During my time at university I was often told by a variety of lecturers, self-professed experts and other such speakers that a business should be treated like a living organism. A business is like an entity with its own personality and character, which in turn will yield with it a strong brand culture. It is therefore easy to understand how the end-user can be forgotten when in fact the digital customer experience should really be at the heart of every brand’s strategy.
“Most marketing directors, if pushed, would probably admit to briefing their teams at some time on a new mobile app or a campaign that utilises augmented reality, just because they want their brand to be perceived as ‘innovative’”. Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director, AgencyUK.
Obviously, what Sammy Mansourpour points out is that innovation isn’t a bad thing, and with competition becoming increasingly saturated in certain markets businesses do need to look outside the box to differentiate themselves. However, utilising innovation so that it aligns with your consumers is the first step in being able to successfully optimise your business, both online and offline. Rather than working unilaterally, digital marketing needs to work with the overall branding of the business because “you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”.
4 Top Tips On How You Can Improve Your Digital Customer Experience
- Get a clear understanding of who your customers are
Get to know your customers on a personal level. This extends across all aspects of the business, be personable, friendly and genuinely interested in your clients. Wherever you can, capture their data, name, birthday, previous purchases that can help guide any future communications with them. This will reward with you a mutually beneficial relationship with one another. Not only will this encourage customer loyalty, but you’ll know how to better tailor your business to your clients.
- Make sure your customers can find you
In terms of the digital customer experience, this is where SEO reigns supreme. Getting your website out there is crucial to generating good quality traffic, however your search engine ranking position (SERP) is also linked to the content on your website. Unfortunately, you could produce the most creative and insightful copy for your site, but if this isn’t optimised for your keywords then it will impact your overall organic search engine listing performance. Social media can also impact your overall SEO performance so make sure it’s a consideration if the channel, audience and message aligns with your business objectives.
- Keep your website user-friendly and updated
Now you’re getting a steady flow of traffic to your website, there are several things you need to do. Consider the landing pages on your website. Where are you directing your visitors to when they type in a particular search term? There’s nothing worse than being stranded on an island with a volleyball for a friend not knowing what to do next. Make sure your visitors land on pages that are relevant to their enquiries. Think too about what you want your website to feel like? And what do your customers want it to feel like? Last but not least how easy is it for your visitors to navigate their way around your website? Give them a reason to stay, with rich, engaging content and a seamless browsing digital experience.
- In a digital world, be prepared to change
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, a brand is organic. This means it also needs to be able to adapt to survive. Adaption can occur in any area of the brand, but is not necessarily dictated by the brand. Be aware of customer behaviours, digital innovations and the market around you. However cliché it may be, I like using the hungry caterpillar metaphor to depict a business. Each brand starts off as a caterpillar, eating away and redefining who they are, until they cocoon into a beautiful butterfly.
Fancy turning your business into a butterfly? Chat to us about how we can help you to optimise your digital customer experience. We’re rather partial to a cuppa and slice of something sweet if you’re in Hertford or alternatively give us a call on 01992 582824.
