The monetary value of user experience
How User Experience factors in effective digital marketing.
The rise of new digital platforms, the innovation of digital technology, and improvement of global communication networks in recent times have allowed people to consume content easily and rapidly. Due to the influx of content available on mobile phones and PC’s, people are regularly going online for data, products, and services they need.
In this hyperconnected era we are facing right now, it is not enough to buy a paid ad online or create an ad without doing proper research. Every digital touchpoint is crucial for a user to convert to a paid customer. Everyone can have a sales funnel but to do an effective digital marketing strategy for it is to incorporate User Experience in each step.
User Experience or UX is the entire customer journey a user has with the business beginning from the moment of discovery until acquisition. It includes the relationship and interaction of a user towards a product, service, or system where emotions, reactions, and perceptions are observed. To have good UX is to have a deep understanding of a user’s needs and aligning it with the goals of the brand. In that way, the needs of both business and consumer are met.
How bad UX affects businesses and conversions
Like an experience at a physical establishment, the digital experience matters. A bad usability of a service or an inefficient process of buying a product will most likely deter a user from further interaction with them. Some examples are:
- An e-commerce website that is not mobile responsive will prevent users from adding products in their cart.
- A landing page where the call-to-action is non-existent or vague will deter users from exploring more options.
- A blog with a bad layout or boring content will likely prevent users from returning or from reading other topics.
- A non-responsive web design may affect SEO and therefore, will likely have less web traffic.
- A non-consistent branding can affect a user’s perception towards the values of the business.
A negative interaction results in low target sales no matter how big the budget for the marketing campaign is. In this case, UX needs to be integrated in the digital marketing strategies of a business through SEO optimisation, mobile optimisation, and website copy among others.
Importance of UX in digital marketing
As with all businesses, the main goal is to have revenue. They can achieve this through digital marketing where a digital marketer creates channels and communication funnels that will make the users convert into paying customers. Even if there were no purchase in the first point of contact, the business must take in consideration the user’s journey through the digital landscape so that the user may reconsider the product or service. As such, digital marketing should be greatly driven by good UX as they are complementary in accomplishing business targets .
Having good UX can influence the growth of a business and even convert users into brand advocates. A positive interaction with the product or service becomes a snowball effect where users are more likely to convert as customers, be return buyers, and refer the business to friends and family. It is also more possible to up-sell and cross-sell related services and products to them, leading to a higher income.
Factoring UX in digital marketing
UX is very important in creating digital content. In a 2013 article by Quicksprout, content is crucial for a business to thrive because people love to consume it. They even claim that having a blog is more powerful than social media platforms in order to succeed online due to the fact that it brings more inbound links.
With a blog, there is an increase of indexed webpages and these backlinks have immense contribution to search traffic and ranks a website higher in search results. Not only does blogging help improve organic reach, but it also benefits the branding of a business, its influence, and increases leads and conversions.
In factoring UX in creating digital content, the following best practices are followed:
- SEO: Aside from site optimisation and including keyword focus, content creators must primarily write for humans rather than search engines. An article that many would want to read will be shared and linked more often. Engagement will follow, the business will attract more leads, and the website will have higher ranking authority.
- Infographics: A well done infographic, aside from being attractive and convenient, is more likely retained in the brain especially if it contains complex data. Users are also more likely to share the infographic so don’t forget to put your business name and logo.
- Mobile optimisation: According to a 2017 study by Marketing Land, 70% of digital media time accounts for mobile use. Digital marketers need to optimise content for mobile consumption by making sure the photos and ads are fit for mobile apps.
- Visual content: In creating visual content, make sure there is a standard for fonts and colors. Branding affects a user’s perception and feelings towards a business. Ask yourself these questions: What are the primary colors for my brand? What fonts should I use? Do these colors complement each other? Is the overall visual clean and easy to look at?
- Content for users: One of the main aspects of UX is creating buyer personas. Think about who your ideal buyer is first and the content they most likely would want to consume. Then craft a digital strategy for your persona.
These are only a few examples of what UX can contribute in content marketing. User Experience is not limited to content marketing and should always be factored in any digital marketing decision. With many alternatives and tough competition from different businesses, it is imperative to implement UX starting from the creation of the product or service up to the marketing phase. A success of a business is primarily derived by good User Experience and thus, digital marketers should always take it in consideration.
Anne is the digital strategist for hPage.com, a website builder where you can create a free website.
