Why Is User Experience (UX) the New Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Have you updated your website yet? Have you noticed a drop in your visibility or got a notification from Google that your website needs to get fixed? Need marketing tips for your website?

It is no secret that SEO’s entire landscape is going through a radical change. Local listings are going through massive changes as well along with regular algorithm updates, so much so that keeping up with them can get quite tricky at times. No need to worry, however, as I will discuss with you in detail how you relieve the burden.

Users First, Aesthetics Second

A common mistake I have noticed people making are that they tend to become overly obsesses with how Google works to bring users to their website. What they seem to ignore is that the platform favors people who create great content, and outstanding experience. This is measured by the time users spend on your website and other factors including your Google reviews

Wait, Google reviews affect my SEO? Yes.

When you focus on creating the best user experience is far more beneficial in the long run in comparison to stuffing keywords and attempting to trick Google to improve your website’s ranking.

Google is no longer the keyword rewarding haven that it used to be. Now it cares more about providing users with excellent user experience. Don’t believe me? Check Google’s webmaster guidelines. Google’s ultimate goal is to give users the best possible search engine experience, letting them find the exact content or website they are searching.

Quite often, you will find people hiring web designers to improve their website’s appearance and visibility. In most cases, web designers have little to no knowledge regarding SEO strategy. Some of them don’t even have the slightest idea of attracting paying customers online.

So what do they end up doing?

Well, most of them usually install a lackluster template and ask their client to give them some relevant keywords to create their website. Essentially, there is no marketing strategy or planning whatsoever.

For most of my clients, I lead development and web design for their websites. The first aim I have for every website is improving its user experience and visibility, and second, it’s to add long tail keywords to conform to Google search. This isn’t a process based on what I think. Luckily we have access to data that allows us to create a solid content marketing strategy that brings profits. Remember, SEO is not about choosing keywords.

Some of you might not know this, but user experience and SEO sometimes go hand in hand. Incorporating inorganic keywords with a subpar design is a disaster waiting to happen. So yes, optimize the design for SEO, just like I do. Also incorporate all the basics of UX for improved marketing.

What Is UX (Think Amazon)

For those who do not know what user experience is, let me explain it to you in the simplest and most relatable way I can. In a lot of cases, I have seen people use UX interchangeably with “Usability” and “User Interface Design”. Although both of them are crucial aspects of user experience design, they are merely its subsets. UX covers a wide array of several other areas as well. A UX designer who is worth his or her salt concerns themselves with the total process of integrating and acquiring a product including function, usability, design, branding, and various other aspects. UX’s story begins way before the users even hold the device in their hands.

Let us use Amazon’s UX as an example. The company was not in the best of places initially. It had its fair share of ups and downs. So what changed? Well, the company started focusing on its UX. We can learn a lot from the UX of the world’s biggest online seller.

See the image below. Amazon adds categories that are friendly. You don’t even need to click. Just swipe and find what you want!

Since the company improved its UX, its revenue entered the Billion Dollars club. In 2018 alone, the company bought in around 260 billion in retail sales, which is close to 50 percent of the United States’ online expenditure for the year. The crazy part about that it was not just a one and done thing. Amazon has been on the up and up since then, and is responsible for half of United States’ retail sales for the last couple of years. What’s the reason behind this success, well; it’s the user friendly experience.

Everything you need to make your decision is right there! Again, no need to click!

You might be wondering what’s so great about Amazon’s UX that led it to become a giant in the online retail industry. Well, let us look at some noticeable strong points from its UX.

1. It is a Search Engine Marketing Driven UX

This company’s UX is specifically designed for increasing the chances of visitors buying something whenever they visit their website or app. Prominent search bars on every single page is a huge reason why people often end up buying something when they go to Amazon. In addition, the platform also refines and filters every search result in a comprehensible and open fashion.

The company’s state of the art search function benefits from an algorithm that personalizes content according to all stages of the buyer. It gives them relevant recommendations, which makes their current and future purchases quite convenient. I’m sure most of you have seen the Amazon’s home page (if not, what are you even doing). Most of its elements have the influence of search functions, which includes:

– Shopping carts

– New products

– Recent browsing history

– Personalized recommendations

When users come across relevant products, they find a clear path to purchase without any hassles or second guessing. Because Amazon’s UX focuses on personalization, visitors not only get a tremendous site experience, they also become loyal customers. Essentially, the reason behind Amazon’s UX success is that everyone knows how to do basic online searching. It does not matter whether visitors open Amazon with a specific product to purchase. But, the sites easy usability and first rate user experience caters to everyone.

The best part about Amazon’s UX is that it caters to both younger and older generations. Those who do not know how to follow online visual cues just have to click the product boxes present on the home page. The boxes appear as the product image as well as a blue hyperlink, which helps to convert and accommodate all users. The company’s text oriented and linear UX approach runs on usability and personalization.

2. Amazon’s UX Reassures Buyers

In order to improve their conversion rate, Amazon conducts regular split tests on its product pages. The adjust page elements to increase trustworthiness, value, and convenience. It reduces buying friction and increases sales by tenfold. Take a closer look at product pages on Amazon, and you will notice that there is lots of whitespaces to emphasize on the key selling points of the product. You will also see that the product rating is directly underneath the product to highlight social proof and guarantee visibility for validating the quality of purchase the user will most likely make. The product’s benefits are just adjacent to its image, which makes it look more credible.

When you go to the order detail side, you will see bold black text that says “Free Delivery,” and “Free Shipping.” Amazon is well aware that their customers want their products delivered fast and for cheap. The company incorporates these power phrases in its platform’s UX to prompt action, while also reassuring people speedy delivery with savings.

In situations, when an item is expensive, signing up for the company’s reward Visa program allows shoppers to avail a 50 Dollar discount on their purchase. So, it is quite clear that every element on Amazon’s page is there to reinforce positive sentiments for every purchase no matter how pricey or cheap. Amazon also highlights key benefits on its product pages to reassure shoppers, essentially optimizing their conversion rates.

The UX Essentials in Website Design

We spend hours and hours online using web apps, navigating websites, and reading news online. In several cases, you do not get the best online experience. Why does that happen?

Well, it is because of poor designs that do not take user experience into account. Sure, you can spot design errors from afar; however, things get slightly trickier when the person handling the project is yourself. I have found myself in such situations more than I’d care to admit.

Be that as it may, designers are responsible for creating an excellent design to improve user experience no matter how difficult it is.

Let us look at some UX best practices that you can incorporate in your website:

1. User-Centric Design

Just forget what the website has to say for a bit and redirect your attention towards user experience.

Put yourself in the shoes of a future buyer that is in the awareness stage (they don’t know anything about your products or services) Can your website inspire them?

Then, think about the future buyer that is in the consideration stage (they know they have a problem but they are not looking to buy today) Is your website engaging? What can we offer them to motivate them to come back?

Put yourself in the shoes of a future buyer that is in the decision stage. They are looking to solve a problem. Can your website educate them so they can make the decision faster?

Then, Text, layout, graphics, and other interactive elements work synergistically for presenting users with first-rate experience rather than information. If you focus on making your page unique in the face of tons and tons of information and websites on the internet, you will most likely have excellent conversion rates.

Most modern websites these days contain interactive and visual qualities that seek emotional responses to stand out in an utterly competitive online world. Just make sure you select a website that gives your future users the experience they expect.

For example, if you are an Eye Care Doctor, you won’t have a website that looks like a Fashion Boutique. If will distract your users from reading your content.

2. The Fine Line between Creativity and Common Designing Elements

The last things you want for your website are reinvented design elements. It causes users difficulty in figuring out the UI interface. Instead, focus on having an interface that looks familiar and eye-catching at the same time. Do not relocate or change elements like login access, link placement or other standardized components.

Sure, going for a non-traditional design does seem like a cool idea, but ultimately, it falls flat on its face because most users do not have the slightest idea of what to do with it. Therefore, try to strike a balance between usability and creativity. Less is more.

To show you how big of a misunderstanding there is, I’ll ask you this question: which pop-up do you think was more successful?

Guess what?

The first pop-up performs over 30% better!

You might think the bottom one should’ve won. It follows all the common pop-up best practices. It has:

An image that serves as a CTA
A provoking headline
Bright colors
A great giveaway.

Why the first pop-up won? It has four words and a button that says “Submit”. You must make it easy for your users if you want them to take action!

3. People Prefer Scannable Websites

Although having readable content is well and good, not everyone has the time or energy to go through every word written on your website. Especially your home page.

According to an interesting study involving eye-movement conducted by Nielsen, the theory that internet users are prone to read content in the form of chunks is supported. The pattern which our eyes follow in this attempt is an F-shaped pattern. This pattern can also appear to be E-shaped at times.

This naturally means that a web design loaded with tons of content is a big No-No.

If you want your users to ‘read’ your services rather than skim through them, make sure to follow this tested pattern.

4. The Importance of Establishing Visual Hierarchy

Your visual design should highlight essential interface elements in a way that attract the user’s focus. When it comes to design, there are various ways to highlight these things.

Using a single color and changing the font size to emphasize or highlight any particular service induces a welcoming effect on the user.

5. Users Value Simplicity and Clarity

It takes no more than half a second for users to evaluate a website’s design. Therefore, it is important that you determine what will catch their eye at first glance. Make action buttons easy to find instead of placing them at awkward areas.

Also, keep making constant reevaluations to see whether there are other improvements you can bring to your site or app. Website designs should always be easily usable for users while adding extra functionality according to a user’s needs. Do not make extra functions appear all at once as it can be quite distracting. Everything should be consistent, simple, and clear. A website’s visual aesthetics can make navigation quite easy for users as it allows them to figure out colors relevant to specific areas of the interface.

6. Knowing What the Audience Wants

Sounds like obvious, but your website development should start with defining your audience. You should be well aware of the audience you are creating the website for as it helps to incorporate relevant functions and content to attract the user.

Once there is a clear picture of the audience, designing the site will become remarkably more straightforward. You can also take some inspiration from your competition; however, make sure that your identity is unique. It would also be wise to incorporate user feedback in your web or app design. Considering actionable feedback from the end-user is extremely valuable.

7. UX Qualities for Your Consideration

At its core, user experience is what you provide to your consumers. Focusing on the basics will help you accomplish your goal of improving your website’s user experience. Let us look at some key points that will help you get started:

– Make sure that your content is original and useful. It should be there to assist the users and fulfill their needs.

– Your system should perform smoothly, page load time should be quick, especially when users interact with it. Make sure that everything in your site flows smoothly and does not have hindrances.

– Improve your site’s efficiency. Users should be able to accomplish repetitive tasks easily and quickly, without any worries.

– Everything on the website should be there to delight the user. It should establish an emotional connection with them that eventually leads them to investing in the product.

– Make your websites content and interaction moves seamlessly moves through the product. Users should find no difficulty or hindrances when it comes to learning about the product. Users should be able to accomplish their goals on subsequent visits.

– Make the site easily discoverable; users should be able to achieve their task on their first visit.

– Do not make the website seem distant and robotic. Try to make it as humanly relatable as possible. Be approachable, transparent, and trustworthy. Also, opt for human interaction over machines.

– You must provide users with context so that they know where they are in the interface

– Credibility is of extreme importance. You have to make users trust and believe what you say.

– Make your content as easily accessible as possible, especially for people who have specific disabilities. Don’t forget your “contact us” page!

– The website’s usability should be simple and easy. Also, users should be able to find it easily.

– All of the content on the website should be easily navigable and locatable onsite as well as offsite.

– The website’s design elements should bring about appreciation and emotion.

8. A Common SEO Myth

There is a colossal myth associated with SEO that irks me to no end. I want to bring an end to this. People think that SEO backlinks, meta tags, and keywords are surefire ways to lure in profitable users. That is not the case! In fact, there are no guarantees whatsoever.

It is entirely possible that the hits you are getting from your website are from various countries where you do not even have clients. A large number of people use mobile devices to conduct their searches.

It is glaringly evident that the online mobile market has taken over in the past few years. Therefore, you need to optimize your website for mobile browsers if you want to improve your site’s visibility on search engines. If you are not confident on how the website will measure up, go to Google and enter the URL of your website in its mobile friendly test.

9. Using Marketing Analytics to Optimize User Experience

Pay attention to analytics. Hey can make or break your website’s success. User explorer from Google Analytics, in particular, provides in-depth information regarding every user’s engagement with your website. As soon as you lay your eyes on this data, you will instantly know what your audience likes and what it does not like.

Pay attention to creating consistent, qualified traffic. Five hundred users for every month should be your goal. However, before you start, generate tons of clickable pages and banner ads to attract users.

The more metrics you have at your disposal, the more data you have regarding your content. It will be of tremendous help in reaching your 5000 users goal.

Now that you know everything you need to know about excellent UX, there should not be anything stopping you from making a world-beater of a website.

Want to discuss in detail your website’s UX and SEO? Schedule a call!

October 25, 2019October 25, 2019

Why Lawyers Need To Avoid Multichannel Law Firm Marketing Strategies

Are you looking for a law firm marketing plan that has actually been created by a lawyer who is now a digital marketing strategist? You’ve landed in the right place.

In this article, my goal is to give lawyers and law firms a legal marketing game plan that adjusts to reality. So what exactly is reality? The most successful attorneys are not successful because they rank #1 in Google. They are successful because people know about their excellent work.

Does that mean that lawyers should not use digital marketing and social media marketing? Not really. But, certainly, their online marketing needs to be done differently. Social media marketing for lawyers is different than social media marketing for e-commerce, for example.

Keep reading, because in this article you will learn all about what it takes to market yourself differently for the better.

What Is Multichannel Marketing And Why Does It Fail For Law Firms?

So, let’s start with the basics. What exactly is multichannel marketing?

Multichannel marketing is pretty much taking you back to the days when a potential client opened the yellow pages, found your office, and called to make an appointment. Think back to the dark ages…before the Internet was really even a thing.

Marketing was a static message. You needed a message for the Yellow Pages, made for people to understand. You had your brochures with another message. Then, radio commercials, TV, etc. All of that advertising was created in hopes that the user would find you in one channel and respond. So, you needed to create different messages, depending on the channel in which you would advertise in order to get those end-users to respond.

That’s essentially a multi-channel approach. However, in today’s ‘digital everything’ age, users don’t behave that way.

In most cases, potential clients will use many different channeling outlets to figure out more about your law firm before actually contacting you. This is so essential for potential clients because it gives them the power and ability to do their own research.

Your potential clients come to your office prepared. In some cases, you will find that they have done extensive research before considering to even call you in the first place! You might have several stories when your clients think they know more than you! Because they learned on Google! Right?

How can we market to meet our users’ expectations? That’s the main question! Let’s just start by agreeing with one main rule: stop following a multi-channel approach.

Here’s an example of the “old fashioned and out of date” multichannel marketing.

We see the multichannel model failing, even in other forms of advertising like:

Paid leads
Paid display banners
Paid search
Legal listings (lawyers.com, avvo.com, etc.)
Print ads
Etc…etc…

Lawyers Don’t Want Leads From Google Searching

Contrary to what traditional marketing agencies will tell you, the way your law firm will grow is not from the volume of website visits, calls, or emails. As a lawyer and marketer, I would not set up a marketing plan strictly focusing on quantity. I know for a fact that the best clients are the ones who were referred by existing clients. I would prefer more quality contacts.

The chances of selling to a new customer are between 5 and 20 percent, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is between 60 and 70 percent.

So, in theory, what do lawyers need to do in order to grow their law firm? Avoid marketing practices that are predicated in attracting cold traffic, and instead focus on:

Provide excellent service.
Engage with their community online and offline.
Produce educational content.
Use social media channels to nurture their community with educational content, in a way that ignites relevant conversations.

I understand that it is so tempting to pay for Adwords, pay per click, newspapers ads, magazines, etc. But it will be better if instead, you craft a marketing strategy that actually helps you to communicate with your audience and warm them up so they can get you referrals.

The Omnichannel Marketing Approach

In today’s Now Economy, consumers demand highly relevant and personalized experiences as they interact with brands on a multitude of devices. As their expectations increase, an omni-channel strategy becomes mission-critical for marketers.

Omnichannel marketing really puts the customer at the core in order to ensure a completely consistent, unified experience at every touch point as opposed to simply enabling that touch point. Multichannel means many, and omnichannel means all (the customer is literally at the center).

Think about omnichannel as a holistic approach. The user is the center of your marketing and not the other way around.

A Law Firm Marketing Plan Example

The key ingredient for building your refreshed marketing plan for your law firm (or office if you’re a solo) is to put yourself in the users’ shoes. What do they want to see? What do they want to hear?

Multi-channel marketing consists of putting words in consumers’ mouths, whereas omnichannel marketing focuses solely on listening to what the client wants then delivering.

Let’s craft a simple marketing plan that gets you clients for your law firm, following the omnichannel approach.

Take A Look Of Your Online Marketing With The Users Experience In Mind

Think about what goes on in the minds of those potential users, when they have a need and believe they need to speak to an attorney. Let’s say, a worried mom that was involved in a car accident this weekend.

Worried mom researches online “car accident attorney near me”.
Found law firms advertising on Google, didn’t click in any.
Checked for the first law firm, organic, and found https://www.thevalentinelawfirm.com/. The website design is great! Clear, specific, represents trust and approachable. A great vibe!
Didn’t click on any page from the website.
Worried mom takes a look at the website for a few seconds and found the social media platforms. Great!
Worried mom checks that the lawyer has videos so she can now associate a face with the name. Great!
Additional points: Worried mom sees that some of her close friends are following this law firm. Fantastic!

This exercise should take you to identify the kind of content that your users are expecting to find when they are searching. The key to turn users into real leads is to provide them with the information they need, in a way that makes them easy to access.

Build A Content Marketing Plan Based On What Your Target User Can’t Find on Google

I’m sure you’ve considered writing a blog. However, when it comes to actually writing it, you can’t really think of topics that your users will find interesting. Who wants to read a law blog? Right?

Think about your blog as your library of resources that can facilitate conversations with your prospects.

Your content marketing doesn’t always have to be a long blog. It can be a checklist with items that are needed in case of a car accident. Or, if you’re a divorce attorney, a calculator of child support, with the appropriate disclaimers of course.

Create content based on a niche so that those users can find the information and follow you easier. You will be able to add other topics later. But now that you’re refining your content marketing plan, try to stick to a specific topic so users can identify your name with the kind of clients you want to take. Make it easy for them!

Build A Strong LinkedIn Profile (If You Haven’t Yet)

Don’t forget to add LinkedIn to the mix. Studies have shown that 92% of B2B marketers include LinkedIn in their digital marketing mix. Now, remember, to market a law firm is different than marketing for e-commerce. Your users are not expecting to see promotions. They are expecting to see real value from your social channels, including LinkedIn.

One simple goal for this platform is to get your profile to the all-star status. This impacts the number of views that your profile will get.

If you’re not sure if your profile is all-star, check on your dashboard and look at the top right. You should see the rank. Sometimes you get the all-star by just following the suggestions from LinkedIn.

I wrote a detailed article with everything you need to boost your LinkedIn profile and you can check all the details later, here.

Best Practices For A Strong LinkedIn Profile

1) Photo. No logo. Not your team. Not your office. A professional photo showing you approachable and trusted. Not sure if your photo makes the cut? Try this software! Photofeeler.

2) Your specialty. What do you do? Speak directly to your potential leads. Assume they search for you. Use common and clear words.

3) Your “summary” should be creative. Please, don’t be boring here! If you make it the exact same way as your competitors are writing their summary, nobody will be compelled to read it. Use emojis and bullet points.

4) Video! This is a great way to show your authority. Especially if you’re looking to build your authority.

5) Contact info. Most people forget to add their contact info or they hide it.

Don’t forget to add your content to your profile. For example, if you create a checklist or an article for your blog, you can add those on your LinkedIn profile via articles or media items on your profile.

As you will see below, LinkedIn will help you ignite referrals. Always keep that in mind. Give your clients reasons to share your content. If, for example, you’re participating in a conference to keep learning about something, share something thoughtful about your experience. Ignite those conversations!

Solidify Your Referral Marketing

Since we are taking an approach to online marketing that more user-centered, building authority and ultimately, building loyalty is what will pay your bills.

One word that should be on top of your head- referrals! And we are not kidding! Up to 76% of marketers are prioritizing customer loyalty over customer acquisition in 2018. (IDG)

Yes, we want to ignite your referral marketing engine.

Referral marketing is the preferred marketing source for many businesses including law firms. Business to business companies with referrals have a 70% higher conversion rate, and they report a 69% faster close time on sales.

Helping your customers become brand advocates is a smart business move no matter which way you cut it. Here’s an area where LinkedIn comes handy.

Don’t be afraid of connecting with your clients on LinkedIn. When their connections look for recommendations to hire a lawyer, your clients can easily tag your profile and you will be able to stay on top of those conversations.

Omnichannel Marketing: One User, One Voice, One Message, One Flow

Your law firm marketing should be simple. One ideal user. Craft the information that will help them build trust and loyalty. Stay in touch with them via social media, in particular, LinkedIn.

Don’t forget that what makes a law firm successful is excellent work. But if people don’t know about it, you won’t grow.

We’re currently helping clients revamp their marketing strategy. Who do you know that would benefit from great strategy? Share this article. Or if it’s you, please complete this 30 seconds assessment and we will schedule a complimentary session!

October 5, 2019October 5, 2019

Everything You Need To Know About Experiential Marketing

If you’re a business owner, no matter if it’s small or big, you crave 1 thing: brand loyalty. A strong brand loyalty transfers into repeated customers who buy your products or services, regardless of changes in price or convenience.

Brand loyalty isn’t about likes and followers. You can’t deposit likes in your banking account! So we need to make sure your marketing & sales efforts translate into steady cash flow and profit, of course. Make no mistake, your focus needs to be on building a strong brand, followed by developing brand loyalty.

Does that make sense?

If so, experiential marketing should be part of your next marketing strategy. What is experiential marketing and how can you start running some experiential marketing campaigns? Keep reading, because I’m covering it all.

What Is Considered A Strong Brand

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos defined brand very simply as “what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Seth Godin, a popular entrepreneur and blogger, gives a longer definition:

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter, or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection, or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.”

Your brand gets represented through in pretty much everything that your business does on a regular basis, including the following four areas:

> Visual Brand Identity, such as your logo, website, and color scheme

> Brand Voice, such as your blog posts, mission statement, social content, and website copy

> Brand Values, such as the types of causes your company supports

> Brand Personality, such as your company’s culture and customer service philosophy

The path to build a strong brand doesn’t need to be complicated. Many marketers make the mistake of narrowing their efforts to customer acquisition. If this has been your approach, you’re doing exactly what your competitor is doing. How can you stand out?

The way you overcome this obstacle is simple. Build something money or products can’t get you: a genuine connection with your customers, or community.

A strong brand is a result of connection and community. You can have the most beautiful website or write the perfect sales page, but you won’t build a strong brand or reach your revenue goals effortlessly until you build a strong connection and community.

Kendra Scott – A Strong Brand Example

When I think of a strong brand, I like to think about Kendra Scott, for example. If you know of her jewelry, chances are you know about her story. How she went from a $500 project in the spare bedroom of her home to a billion dollar fashion brand loved globally.

If you have visited one of her stores, chances are that you have a memorable experience.

And just in case you still haven’t heard about Kendra, let me give you some context. She’s one of the top America’s richest self-made women and she ranked higher than Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Donna Karan and Diane Von Furstenberg. It’s amazing when you think that beading classes and $500 we all she needed to start a business.

There’s a reason why Kendra Scott’s locations are flourishing in the middle of the retailpocalypse. She’s been able to create a connection and a strong community, using experiential marketing.

What Is Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing, also called “engagement marketing,” is a marketing strategy that invites an audience to interact with a business in a real-world situation. Using participatory, hands-on, and tangible branding material, the business can show its customers not just what the company offers, but what it stands for. Source: Hubspot.

Research conducted by McKinsey shows that word-of-mouth recommendations drive 20% to 50% of all purchase decisions, and experiential word-of-mouth recommendations account for 50% to 80% of all those recommendations.

Experiential Marketing Examples

Experiential marketing is all about facilitating consumer interaction so they can have a brand experience. And this can be achieved when consumers can meaningfully connect with your brand, and, of course, can also meet and mingle with each other.

Let’s not forget the 2 important elements of a strong brand that lead to brand loyalty: meaningful connections and community.

Here are some of the experiential marketing examples:

✔️Classes or workshops
✔️Product testing or tasting
✔️Factory or headquarter tours
✔️Giveaways and competitions
✔️One-time phenomenon like street art, installations, pop-up concerts, and even pranks.

How To Build Successful Experiential Marketing Strategy

In order to have success in your experiential marketing efforts, you need to see it as a strategy, not a tactic.

The terms tactic and strategy are often confused: tactics are the actual means used to gain an objective, while strategy is the overall campaign plan, which may involve complex operational patterns, activity, and decision-making that govern tactical execution.

A tactic is something you do a few times, but there is no repeatable system that can be duplicated. A strategy consists of a series of steps, all connected, aligned with a main goal, that can be duplicated.

Now let’s discuss the key elements for a successful experiential marketing strategy.

Design Your Experience

How do people feel about our brand? is a fundamental question that every product or service creator must answer.

Without getting too technical, there are some basic UX principles that can be applied in order to plan your experiential marketing strategy more efficiently.

User journey mapping is an excellent exercise that can shed light on that. User journey map is a visualization of an individual’s relationships with a product/brand over time and across different stages of their journey.

Below is a map of the user experience journey that we designed to enhance the experience of our Networking Events for our Austin Networking Community.

Our map traced the different stages of the users, from their first contact with our community, all the way up to brand loyalty. Then, on each step, we map the user’s mindset and identify opportunities to make a better experience for them.

Make sure you keep your map visible so you build your experiential marketing strategy according to your design.

Purpose Driven Instead Of Revenue Driven

Have you been invited you to a party and you ended at a business presentation? This is exactly what not to do!

When you’re opening your doors to receive people, you can’t do it with the sole idea of turning everyone into a client. Your goal is to build connections.

A connection can give you introductions, ideas, and can also turn into a client. But don’t just focus on the third one.

The most successful experiential marketing campaigns leave attendees with a great story to tell.

Kendra’s brand leverage charity events to bring their customers together at their location.

Take a look at their invitation and note how their message is all about giving back. This makes consumers coming for a reason beyond than buying an accessory they want.

If you adopt a purpose-driven strategy instead of a revenue-driven, you will be able to serve others, have fun, and create a much pleasant experience. Just trust the process. You are building your brand. Users will help you build revenue. It will happen!

Narrow Audience Over Broad Audience

Since you will bring people together, you want to think about an audience that actually blends well.

Think about their interests, behaviors, demographics, and location.

Facebook Ads are a great resource to find your target audience. Using the saved audience feature, you can target your audience. However, you don’t always need ads to find your target audience.

Let’s explore briefly the 4 categories:

Interests: People’s hobbies, favorite activities, and favorite sources of entertainment. For example, if you’re hosting a beer festival, you might include people who list beer brands in their interests.

Behaviors: Device usage and purchase behaviors. If you’re hosting a tech conference, you might target people who have the latest models of devices or complex purchasing behaviors.

Demographics: Traits like age, gender, relationship status, education, and job titles. A leadership workshop might want to target individuals who have “manager” or “director” in their job title.

Location: Where people live (for example, your event’s city or neighboring cities). If you host an event in Austin, you can easily target anyone in the Austin city + 25 miles around it.

Research! Don’t just rely on what you believe. Take some time to research the audience. One of my favorite tools for audience research is Facebook Audience Insights.

How to use Audience Insights to find your target audience, free?

Let’s say you want to attract women who are into holistic health from ages 25-40 who live in Texas.

Using Audience Insights you will be able to see the communities or pages they already like. Take your time to explore each of these recommendations. You will be able to get an idea of the kind of experience this audience is used to.

Audience Insights also reveals your audience’s digital behavior. How do they consume digital content, what things they like, comment, and share.

Knowing their behavior will allow you to make smarter decisions of what channels to use and even the format of content you should create to get their attention.

Narrow Your Channels

You don’t need to have a campaign all over social media. The more channels you have, the harder it will be to create meaningful connections.

In other words: less is more.

I’ve been hosting networking events for professionals & entrepreneurs of Austin for over 2 years now. Our key channel is our Facebook Group. We build meaningful connections and invite our members. We get sold out 100% and it’s all organic.

If you notice our experience journey map below, we only planned to use 4 channels to attract users: Facebook Group, Facebook Ads LinkedIn, Eventbrite.

As a matter of fact, we haven’t needed any Facebook Ads at all.

Our community grows by 30-40% each month, organic.

Take the time to identify which of your current channels can bring you more opportunities.

The best efforts are those who can be implemented effortlessly.

Always Lead With Authenticity

The more virtual our lives get, the more we hunger after something genuine.

Gone are the days when you could succeed with flashing big checks, luxury cars, and a picture-perfect lifestyle.

Simply put, being authentic means staying true to who you are, what you do and who you serve. In an environment in which more human elements matter it creates value and benefits for your connections as well as improving your business.

Authenticity works because…

It elevates your business above the competition

It builds your identity and image into something influential

It gives substance to your business, services and products

It enables people to relate to your business

It helps people understand how what you offer is of benefit to them

It tells people that what you offer is of high quality

It marks you out as a reliable, trustworthy company

It encourages engagement and can turn audiences into advocates

When you lead with authenticity, you will find that your users will feel free to take your brand as it belongs to them. They feel connected. It’s because they are part of it.

Kendra Scott now opened a Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Make no mistake, this has been possible because of her strong community. It goes beyond a product. It’s a mission that every Kendra’s jewelry user feels like it belongs to them.

To Recap

You will design an experiential marketing strategy because you want to develop a strong brand and brand loyalty. You want acommunity.

Some of the experiential marketing activities can be:

✔️Classes or workshops
✔️Product testing or tasting
✔️Factory or headquarter tours
✔️Giveaways and competitions
✔️One-time phenomenon like street art, installations, pop-up concerts, and even pranks.

The first step to a successful experiential marketing strategy is design. Start with a basic user experience journey map so you can craft the user experience with all the details in mind.

I hope you get inspired to adopt experiential marketing to build your brand. It’s one of my favorite strategies.

Just in case you want to learn more about me, here’s part of my BIO.

Jessica Campos, JD, BBA is an educator, author, forensic digital marketing expert & strategist who is passionate about UX. She traded in her law career in order to pursue her passion: helping entrepreneurs build wealth by taking advantage of the thriving content economy.

Jessica‘s 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, background in law and business, tracked online sales record, and her network, represent a wealth of resources for professionals and entrepreneurs that want to attain success.

Want to discuss your future experience marketing strategy?

Request an appointment here.

September 1, 2019September 6, 2019

If You Want To Succeed In Digital Marketing Today You Need To Know What Is UX

In the modern digital economy, “UX” is the latest buzzword. Organizations everywhere are looking for creative thinkers capable of transforming their businesses through imaginative interfaces and beautiful user experiences.

But what is UX anyway?

If you’ve recently heard about this and want to know a perspective from a marketing educator who is not an engineer, you will enjoy reading this!

UX is user experience. And you are interacting with it every single minute you’re in front of your phone or your computer. You just don’t know the word and the meaning, just yet.

After hundreds of hours of research, I’ve curated the best stats and facts that will enlighten you about user experience and why it matters today more than ever.

UX Overview – Strategy

By definition, a UX strategy is the plan and approach for a digital product. UX strategies help businesses translate their intended user experience to every touchpoint where people interact with or experience its products or services.

Brands have been implementing user experience strategies for a while now. My favorite example is Amazon.

I found an article in Quartz that shows a screenshot of Amazon’s home page circa 1995 (see below). In today’s digital everything world, this website won’t make the cut.

Here’s what is interesting about this dinosaur-looking website!

At the time, of course, the discipline of user experience design for the web was in its infancy, just like Amazon itself. But, as Amazon grew from fledgling bookseller start-up to the world’s largest internet-based retailer, it thought about the ROI of UX and continued to invest heavily in providing the best possible user experience for its customers.

Why? Because the company realized there was a direct connection between the quality of the user experience and the bottom line. As founder Jeff Bezos noted back in 2000 about those early days:

“In our first year we didn’t spend a single dollar on advertising… the best dollars spent are those we use to improve the customer experience.”

Hmmmmm … I think we are into something!

Amazon reasoned that if they could improve the customer experience to the point where they could easily find what they wanted and buy it with a couple of mouse clicks, then sales would grow. And grow they did! Take a look at Amazon’s path to $1 trillion in revenue.

What can we learn about UX from the Amazon example?

The primary takeaway from my perspective is that it clearly illustrates the direct relationship between the quality and sophistication of the user experience and the bottom line. Any good design obviously needs to weigh the specific business objectives of an application against the user experience, so it’s not surprising that there is a strong link between the two.

This was the case with Amazon as it launched and continually refined its e-commerce website, and it’s the case today for companies developing software applications for consumers and businesses.

An outstanding user experience can have a positive, quantifiable impact on the business in several ways, whether it’s saving money, selling more product, or increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

I think every business owner needs to have marketing budget to implement user experience strategies. But where to start?

Mapping The User Persona

What does this mean? Getting granular about all the qualities you know about your future buyers, beyond the demographics and their pain.

✔️How much do I know about their digital behavior?

✔️Where do they engage with brands?

✔️What kind of customer service channel do they prefer? Email? Chat? Bots? Phone?

✔️What kind of visual design this person would prefer?

✔️How do they use social media?

✔️If your online users go to a physical store, what do they expect?

Consumers are savvy. This is why a very low amount of them respond to traditional advertising practices anymore.

Experts have found that you are 276.74 times more likely to climb Mt. Everest than click on a banner ad.

Sadly, I hear marketing agencies saying that PPC is the only thing that has a real ROI.

If users don’t engage with banner ads when they are searching, what kind of human computer interaction they prefer?

The answers are all part of UX design scope. This is exactly what user experience consultants do. Making sure that your digital marketing efforts match the end-user experience. That’s where you see conversions happening.

Decision Mapping

As a forensic marketer, I’ve always been fascinated with blueprints, maps, and algorithms, which is the reason why user webflow is one of the favorite things I do.

When you build a website these days, you no longer buy a template with a pretty homepage. It’s all about mapping the experience that you want to create for your users when they are navigating. Especially from mobile.

Empathy maps and customer journey maps are great tools to analyze your user experience. The goal is to understand the user’s mindset. It sounds like common sense, but sadly, it’s not how most websites have been designed.

A customer journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal tied to a specific business or product. It’s used for understanding and addressing customer needs and pain points.

In its most basic form, journey mapping starts by compiling a series of user goals and actions into a timeline skeleton. Next, the skeleton is fleshed out with user thoughts and emotions in order to create a narrative. Finally, that narrative is condensed into a visualization used to communicate insights that will inform design processes.

Social Media & UX Trends We Can’t Ignore

Social media channels, rather than being transactional channels, serve as a communication channel. For this reason, it’s important for social media specialists to redefine their game plan.

Is It Time To Implement Omnichannel Marketing?

Multi- and omnichannel approaches differ in that omnichannel marketing really puts the customer at the core to ensure a completely consistent, unified experience at every touch point as opposed to simply enabling that touch point. You can think of it this way, too: multichannel means many, omnichannel means all (the customer is literally at the center).

In fact, companies with well-defined omnichannel customer experience strategies in place achieve a 91% higher year-over-year increase in customer retention rate on average, compared to organizations without omnichannel programs in place.

For a good example of seamless omnichannel marketing, think Disney—Walt Disney World, to be exact.

For park visitors, the omnichannel experience starts right away with its trip-planning website. After making a reservation, future guests are prompted to download the My Disney Experience app, which lets them explore the park’s interactive, GPS-enabled map; check wait times; buy tickets; and learn more about scheduled events and restaurants.

During their vacation, guests can use the same app to manage their itineraries, store and edit photos, and even play games while waiting in line.

Then, there’s the Magic Band: A wristband that doubles as a Fast Pass, room key, photo storage device, and cash register.

For more inspiration on Omnichannel Marketing, this article from Hubspot is great!

A Minimalist Approach To Social Media

Now that we are leading your online marketing strategy from the UX perspective, it is totally ok to minimize the number of platforms you use to promote your brand.

Maybe go from seven accounts to three or four quality channels that align with the vision of your brand. Focus on the health of your brand by growing customer relationships and contributing to a conversation. Just think of the kind of value this could add to your business.

The hard part of pursuing a minimalist social media strategy is selecting which channels are the ones that will bring you the most value. I think it’s also hard because of FOMO (fear of missing out). I see this a lot!

Again, lead your decision thinking of the kind of experience this could add to your users. And for sure, start with your website!

If you were looking for ways to increase your customer acquisition, customer engagement, retention, and loyalty, I really hope these UX stats and facts added value to your game plan!

Want to get connected and receive more UX hacks? Let’s get you on the UX list so you don’t miss anything! We are bringing more amazing content and feature UX local consultants like UX With Ease so you can have nothing but the best.