Kaizen Platform

Customer Experience Optimization for the Modern Digital Marketer.

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5 Best Practices for Optimizing Your Financial Website

Financial institutions must strive to earn the trust of their customers.

Whether they’re banking in a store or online, customers need to know that their information and their money is safe and secure.

Financial websites can earn this trust by understanding and aligning the user experience with customers’ priorities on both desktop and mobile. Digital touchpoints have become the preferred channel of choice for wealth management. Capitalize on that preference by providing simple and secure processes for all of your customers’ banking needs.

Prioritize security. Be transparent and provide consistent reassurance that visitors’ data and assets are secure. Test the placement of various privacy images versus displayed copy outlining security measures.

Create continuity. Test interactive content—calculators, configurators, and larger calls-to-action (CTAs)—to increase conversion rates. Additionally, test the user journey structure of your website. Use clear CTAs for branch locations, ATMs, and lost credit cards.

Use the power of location. By knowing when a customer is away from their home, financial institutions can provide customers with more relevant experiences. Try offering common quick, on-the-road functionality such as ATM/branch locators, currency exchange locations, and exclusive concierge services.

Optimize for time. Users often have finite amounts of time on mobile. Maximize user experience by testing estimated time to a specific location, or how long it will take to finish an application for a credit card or loan. Offer an option to save an application for completion later.

Live chat support. In addition to the transactional nature of banking, customers still need support. Test “ask a question to start live chat” functionality in various areas of a site to increase engagement.

When it comes to handling money, customers require user-friendly processes that feel safe and secure. Your financial website can offer that by establishing brand trust across platforms, creating happy customers and brand ambassadors along the way.

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10 Design Adjustments for Optimizing Your Mobile Site

Now that mobile site design is a top priority for businesses, thanks to Google’s new algorithm, it’s important to consider how to optimize your site’s design for mobile users.

There are three directions you can take with a mobile site: Mobile-friendly, mobile-optimized, and responsive.

Mobile-friendly is a site that works on both desktop and mobile devices. Content may appear smaller, but all functions of the site will still work properly.

A mobile-optimized site is reformatted to display an optimized version of its content for mobile devices. Navigation is simpler, buttons are bigger, and content is scaled down.

Finally, a responsive design automatically adjusts, based on the size of the screen it’s being displayed on.

Regardless of which approach you choose for optimizing your site for mobile, there are certain design elements that should be kept in mind.

Study up on these 10 actions to optimize for mobile devices. These simple design elements will optimize the mobile experience for consumers, and help convert them into paying customers.

Remove text from images. Text overlay on images often appear fuzzy on mobile devices.

Make your logo a button. Make it easy for mobile users to return to your homepage by turning your logo into a link that brings them there.

Consider image scaling. Users on mobile often flip their phone to view in landscape format. Be sure that your images scale correctly for any screen orientation.

Give your text more room. If your content was designed initially for desktop, the switch to mobile means less screen space. Mobile devices may turn one line of text into two. Consider this compression of space, and leave extra room for text to carry over.

Optimize your videos for mobile viewing. The number of videos viewed online has skyrocketed in recent years. Ensure your videos are accessible through mobile devices and follow these additional tips for mobile video optimization.

Identify which devices your target audience uses and design accordingly. It’s easy to assume that everyone these days is on an iPhone or an Android, but that is not always the case. Understanding your audience and the different devices they use will give you a better idea of what type of modifications to make for mobile, and how to enhance the user experience.

Get rid of pop-ups. If you’re using a form that appears as a pop-up, get rid of it on your mobile version. These are bad for both user experience and SEO.

Rid your site of unnecessary content. The “mobile first” approach is all about minimalism. Considering the mobile user experience forces you to determine which information is most valuable. Trim the fat on content, and you’ll have a mobile-friendly site that is easier to read and navigate.

Design for one-handed navigation. When someone is using their mobile device, their finger is their primary tool. Navigation links and buttons should be big enough to click with a finger (or thumb).

Design for change. When the iPad was released in 2010, designers had to scramble to ensure that their websites worked well on the new device. Consider how quickly new devices enter the game, and the flexibility required to change your design to accommodate them.

Consumers are accessing more sites from their mobile devices than ever before. Optimizing design for a mobile experience will help you stay ahead of your competitors, and create a positive experience for your customers.

Which of the three versions of a mobile site have you used? Do you have any other design considerations for mobile to add? Tell us in the comments below.

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5 Best Practices for Optimizing Your Insurance Website

Balance between time and information is important when optimizing your insurance website. Consumers need enough information in as little time as possible to make informed decisions.

Whether they’re arriving to your site on desktop or mobile, guide them through the insurance quote process with straightforward steps and targeted information that will be simple and quick to navigate. Content throughout the customer journey should be consistent and thorough.

1. Become efficient. Optimize the process to obtain a quote. Utilize only the most necessary fields, simplified jargon, question explanations, and properly formatted form fields.

2. Reward effort. Every minute is valuable to the visitor. Provide a quote estimate preview and multiple quote comparisons early in the process.

3. Meet user goals. Contextual journeys are important. To lift completion rates, try aligning content throughout the quote process with the user’s initial interest or intent.

4. Meet high expectations. The mobile market has grown exponentially—6.8 billion subscriptions in 2014, globally. Consumers are hooked. Test landing page designs optimized for segmented targeting and straightforward navigation that matches user intent.

5. Compliment mobile moments. Test saving processes or “send me this link” options for on-the-go mobile visitors, allowing them to continue the quote selection process later.

The search for insurance can be a stressful and complicated one. Focus on usability of your site (both mobile and desktop versions), and provide your customers with the information they need to get a quote quickly and efficiently.

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News by Numbers: Optimizing the Mobile Experience to Win Customers

With Google and Bing announcing major updates to their mobile algorithms that impact search rankings, optimizing your website for a mobile experience is no longer just a good idea. It’s a requirement.

The good news for marketers is that mobile offers increased insight on preferences and behaviors that must be considered when optimizing a mobile website for the customer journey. We have more data than ever about how our customers are using content and what they’re looking for.

Take a look at some numbers that illustrate the importance of the mobile customer journey, and gain insight on how you can best optimize experiences for your target audience, turning casual browsers into loyal customers.

2.57. The number of dollars returned for every dollar spent on mobile ads, as determined by recent benchmarks derived from 83 mobile campaigns by Catalina. These results demonstrate a 15% greater impact on sales, compared to desktop ad campaigns. Display ads targeted specifically to your audience will give you the power to establish your brand and encourage the right people to interact with it.  

160. Percent improvement that can be gained when applying mobile best practices. The Mobile Marketing Association recently released a series of studies that present data in favor of larger mobile marketing budgets, along with best practices for improving mobile ad performance. This series of studies concluded that marketers are severely undervaluing the importance of mobile marketing. Using specific case study findings, it suggests that, “reallocating to mobile would drive incremental impact for each campaign, making their existing budget work harder.”

5. The order of magnitude more likely consumers are to abandon a task if a website is not optimized for mobile. Mobile optimization ensures that whenever and wherever your customers find you, they can easily access the information they’re looking for, and complete each step in the user journey. Failure to capture customers on mobile opens the door for other brands to step in. Once you have a mobile-optimized website, you can begin to make refinements to further improve the customer experience.

43. Percentage of consumers who want brands to share information with them that is valuable and applicable to their lifestyle. Brands that can identify the type of information their audience desires, and deliver on that information through mobile devices, will retain loyal brand advocates. Consider the various target audiences that your brand wishes to reach, and how the content they’re looking for on mobile may differ. If you can provide the customized information they’re seeking on mobile devices, you’ll be one step closer to closing the sale.

2.2. Number of dollars in trillions spent on retail, thanks to the impact of mobile interactions. This translates to 64 cents on every dollar. A study done by Deloitte Digital concluded that consumers who use social media while shopping are five times more likely to spend. This reaffirms the necessity for brands to establish a consistent presence across platforms and engage with their potential customers throughout the customer journey.

Mobile devices are ingrained in our daily lives. The ability to capture the attention of potential customers through the palm of their hands is an exciting prospect for marketers. With the right insight and dedication to optimizing the customer experience, marketers can use mobile to further establish their brands and increase sales.

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5 Best Practices for Optimizing Your Education Website

Education brands are striving to win over targeted students and admit them to their institutions. It takes a lot of hard work and focus for an academic brand to stand out among the many options.

Consider how much hard work and focus is required of the student who is looking for your institution. Potential customers invest extensive time, research, and consideration into decisions surrounding education. Brands who wish to win them over must keep that calculated process in mind when targeting this market.

Students have very unique preferences and needs, and the journey must reflect that by offering customized experiences across platforms.

Keep the process easy to follow by maintaining a consistent experience throughout the customer journey. Compelling copy, clear requirements, and the ability to contact the institution for more information at any point during the journey are all crucial to maintaining a positive experience, and ultimately, convincing students to make an in-person visit.

Here are 5 ways that marketers can optimize education websites to drive customers to their institution.

1. Build user journey continuity. Collect more information and periodically encourage students to schedule a tour.

2. Unleash valuable information. Test navigation elements to help students get information about courses, student associations, and career information.

3. Create an efficient application processes. Remove submission barriers by testing shorter applications that can be submitted quickly and followed up on at a later time.

4. Increase stickiness and transparency. Test checklists for the application process. Display financial information or financial calculators early in the journey.

5. Optimize for mobility. Think of your mobile experience as a recruitment tool. Present job placement rates, extracurricular opportunities, and financial support mechanisms. Use mobile videos to explain the items listed above. Simplified content has proven most effective in driving engagement.

Students are looking for a convenient and cohesive experience with the academic institutions they research online. They will engage with the ones that consistently connect with their unique needs. Providing all information in a format that is customized for unique user journeys will give students just that.

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4 Best Practices for Optimizing Your Automotive Site

Car shopping used to revolve around the salesperson. They were the consumer’s gateway to the automobile and the price.

That face-to-face interaction is disappearing, as the average number of customer visits to the dealership has dropped from five to one in the car buying process.

Consumers are now spending their time on car buying websites, researching the information they once counted on the salesperson to provide. This is why marketers must optimize automotive sites — both desktop and mobile versions —  for an informative, seamless, and personable process.

The availability of online information has also led to decreased levels of brand loyalty when it comes to the automobile industry. Optimization of mobile and desktop sites allows marketers to hold the attention of potential customers throughout the process, eliminating the possibility of another brand stepping in.

But your site is just the start. If consumers are only going to one dealership, on average, your website must convince them to visit your brick and mortar location over others. It’s important to make the transition from online to in-store a convenient and fulfilling journey.

Here are 4 ways that marketers can optimize automotive websites to drive customers to their stores.

Increase face-to-face time. Consumers are seeking efficient, no-pressure transactions. Increase dealership visits by experimenting with convenient online scheduling features that encourage an in-person test-drive, such as, “I want to drive this car.” Then, have the car ready to test-drive upon arrival.

Optimize your sales chain. Test different ways of leveraging crowdsourced dealership and service reviews from your customers to increase profits beyond the new-car sales on services and parts.  

Become mobile first. Mobile devices are like a personal shopping concierge for car buyers. Optimize the mobile experience with content and a layout that aids dealership visits. Test different calls-to-action around finding your dealership location and calling the dealership during business hours.

Personalize for customer use-cases. Depending on where the customer is in their buying journey, they may be looking to discover new models, compare vehicles, or find a local dealer. To better understand customer behavior, test personalized content around customer needs.

With a focus on digitally nurturing the car buying process, marketers can win the attention of online shoppers and bring them into dealerships, creating an effective and enjoyable customer journey.

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This Marketing Tactic Might Drive You Crazy, But Do it Right and You’ll Still Win Customers

If you rode the New York City subway last summer, then you probably know Lucas.

Lucas was the twenty-something guy with a thin, black mustache whose face appeared prominently on Venmo subway ads, under headlines like, “Lucas buys a round,” “Lucas uses the stairs,” “Lucas has dreams,” and eventually, “Lucas uses Venmo.” These vague banners from the mobile payment app, are an extreme example of using “the curiosity gap.”

The Curiosity Gap: How it Works

The curiosity gap is a marketing tactic, originally made prominent by the news aggregation website, Upworthy. They created a winning formula for headlines that goad readers into clicking stories, due to their irresistible lack of information. Upworthy became hugely successful, thanks in large part to those fine-tuned headlines that provide just enough information to catch the attention of social media users, and inspire those readers to find out more. You see them everywhere thanks to their viral shareability.

Upworthy headlines became so successful that they were eventually imitated and satirized to a point that diluted much of their original appeal. But, the tactic is still a valid one. The curiosity gap of potential customers is still something that brands can use to their advantage.

Venmo subway ads were a great example of effectively taking advantage of the curiosity gap. Venmo didn’t copy the Upworthy formula, but they did ignite intense curiosity by taking leveraging a lack of information. Who was Lucas? Why was he doing all of these random things? And most importantly, what was Venmo?

By creating curiosity about this mysterious character, Venmo could then transfer that curiosity to their company, which was still relatively unknown at the time of the ad campaign.

Leveraging the curiosity gap

Marketers should consider the curiosity gap in all content creation—from blog posts to social media.

This is not to say we should all copy Upworthy headlines, or duplicate Venmo’s tactic. We still must be cautious to avoid looking click-baity. But in the creation of content, how much information should we be giving away up front?

Marketers must carefully consider the balance between providing information and igniting curiosity. We want to inform our customers, but we also want to leave them wanting more. A curious customer is an engaged customer. When it comes to our content, engagement is key.

By providing content on blogs and social media that offers only the part of the story we wish to share, customers are drawn to our website for more information.

How are you using the curiosity gap to your advantage? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section.

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5 Best Practices for Optimizing Your CPG Site

Consumers shopping for packaged goods now have more ways than ever to browse, research, and share what they buy, using digital technologies and online communities.

They’re shopping directly from their mobile devices and using social media as a tool to both inform and facilitate purchase decisions.

This connection presents the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry with an opportunity to become a memorable part of the customer journey. Leveraging the use of mobile devices and social media allows for seamless integration of a multi-channel shopping experience into the lives of customers. This allows customers not only to complete purchases successfully, but to establish themselves as loyal customers by staying connected and sharing through social media.

The following are 5 ways to optimize your CPG site—making your brand a consistent, seamless, and shareable part of the customer journey.

1. Make your brand part of the community. Run crowdsourced promotions by asking your customers to share their experiences using your product through videos, photos, or reviews. Build trust and assist visitors in making an informed purchase by featuring these reviews on your site.

2. Reward engagement and loyalty. With every share, tweet, or post, utilize advanced segmentation to send your customers a coupon. Measure each promotion’s effectiveness and iterate quickly.

3. Provide convenience, choice, and value. Consider partnering with delivery ecommerce services like AmazonFresh, GoogleShopping Express, or Instacart. These services are delivering CPG products to millions of people within an hour of their order. Test featured offers and optimize for consumer engagement.

4. Make your product more accessible. Consider enabling your mobile site to function as a store locator. Dynamically display the store location closest to your customer that carries your products.

5. Support your customers and gain insights. Send personalized offers while customers are shopping in-store. Consider a beacon pilot project to measure the effectiveness of your messaging, potential ROI, and to gain insight into who’s visiting your store and how often.

(Photo credit: "Fredmeyer edit 1" by Original: lyzadangerDerivative work: Diliff - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyza/49545547. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fredmeyer_edit_1.jpg#/media/File:Fredmeyer_edit_1.jpg)

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Feature Friday: Kaizen Platform Raises $4 Million

This week has been an exciting and busy one. We excitedly announced our latest funding of $4 million from Fidelity Growth Partners and GREE Ventures to fuel expanded growth in the U.S. and internationally. We are so focused on providing an amazing product....so focused that we’ve made some pretty awesome strategic hires.  Please help us welcome to Team Kaizen Geoff Shenk (DoubleClick/Google, Kenshoo) to lead sales in North America, and Eric Speeth (IAC, Triad Retail Media) to lead Strategy and Operations.

We hope you too have had a successful week!

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Google’s New Mobile Page-Ranking Algorithm: Opt for Act versus React

Many of us digital marketers are probably feeling a bit panicked after last week’s announcement that Google is changing up its search algorithm for ranking mobile sites. With an estimated impact to more than 40% of Fortune 500 sites, this may be a big deal for some organizations. It could also be a chance for sites not previously ranked very high to make their mark if they’re highly optimized for mobile.

Google’s new approach to page ranking for mobile sites, which is already in the process of being rolled out, puts emphasis on a website’s “mobile-friendliness.” Web pages that aren’t easily consumed on a smartphone—think small screens; the algorithm doesn’t apply to tablet devices—may start seeing lower rank results.

Take stock; take action

You can find out quickly how mobile-friendly your site is, and there’s some great documentation out there about how to build a solid mobile website. Prioritizing what needs to be addressed to clear Google’s new page-ranking algorithm can be overwhelming though, especially if you’re in reaction mode. Switch to action mode and let Kaizen Platform help you use this change to your advantage.

At Kaizen, we have already been working with clients to optimize their mobile sites. In one instance, Kaizen’s team of professional optimizers improved usability of a mobile site for a major dating service enough to boost subscriptions by 17 percent.

Kaizen has the creative and development resources available to help you get your mobile site rankings on track. We can help with strategy, approach, and prioritization. Once your page rankings are where you want them, Kaizen can take your site to the next level and help you enhance your mobile user experience, and maximize conversions.

Don’t let Google’s new algorithm leave you caught off guard; act now and contact Kaizen for a plan of action!

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Target Brands, Inc. Demonstrates How Great Stories Capture Millennials

Stories have been around since the caveman era, and now it’s the Millennial generation who wants them back in their brands.

In a recent study by NewsCred which surveyed 500 Millennials, 62% agreed that brand-related content they view online makes them feel more connected to the showcased product.

The common perception about Millennials is  that they’re typically indecisive and lack commitment. When it comes to brand loyalty, the opposite may be true. Millennials will stick with brands that speak to them and that offer them stories they can relate to and share with friends.

Let’s look at one brand that is doing a great job of connecting with Millennials’ unique personalities using stories that resonate with them; the most connected generation. Target revamped their marketing efforts in 2014 to better align with these story-loving consumers.

Target’s Approach to Content Marketing for Millennials

Target wasn’t always popular with this Internet-savvy generation. It was a brand that appealed to suburban moms more than anyone else, with a focus on convenience and affordability. The retail giant knew it had to change this approach to garner the interest of this growing contingent of consumers.

The Bullseye View, an online magazine launched in 2013, offers a glimpse behind the scenes at Target. The publication has helped the mammoth superstore alleviate Millennial distaste for oversized corporations with honesty, transparency, and engaging stories.

A recent article on the arrival of the spring season opens with, “That sound you hear is the gleeful swoosh of backdoors everywhere flinging open to welcome rising temps. Say it with us: We survived the winter!” It goes on to share style expert Emily Henderson’s tips for outdoor decorating. It isn’t sales-oriented. The article provides useful information with a fun and friendly tone that appeals to everyone who is excited for Spring. Even people who don’t shop at Target could find this content useful.

When content resonates with consumers, they will likely find their way to your checkout page. Target’s variety of content through The Bullseye View—from tips on outdoor decorating, to “8 Wellness Brands Serve up Their Earth-Friendly Tips”—paves the path to a positive brand experience. These articles feature products, but in a way that values a connection to the reader first, and a sale second.

Target’s storytelling is bringing Millennials to the front door, while their revamped website and mobile experience opens that door and invites them in.

Target was admittedly slow to offer a comprehensive online shopping experience. But, recent optimizations to the Target website makes it easy to browse and shop their online store, with personalized product recommendations and a shopping list app that allows shoppers to plan before they go and easily find the products they’re looking for in-store.

Marketers can learn from Target’s focus on content in targeting Millennials. Appreciation for good stories can translate into brand loyalty, as Target has recently discovered, landing the #6 spot in Moosylvania’s recent study on Millennial-favorite brands.

Tell a good story and then lead that customer from reading to purchasing; you could become a Millennial-favorite, too.

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Kaizen Receives Additional Funding from Fidelity Growth Partners; GREE Ventures

Kaizen is excited to announce an additional $4MM of funding from Fidelity Growth Partners and GREE Ventures to fuel expanded growth in the U.S. and internationally.

"We are thrilled to receive continued investment and support to achieve our growth objectives globally. At Kaizen, we truly believe we are transforming the way marketing production and execution is done," says Erik Ford, COO and acting CMO of Kaizen Platform.

Kaizen will put the additional funding to good use by continuing to refine its recently launched K2 platform, which was designed to address the growing need to connect silos across teams. The K2 platform makes it easy to source, create, and optimize content and media across the user journey.

“When you look at the future of marketing, customer experiences are always on, silos are a thing of the past, and platforms and execution are unified,” explains Ford.

About Kaizen Platform

Kaizen Platform allows brands, agencies, and freelancers to collaborate, create, and test the best experiences across the digital customer journey. Kaizen is an enterprise marketing solution that improves online customer experiences across mobile, social, display, and landingpage media by combining multi-channel marketing collaboration software with a cloud of expert designers and copywriters to create optimal experiences at scale.

Recent strategic hires in the US include Geoff Shenk (DoubleClick/Google, Kenshoo) to lead sales in North America, and Eric Speeth (IAC, Triad Retail Media) to lead Strategy and Operations.

See also:

AdWeek Coverage

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Feature Friday: Consult With Kaizen at The Live Event

Learn how to create cohesive experience from mobile display media creative (awareness) to actionable mobile landing pages (conversion).

Vera Polyakova, Optimization Evangelist at Kaizen Platform will be participating in the 30-minute 1-to-1 Conversion Critiques at The Live Event, April 29 - May 1.

A little bit about Vera

As an Optimization Evangelist at Kaizen Platform, Inc., Vera utilizes the delicate combination of her skills and background in psychology, user experience, user journey mapping, usability testing, leadership, and process improvement, to devise optimization testing strategies that improve customer experiences and grow revenue.

Her passion is to help clients create chemistry between their digital experiences and their customers’ needs and wants. Vera enjoys aligning teams and breaking down process barriers to achieve higher conversions and customer engagement.

There is no additional cost for this, it’s included in your TLE ticket. If you’re interested in in this you can schedule your session by clicking HERE and following their instructions. 

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6 Best Practices for Optimizing Your Travel Website

Travel is a fun and engaging experience. Travel websites should be no different.

Consumers want to enjoy the experience of traveling from the moment they start researching their trip, to the moment they’re snoozing on a return flight home. Your travel website should help them do that.  

A 2014 Google report notes that one in five leisure travelers downloaded a travel-related app due to poor mobile site experiences. Travelers frequently use their mobile devices while on-the-go. We, as marketers, must recognize this and optimize for mobile experiences in a way that keeps our consumers happy and engaged.

To provide what travelers are looking for, travel sites should focus on providing enjoyable engagement and allowing the consumer to stay connected with the brand throughout the duration of their trip.

Here are six ways to optimize the consumer experience with your travel brand, with a focus on making the process enjoyable, and inspiring travelers to come back for more.

Balance content with actions. Balance content on your homepage between informing visitors of trip options (think big, colorful pictures with enticing descriptions), and a direct path to booking a trip. Test various search result page layouts for the highest conversion rates.  

Optimize for speed. Let the traveler complete their purchase as quickly as possible—mitigate frustration by using a process status bar, minimize timeout opportunities through fewer steps, and provide express checkout options.

Harness spare moments. Create return-paths (for example, options for saving research, emailing travel information, and creating alerts) and re-engage visitors with email offers based on their search and site visit activity.  

Show them you remember. Customize site content based on past behavior for repeat customer bookings; display past destination searches for quick reference.

Garner loyalty with benefits. Make it easy to join your rewards program by optimizing the location of the sign-up link on your website; integrate it into the click path. The key is to make the rewards program accessible, without crowding the booking process.

Expand travel opportunities with local offerings. Try offering local businesses and attractions content based on proximity capabilities.

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From One CMO to Another: Putting ‘Customer’ Back in Customer Journey

Erik Ford, acting CMO of Kaizen Platform, Inc., San Francisco, discusses the importance of the customer’s perspective of a brand.

The customer journey, in its simplest form, is formulated by a customer’s pursuit to achieve an objective. The universe is filled with an almost infinite amount of them. And often, marketers are challenged to create a connection with someone whose objective remains a mystery. I firmly believe that the experiences that make up the customer journey should be crafted around allowing customers to effortlessly achieve these objectives.

Customers embrace the role of brand ambassadors when they’ve experienced a sense of delightful fulfillment from a brand interaction. However, creating great experiences is hard work. Emotion and creativity are often missing from the online customer experience. Yet, emotional connections are fueled by creative efforts.

It’s far too easy to get caught up drawing customer journey maps on the whiteboard in a conference room; brainstorming about what a customer wants and how we think she will go about obtaining it. We can list endless scenarios based on our own experiences with brands. It’s a great start; but it hardly covers the first mile of the journey. Afterall, it is the customer journey. Only after acknowledging that our perspective is different than the customer’s—that we may not necessarily have the same objectives—can we start to make some headway.

At Kaizen, for example, we work with clients to help supercharge their creative output capabilities. We help identify ways to create moments of incredible experience at each touchpoint in the customer’s journey. The user experience is the driver of a brand’s successful customer relationship and should be the epicenter of any great platform.

We recognize that touchpoints are multifaceted. For example, it may be in a brand's best interest to move the customer swiftly along the journey, but the customer may benefit from lingering at a touchpoint. This different point of view allows marketers to see potential new ways to create brand value where there wasn't before.

Our job as marketers is never done. It’s vital for the longevity of brands to create a feedback loop that enables us to listen to and act on customer feedback. We must always strive to continually optimize the customer journey and build brand loyalty.

What are your customer’s objectives? Have you interviewed them on their interactions with your brand? How can you optimize their journey?

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News by Numbers: Using Online Influence to Increase Sales

Once upon a time, to be a salesperson meant picking up the phone and introducing your brand to someone on the other end of the line. You had control of both the information and the conversation. Today, that scenario couldn’t be further from the truth.

Consumers now begin their journey without you, through online recommendations and research. When potential leads come to us and it’s time to steer the conversation toward a close, we must consider the experience the customer has already had. What have they heard about our brand through social media? Have their friends recommended us? Will they do the same?

The customer journey and the sales process may seem convoluted with the abundance of available information, but the responsibility to make the sell and continue that positive relationship with the customer is still up to the brand.

Take a look at some numbers that illustrate the new landscape of selling to a customer that is social, informed, and influential in bolstering a successful sales cycle.

50. Percentage of the customer journey a B2B client has likely completed before you know they’re looking to purchase. It’s a frustrating truth of online selling these days. Clients have reviews, recommendations, and nearly all of the information they need at their fingertips. Which is why it’s so important to optimize the online experience across platforms. You can identify how they found you once it’s time to go for the close through tracking the traffic to your site. Being aware of the different origins of the customer journey when it is time to step in and close a sale for a brand helps us better connect with each unique experience and seal more deals.

2:1. Ratio of sales made through word-of-mouth marketing compared to paid advertising. According to a McKinsey study, influencers are actually responsible for more than twice the amount of sales as paid ads. Marketers must take advantage of the power of influence by targeting the people who wield the online megaphones—the ones with huge social followings, popular blogs, and devoted audiences. Give them what they need to spread the word—shareable content and a quality customer experience. But we also must acknowledge the collective power of the everyday customer. They may not be speaking to huge audiences, but they are passing along their recommendations to friends and family who trust them. Influencers, both big and small, pave the path to the close, and the customers they refer have a 37% higher retention rate than customers brought to you by traditional marketing avenues. Are you seeking out online influencers to help drive sales for your online business?

1 in 4. Car buyers who use social media to communicate a recent purchase experience. This reflects a consumer trend across industries—not just auto. Customers are discussing their experience with other potential customers. Giving them the tools to sing our praises can turn one closed sale into two, or more. Social media is now a huge part of the sales process and as marketers, we must remain connected to the process beyond the close, to ensure that the cycle continues in our favor.

100. Percentage of clients in high-trust relationships who will reorder a product or service without researching other options. After successfully closing a sale once, the follow-up is paramount. You’ve invested in this customer, and it paid off. Capitalize on that success with a customer experience that they’ll come back for. Make their purchase experience a painless, even enjoyable one. Use feedback and conversation to discover how their journey to purchase could be improved upon . Closing sales is tough, but by taking care of the clients we do convert, it becomes increasingly easier to keep them coming back for more. Optimize the post-sale experience by encouraging happy customers to share their experiences online.

3. The number of things customers look for in their interaction with a brand, before they buy: Expertise, authority, and trust. With the increase in information channels and potential customer journeys, the process to closing a deal has become less about the marketer’s goals and more about the customer’s experience. This is why their experience with your brand must provide those three things. Customers will look to your online presence for expertise in your industry, authority on the topics you discuss, and the ability to trust you through quality, honest information. If you can establish these things throughout the customer journey, the close will be easier to make.

We’ll never be able to control every step of the customer journey prior to a sale, but by acknowledging the power of social media and online influencers, and by harnessing that influence in our favor, we can close sales and inspire customers to become brand ambassadors who will help us continue to sell more.

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Feature Friday: What Sites Do Teens Really Use Online?

Contrary to popular belief, teens are using Facebook, are you surprised?