter, and so armed with knowledge and the required tools I can ultimately get her to bed on time, whatever the journey. Preparation and flexibility are key. In the digital experience landscape, it is only through iteratively testing and learning that improvements can be made.
The joy of making the journey less imperfect every time creates a smoother more relaxed environment for everyone. Objectives are achieved and no one is left feeling cajoled into anything; you want the customer who didn’t realise they needed you, not the one without any interest in what you are selling. Then, if something interferes with the process, like stopping to buy milk, or friends are on their way over for a BBQ and we need to hustle, I can pull out the big guns and start to talk incentives. I’m pushing her to do what I want and so I have to offer a delicious ice cream to grease the wheels.
Ultimately sticking to your key values and messaging is the nucleus of the journey you want to achieve.
For Resolution Digital, it starts with simple keyword research (consumer demand analysis) to see what your potential customers are talking about. We then expand that to understand your customer’s wants and interests, where these overlap and how we can be flexible; that is the sweet spot where the digital assets you have influence over should play.
In a truly integrated digital marketing strategy, websites and apps, right through to your eCommerce funnel, social channels and email journeys, should be aligned and tailored to your customer’s needs.
The way to help customers along the journey is by evolving; filling gaps, adapting, constantly changing when new insights arise, creating great content and using Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) to iterate and test hypothesis.
Next, understanding your customer – monster or angel? We help clients to segment and build bespoke journeys for their customers. From more sophisticated DXP/CDPs, or by using easy to implement CRO tools to alter experiences based on identifiers such as the paid media driving customers to site (symmetric messaging), or the content they landed on – it is accessible to all.
Finally, by understanding customers you should be creating inspiring content and journeys, tailoring experiences to extend engagement with your site, encourage loyalty, retention and build word of mouth referrals. This will all lead to three delicious cherries on top:
– Great customer experience.
– Improved organic rankings.
– Increase in conversions.
