expressed opinion entrepreneur Contributors are their own.
Over the past few months, tech marketers have been faced with the enormous challenge of having to do more with less.As companies grapple with falling valuations and prepare for recessionary environment Layoffs and budget cutsCMOs are forced to squeeze more growth opportunities out of much smaller budgets.
But the truth is that every penny counts through channel optimization and productivity gains, so marketers have to figure out ways to make their investment work harder, and micro-optimization won’t cut it at all.
However, leaders have the opportunity to serve customers in a more holistic way that can have a greater impact on bottom line; many are going back to basics to solidify their foundations, such as improving the core customer experience with online storefronts.
A recent project from Pantheon, a SaaS (software as a service)-based website operation platform (such as Business Wire report) shows that 86% of marketing and IT leaders are looking to increase the agility of their sites because they recognize that improving the efficacy of this mission-critical asset is one of the best ways to cost-effectively leverage existing customers. Delivering an uplifting and value-driven digital experience is a surefire way to keep visitors happy and engaged, and improving customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25%. Bain & Company Report.
A digital force multiplier like a website can simultaneously improve customer service, increase conversion rates, and increase the efficiency and success of the associated marketing team. So while there’s a tendency to save money by pausing digital investments, I think it’s more important than ever to make sure you have these basics in place.
related: Websites are more important than ever. So why do many people still fall short?
Frictionless digital experience
Today’s customers are more discerning than ever.Sure, they’re looking for value (and their budgets may be cut too), but also looking for quick and easy ways to get what they need, and there’s nothing like network experience This leaves customers scratching their heads depression and despair.
people remember Based on these bad experiences, 61% would go to a competitor after a bad encounter zendesk’s 2022 Customer Experience Trends Report. While customers may forgive mistakes here and there, especially if brand loyalty is high, the truth is that digital expectations have skyrocketed since the pandemic, and cheap attempts to win over people will never make up for the lack of customer engagement. oriented core experience.
The path to this isn’t necessarily by increasing spend or optimizing the channel; a more substantial way is by making sure the fundamentals of your online storefront (arguably the most important marketing asset you have) are right – a long-term bet will pay off.
Focus on delivering value
When the SaaS model of software delivery was introduced in the late ’90s, no one really understood it. Wall Street focuses solely on enterprise software, and customers are accustomed to paying up front for products and services in exchange for value that can only be recovered after years of use.
SaaS revolutionizes this model by tying the fate of suppliers and customers to ongoing fees in exchange for ongoing value. Today, customers have inherent expectations for this kind of continuous value delivery.
In the health sector, this expectation has led to the rapid deployment of digital experiences where customers can pay for something right away. For example, Mercury Health, Found a way to provide greater value By leveraging its investment in more efficient website development, it puts patients in touch with treatment providers at a time when many competitors are falling behind. Using a SaaS model to optimize its web tools and processes (as well as scaling its manpower), it reduced weeks or months of website development time to a one-day turnaround time across a portfolio of 200+ websites. The payoff is a 70% faster time-to-market.
Delivering value doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. If you’ve got the basics right, you’re already way ahead of the game. Get it wrong and customers will go elsewhere.
related: 8 Tips to Make Your Website Stickier
humane approach
Remember the Google+ platform that launched in 2011 and shut down in 2018? Despite nearly limitless resources, the parent company has failed in its efforts to gain share of its social media audience, even with many of the best product designers and engineers on the job, not to mention a massive global brand presence.
The problem is that ideas that make sense on paper are often hard to come by, and Google+ is no exception, not because Google isn’t good at making software products (it’s world-class), but because it doesn’t understand its customers enough to design something of great unique value specific product. All the money and talent in the world cannot bridge the empathy and nuanced understanding gaps that hinder customer acquisition and retention.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of using optimizations and strategies to solve problems, but you simply can’t replace a deep understanding of your customer’s needs with shiny objects. Figuring out what web visitors want to accomplish on your website and making it easy for them is the kind of leverage needed to compete in today’s online marketplace. One of the most compelling statistics from OpenText and 3Gem’s 2021 Market Research Survey (like Report by Policy) is that 67% of U.S. consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that sees them as personal.
related: 5 ways to show your customers you know them in a digital-first world
I don’t recommend restarting your entire site, but a more iterative and less expensive approach. That said, you can’t just cover the leaked part with paper. Go back to the basics of your customer experience and take a closer look at its basics. This is where you unlock the marketing leverage you’re looking for.
