Imagine owning a retail store and out of every 100 walk-in customers, 45 headed straight for the exit, without even browsing, let alone buying. Or running a sales call centre, and 56 out of 100 callers hung up, as soon as the phone was answered. That’s what happens to most websites: around half of online visitors “bounce”.
In this article, we look at why and what you can do to dramatically improve ROI by captivating your online audiences, whether they are browsers or buyers. It’s important because your website is possibly the most important way to connect to your different audiences and arguably contributes more than any other creative asset to your brand’s value.
In our last article, we wrote about the spectacular returns that are delivered from investing in a best-in-class website.
In this second part of the series, we help you to understand the varying needs of your audiences, at different times, with three simplified profiles: browsers, searchers and doers. Or as we have labelled them, Martinis, Beatles and Spices. (We’ll explain the relationship between a once-famous vermouth brand and two world-renowned British pop bands and audience profiles later).
“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology, not the other way around.”
Steve Jobs
Towards the end of the article, in our quest for simplicity, we’ve summarised the article in one sentence. And included a ChatGPT version.
Give ‘em what they want
Thanks The Henry Ford Foundation and Flickr
Much of the feedback on our previous “Animal” article provoked us to think about how we elaborate on designing a website with a clear sense of its purpose: meeting the needs of its target audiences, matching their intent and delivering a compelling experience. Then how it, in turn, adds value to your brand and, most importantly, your balance sheet (we’re not talking “tangibles” or “capex”, we’re talking the value of future free cash flows that your website can generate). A one percentage point improvement in engagement or conversion can lead to hundreds or even thousands of percent gains in ROI.
So how do you work out who each of your audiences are and what they need from your website?
Anticipating your customers’ needs is, of course, a great and worthy attribute. Henry Ford and Steve Jobs would almost certainly have attested to that, were they alive.
Who knew that we needed a machine that set fire to a liquid carbon compound that would combust and release massive amounts of energy, turn wheels and transport people from A to B?
Or that mould, grown in a petri dish, would defeat the majority of bacterial infections? Or that a small, electronic box would allow you to play your entire music collection, wherever you are.
Sadly, we cannot all be visionaries that create internal combustion engines, penicillin or iPods. But we can apply some rigour to the process of working out what people want and giving it to them. It’s amazing to us in the brand and user experience team at addmustard just how many websites do not meet the most basic needs of their audiences.
Start at the beginning
We have been buying books, sharing pictures, booking flights, reading news and watching videos of dogs skateboarding on the web since more or less 1996. And here we are, 28 years later and most websites lose approximately 50% of their visitors on first contact.
Thanks Otto and Hola!
Designing and building category winning websites is not easy, so let’s start at the beginning: what do our audiences want and how to give it to them?
We’ve simplified this and defined three audience types, which describe what experience and content they are looking for.
Cheers! Rossi, Martini and Sola
They’re browsing and they want inspiration. We call these Martinis, after the iconic 1970s vermouth brand with that once-famous “anytime, anyplace, anywhere” ad campaign (there was some argument, by the writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry, about whether there is difference between anyplace and anywhere, but let’s save that discussion for another time, possibly over a martini at the Groucho Club).
Martinis need ideas, suggestions, recommendations, information
and reassurance.
If you are showing your age (millennial or older) and want to be transported back to the heady days of 1970s advertising, here are the original and iconic Martini ads:
Regrettably, these ads probably would not get signed off these days, although they did a stellar job for the brand at the time.
Thanks Imdb
They need some help. These are website visitors which have an idea of what they are looking for, but want a little guidance. As in “won’t you pleeeeease, please help me” . Let’s call these Beatles, after the Beatles 1965 hit, “Help!”
Beatles need specific help, advice, guidance and answers.
Thanks The Huffpost
Spices are focused on getting a task completed, a job done or making a purchase, with no fuss, fluff or distractions.
You might plan and design your website for all three of these types of “intent”: they might just want to have a browse around (Martini), they might need some guidance (Beatles) or they might have a very specific purpose in mind (Spice).
Yellow brick road
Thanks Ultimate Classic Rock
Once you’ve worked out their intent, you need to design pathways that satisfy their needs: a targeted journey through your website that gives them what they want, when they want it: inspiration for the Martinis, help for the Beatles or action for the Spices.
How do you set about working out whether a user is a Martini, Beatle or Spice? Bear in mind, an individual visitor might be in each of these modes, at different times. And that a user’s intent often becomes more specific over many visits, moving from a Martini (what we call top of funnel) to a Spice (lower funnel).
Where have they come from?
Thanks The Hollywood Reporter
A new user who’s arrived at your site by typing in a general search term is very different to someone who’s arrived at your site from a promotional link in one of your emails or searched for your brand via a search engine. So, we recommend analysing the “upstream” source of each user and it will tell you much about their intent. You can then aggregate this data, and design a personalised experience for them, once they land.
Thanks Festival Napa Valley
Working out whether they’re a Martini, Beatle or Spice can often be determined by what they have searched for: their “search intent”. The search syntax used will determine if they are browsing to discover new information, just need help, or that they are looking for a specific product to purchase. For example, the use of question words like why, how, where and what usually signal that a user is looking for information (a Martini). More specific qualifiers suggest a user is looking for targeted help (Beatle): how much is…, when is the best time to…, where can I find…. Search questions that include “specifics” usually mean they are a Spice: “book Arsenal versus Man United Tickets”; or “buy Garrett Leight Hampton 1001 glasses”.
So the relative scale of specificity of a search query plays an important role in determining the user’s intent. And therefore will inform where you direct that user within your website and what content you serve.
What are they up to?
Tracking users’ online behaviour on your website (an increasingly contentious practice) will also give a clear indication of the purpose of their visit to your website. Social media platforms have pioneered this type of tracking within their algorithms, with web and app analytics tools playing catch up. Looking at how a user interacts with, navigates around, dwells on and engages with certain types of pages and content will give clear clues about whether they are a Martini, Beatle or Spice (and therefore, the experience you should create and design for them). Using visitor tracking tools will provide real insight into what they are intending to do. These tools are becoming much more cost effective, easy to use and manageable.
Seems obvious. But so few websites devote the resource necessary to personalising their website experience for each type of audience. And yet, we know that the returns from this simple investment have more payback than hiring a private detective to find the real truth about your users.
Thanks McKinsey & Company
“By catering to the different modes that the customer is in when they approach your website, they are more likely to reward those that got personalisation right.”
McKinsey
It’s in the detail
Matching the experience with the intent is imperative. A Martini, that wants inspiration, needs lots of recommendations and easy access to a wide range of tailored information. Beatles want details about a range of options that allow them to make a decision. Spices want simplicity, precision and their desire for a specific need, answered clearly and simply.
You can design the perfect experience and journey for each audience type. You can make it as general, or as specific, as that user wants, without them ever having to tell you anything.
And there are seriously important design principles when considering your user intent and their journey through your website.
Goldilocks and The Three Bears
Thanks Scott Gustafson and Picture This
Here are a few design principles that might be valuable in ensuring your design matches the user’s intent and purpose:
- Make sure you land them in the right place, depending on where they come from, their search intent and the type of user they are.
- Give them simple journeys, to satisfy what they want, and sign post those journeys clearly and simply, based on the user’s intent (inspiration, help or action).
- Serve them the right content (information). If your users are browsing (Martinis), they probably want long-form information and inspiring videos, whereas purchasers (Spices) want to get straight to product information, an offer and prices, with a compelling call to action.
Users and buyers will shift through the customer journey. Design for this.
Thanks Adobe
By understanding where your customers are coming from, you can craft a better experience for them and direct them to a call to action that better matches their needs.
Show me the way
Edward Bernays, nephew of psychologist Sigmund Freud and self-professed “father” of Public Relations (there may be a few contenders for that title – apologies Sir Tim Bell), (in)famously believed that information could be released to audiences in a manner most advantageous to the publisher.
“People go where they want to be led.”
Edward Bernays
Helpfully, there are lots of interesting tools to help you analyse and identify user intent (Hotjar, GA4, VWO, Adobe Analytics to name a few). The clever bit is briefing the user’s journey design properly to your development team so that each platform (for mobile, desktop and tablet and the different browser types) performs the job well.
We are the champions
Freddie Mercury Statue in Montreux, Switzerland – Thanks Michal Dolnik, Unsplash
When working with Tully Luxury Travel, we used audience behaviour analysis, search intent information and design principles to cater to each audience type with the navigation and information that they needed, any time they needed it during their journey.
The Martini customers that are seeking inspiration are free to roam the site, looking at beautiful, fresh content. For the Beatle customers, we separated popular destinations to cater to their need to develop an idea of what they want but need help and more specific information. And for Spice customers, we put the search bar near the top.
The business performance of Tully has been nothing short of exceptional and its growth in value ranks significantly ahead of its peers.
Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go.
(Or time for a martini, anyone?)
Thanks Disney
This may seem like a whole lot of work. But as you will remember from our last article, the average ROI for every $1 spent on your website is $100. Or more.
A 44% improvement in website engagement led to a £14.4m increase in operating profit for an online retailer
It’s the bright one. It’s the right one
(Martini ad jingle)
Does your website inspire Martinis, help Beatles and satisfy Spices?
Design your website for your audiences’ intent: browsing, searching or buying and your engagement, sales and ROI will grow to become a true no.1 hit.
Get in touch
The ChatGPT video version of this article:
The ChatGPT text version of this article:
And the GPT-4 transposed text response is here:
addmustard: How do you optimise a brand and user website experience for different types of audiences with varying intent and in different modes?
ChatGPT: Understanding the various types of user intent is crucial for designing an effective online
brand and user experience. Here are some common types of user intent along with strategies for designing for each:
1. Informational Intent:
• Intent: Users are seeking information or answers to specific questions.
• Design Strategy: Provide easily accessible and comprehensive information. Use clear navigation, a well-organized structure, and prominent search functionality. Focus on creating high-quality content that addresses common user queries and concerns.
2. Navigational Intent:
• Intent: Users are looking for a specific website or page.
• Design Strategy: Ensure easy navigation through clear menus, breadcrumbs, and internal linking. Make the search bar visible and functional. Optimize for branded keywords to help users find your website
easily.
3. Transactional Intent:
• Intent: Users intend to complete a transaction, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service, or downloading an app.
• Design Strategy: Streamline the conversion process by reducing friction points. Use clear call-to-action buttons, simplify forms, and offer multiple payment options. Build trust through secure payment gateways, customer reviews, and guarantees.
4. Commercial Investigation Intent:
• Intent: Users are researching products or services before making a purchase decision.
• Design Strategy: Provide detailed product/service information, comparison tools, and user reviews. Incorporate persuasive elements such as testimonials, ratings, and social proof. Implement intuitive filtering and sorting options to facilitate decision-making.
5. Social Intent:
• Intent: Users want to connect with others, share content, or engage in discussions.
• Design Strategy: Integrate social sharing buttons, user-generated content, and community features. Encourage interaction through comments, forums, and social media integration. Foster a sense of belonging and encourage user-generated content.
6. Local Intent:
• Intent: Users are looking for businesses, services, or events in their vicinity.
• Design Strategy: Optimize for local search by including location-based keywords, creating a Google My Business profile, and ensuring accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information. Display business hours, maps, and directions prominently.
7. Brand Awareness Intent:
• Intent: Users are seeking information about a specific brand or its offerings.
• Design Strategy: Highlight brand values, unique selling propositions, and brand story prominently. Use compelling visuals, storytelling, and multimedia content to create brand engagement. Consistently reinforce brand identity through design elements, tone of voice, and messaging.
By understanding these different intents and tailoring your online brand and user
experience accordingly, you can effectively engage users and drive desired actions on
your website or digital platform.
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