Welcome to the June edition of the view from the Hill.
Since COVID-19, the level of investment by our clients has continued to be elevated. CEOs and CXOs are becoming more and more aware of the importance of delivering beautiful digital experiences that appeal to both the functional and emotional needs of their customers.
Each person engages with 6.5 connected devices in their daily lives. – Statista
Companies who engage Lenox Hill no longer just want to talk about their website, eCommerce capabilities, CRM, social media or email strategy in isolation. It’s the whole gamut – albeit traditional business cases are generally constructed around the building of one asset or the delivery of a pre-defined business outcome.
Investment in a CMS (Content Management System) or a DXP (Digital Experience Platform) together with necessary integrations into the CRM or F&O systems delivers many benefits ranging from an uplift in sales, reduced costs or simply that your customers will like you more today, than they did yesterday. It’s these benefits which can sometimes be hard to agree and even harder to measure.
In 2020 eCommerce leapt ahead 5 years in its expected year-on-year growth, coupled with a 47% increase in broadband usage in Q1, progressive and successful CXOs are willing to invest in an aggressive digital roadmap simply because they instinctively know it’s the cost to stay alive. And when their kids, who are typical of their target market, tell them that their website or social media sucks – that always helps! Nothing like a bit of cut through over the breakfast table.
The two other key callouts I would note are –
- The increasing importance of the voice of the customer in the development lifecycle, and
- Having a separate and distinct focus on data.
Many of our clients increasingly want to have their customer as a passenger on the journey – to almost help drive the vehicle. This is being done through the use of many virtual tools, co-creation sessions and real-time analytics where insights extracted drive smart decisions.
The other issue we’re seeing in the market is where companies do not focus enough on their data strategy. That is not fully understanding the data they will need in the future, how it should be evolved, where it should be held and the resources and investment required to achieve this. It has become a major sticking point in many digital transformation programs… and can materially limit the experience you can deliver through your CMS / DXP.
And now for some interesting snippets, brought to you by the team at Lenox Hill
(Scroll to the bottom if you need some frivolous fun in your day)
Make your brainstorming session stand out
Here at Lenox Hill, we’ve both facilitated and participated in many workshops over the years. To ensure your next brainstorming session hits the mark, consider incorporating some of these great resources –
- Visualise your brainstorm using virtual sticky notes and more with Miro
- Break the ice and generate creative ideas with Lego Serious Play
- Kick-start creativity with a design challenge through Sharpen
Love That Design
Not only used for aesthetic reasons, visual design has also been found to significantly improve website conversions. A survey by research organisation Field Agent revealed that 83% of smartphone users are highly influenced by product images, with 60% saying they need to see at least three before deciding to purchase a product.
GA4 revolutionising how we analyse website performance
Google Analytics can be used to analyse each of your web pages, and with GA4 on the horizon, there will be even more ways to measure your website performance.
Introducing engagement rate
Marketers have long been struggling to justify bounce rates. Google has finally listened to its customers replacing this unhelpful statistic in favour of engagement rate.
The engagement rate metric calculates sessions based on users that have either completed a goal, stayed on the website for 10 seconds or longer or have viewed two or more web pages, making it a much more constructive metric than a bounce rate.
Machine learning enters the mix
GA4 will provide predictive metrics, derived from machine-learning algorithms. Designed to measure a user’s progress towards conversion and predict future user behaviour, which will help you identify and target desirable website users before they even hit your page.
Automatic tracking of events
GA4 automatically tracks common events out-of-the-box, opening up the possibility to dig deeper and uncover the metrics that matter.
The fun bit
Looking for a distraction? Check out these useless websites, as selected by Webflow – enjoy!
Useless Cat Game
If you’re a fan of the game of chance, you might be interested in losing a few minutes of your life guessing where the cat with the laser eyes is hiding behind the digital cards. With unlimited chances you can’t go wrong with this one!
Hacker Typer
Working hard, or hardly working – simply start typing and look like you’re a fully fledged programmer/hacker.
