So, you have a website and social media pages, that’s all you need to offer a good digital customer experience, right? Think again.
The trend (or rather, the need) to go digital has seen a significant increase in the last couple of years. Some were ready for it, some were forced to implement digital fast. The truth is, It is not a quick once-off solution to get a website up and create social media pages to make digital work.
The whole world found themselves having to work from home and make it work. This of course had an impact on the industries that fully relied on traditional marketing efforts to get business. How do you understand digital, and how does your current digital presence contribute to your digital customer experience? Do you even know what you need to do to improve your digital customer experience?
The answer lies with your customers. Companies should focus on the outside-in approach, put yourself in their shoes. (What is the problem the customer faces, what solution do they need, what can you offer them to solve their problem?) What is it that the customer needs to have an improved digital customer experience?
When thinking of ways to improve the digital customer experience, consider the following digital solutions:
- Creating a digital strategy, mapping out a customer journey with identified buyer personas.
Have you ever heard of soldiers going into battle without a battle plan? A student writing a final exam without studying. So why assume you can offer digital services without a strategy or overarching plan. You can’t plan for something if you don’t have the full picture of who you are planning for. When mapping out a digital customer experience, you need to have a full understanding of who you are speaking to. Is it a tech savvy Millennial or an old school Baby Boomer? That’s why a digital strategy is so important, understanding your target audience, and being aware of trends your audience is likely to follow.
- Have a mobile-first approach
Is your website responsive? Do you offer mobile device users the same experience as your desktop user? In this digital era we find ourselves in, you need to be aware that your customer will most likely also be looking for you from their mobile devices. If your website doesn’t scale right to suit their view, they will not want to spend a lot of time on the site, a lost opportunity for your brand.
- Make sure you think of every touch point, both organically and paid for media
Customer will start with searching for a solution, is your website SEO strong enough to allow the user to find your solution organically. Is your website ranking for the keywords your customer will most likely use to search for you?
Paid media is a great push-pull strategy, (pull marketing would be paid search ads. These ads are served to people who are already searching for something specific). Retargeting is a great way for your brand to remain top of mind once your potential customer showed interest but did not complete the desired action.
Read more about experiences in paid media here.
- Google My Business Listing
If your client needs to reach you, your offices, it is best to have a Google Business Listing, whether it shows your business contact numbers, office hours or actual location. Visibility is key and making sure you have good reviews also contribute to the ever so popular word of mouth marketing. People rely on reviews, and if they see your company has positive reviews, they are more than likely going to make use of your services over your competitors.
- UX.
One could easily assume that UX and EX are one in the same, but it is important to note that User Experience only forms one part of the overall digital customer experience. UX focuses on creating a convenient and easy experience whilst navigating a website (single product focus). For best UX while your customer is online, try the following:
Incorporate a 3-click approach (meaning your customer gets to the desired info needed within 3 clicks
Make sure that your make use of your website’s top real estate. A websites above the fold should hold the most valuable information, great examples of making your Above the Fold work best, is including relevant call to actions to the banners that will create ease of reference for the customer to click through to exactly what they need, (whether it is to your latest service offering or getting in touch with someone.
Learn more about what makes good UX Design here.
- Choose your social media channels carefully
Think about it, if you are a baby brand, speaking to newborn moms, will you use LinkedIn to reach your audience? Chances are no. Don’t just run all social channels for the sake of being present on all social channels. Make sure you use the correct channel that your audience is on
The above touchpoints are all independent and a strong entity on its own, but the integration of these touchpoints to create an overall digital experience is a powerful one, especially if you keep your audience in mind in each step of the way. Digital is a powerful tool, and once you can improve on your digital customer experience, the reward will be so great.
Learn more about social media advertising here.
Here at Flume, our clients come first. We offer various services, including web, app, platform production, SEO, Data Analytics, digital strategy, creative production, and publishing. Whether you need to revamp your website or create engaging social media content, Flume has the expertise to make it happen. So why wait? Contact us today to learn how Flume can help your business thrive in the digital world!
