Engaging the Customer Experience

By Jim Piper - Brand Strategist

What would the perfect online transaction look like? What differentiates most Web 2.0 properties from a market leader like Amazon? How do you improve the brand experience from the moment a potential customer enters your site, until they inevitably decide to leave?
 

The success of any online business requires a balanced approach that embraces the ingenuity and creativity of interface design while adhering to the hard-headed pragmatism of analytics and research.
 

Based on my own experience, I believe that you must first clearly design a product roadmap that improves the efficiency and impact of your landing pages. It is also critical to manage the market forces of Keyword matching, SEM, SEO, PPC and PPA on this roadmap.
 

This goal is ultimately achieved when you are viewed internally and externally as a trusted advisor in the customer experience and digital strategy process. Your marketing team’s brand paradigm must evolve from product-flogger to consumer ally - and trust me, this is a move worth making.
 

It is also important to understand that appropriate tradeoffs are required in this process to clearly communicate the goals of media monetization, online targeting and brand differentiation.
 

Monetizing your content
 

So how do you reach your target audience with the right message and media? How do you create customer engagement programs when the role and influence of online communities have usurped conventional advertising?
 

Consumers are skipping traditional ads and taking personal control of their purchasing decisions. These behavioral changes will strengthen as market segmentation and customer engagement programs continue to intensify in the online world.
 

Not only has the act of discovery changed, but the ways in which users engage with online content has evolved. A good example of this strategy is our current portal for Alliance Films.
 

Alliance Films: http://www.alliancefilms.com/en/34/
 

Behavioral targeting
 

Online social media platforms tap into large, passionate, pre-existing communities of interested users. Online media is also indexed for discovery, meaning it is built in such a way that specific content is found easily through viral search.
 

Effective advertising still remains deeply rooted in the idea of differentiating brands. However, online targeting is allowing consumers to remove themselves from predictable advertising ghettos. A good example of this strategy is our portal for Sail TV.
 

Sail TV portal: http://www.sail.tv/
 

Online media campaigns
 

By challenging conventional vertical segmentation, your online media campaigns can engage consumers from awareness right through to transaction for a fraction of the cost of traditional sales programs.
 

Moving your online business forward
 

Ultimately the online experience strengthens the emotional interaction, intimacy and influence of a brand over the campaign life-cycle. Furthermore, organizations should identify effective strategies to convert brand evangelists and broaden the consumer experience.
 

By monetizing this engagement process, sustainable and profitable markets can be realized. The objective should no longer be limited to media saturation; but rather engaged, online interactions that enable positive consumer experiences.
 

About NetroMedia
 

At NetroMedia, we provide interactive streaming platforms for an extensive list of clients across North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
 

Web: www.NetroMedia.com
 

About Jim Piper
 

Jim delivers and optimizes modern, profitable experiences for leading global consumer brands. Inspired by deep insights into today's empowered customers, his work helps clients achieve a balance between customer aspirations and bottom-line performance.
 

Jim Piper
NetroMedia Director, Global Online
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada