Author Archives: Scot Wheeler
A prior post on this blog discussed the digital experience delivery process with a focus on the practice of optimization. This post focuses on the steps that lead from awareness through to Action/Conversion, with an emphasis on the importance of properly understanding the drivers of digital conversions.
The Awareness Challenge
Most businesses understand that the notion “if you build it they will come” is not actually true when it comes to the web. The web is a big place with many options for consumers, so getting attention for the experience you’re offering is a critical component of the digital experience delivery process.
The job of generating awareness and thus (relevant) traffic to your website typically belongs to online advertising and SEO teams, who utilize search engines for organic and paid appearances and distribute display ads across the web. Increasingly, social media is also being utilized as a channel for driving traffic to websites.
In the ideal process, your awareness generation efforts bring people into a destination designed and optimized to meet their needs, and their visit ultimately results in a mutually beneficial transaction.
A focus on the experience of digital engagement means a focus on the consumer; specifically their motivations and objectives in engaging with a brand in a website, social or mobile environment. Digital communications done right offers the opportunity to optimize engagement with consumers to deliver the most relevant experience possible.
Aligning Customer and Business Objectives
Consumers come to a digital interface – website, social network page, mobile app – with an objective in mind. That objective may be to shop, but it may also be to gather information, or to share a good or bad experience.
Businesses have their own objectives for digital engagement, with a sale in some venue as the ultimate goal, and with intermediate goals that facilitate those sales, retain existing customers and grow market share.
The best digital experiences occur when businesses can consistently match their objectives to their consumers’ objectives. The process for making this happen is outlined in the diagram above.
Research, Strategy and Development
This objectives setting leads to the next step: conducting research to understand who customers are, what it is they’re looking for, and to clarify their objectives and motivations. This stage also helps businesses understand their competitors and the market conditions that can impact their relationship with consumers.
