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Sunday, October 11, 2026
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HaveYouHeard Hosts Experiential Activations For Diesel

By
Modern Marketing
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HaveYouHeard recently organised three #DieselDenimFridays/#DDF experiential activations at the same time in three different Diesel stores nationwide – one each in Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Two of the stores were kitted out with in-house illustrator and artwork stations at which fans could personalise canvas templates of Diesel garments – jeans, T-shirts and jackets – as well as footwear, while the Menlyn Park store featured an interactive digital graffiti wall that allowed Diesel’s fans to redesign and personalise the templates digitally.

Live DJs slinging beats and drinks kept customers refreshed throughout, and drew foot traffic into the stores. Each event was amplified by micro-influencers who dropped by the store during the week leading up to #DieselDenimFridays as well as on the day. These included @SvaBayi in Durban, @Leago_scars in Johannesburg and @Brian_nzilane in Pretoria, while DJs in Menlyn included Oscar Mbo and Malankane.

HAVEYOUHEARD
+27 11 268 1331
haveyouheard.co.za

We Can’t Press Pause On AI And Should Rather Advance With It

By
The Mediashop
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Yvette Gengan, Digital Media Manager at The MediaShop.

Yvette Gengan, Digital Media Manager at The MediaShop, thinks back to when AI first became a buzzword across the globe. How many years would you say that was? Three, five, maybe ten years ago? If you thought of any of the above, you’ve not gone back far enough.

I recently came across an article about a chess game between one of the world’s best chess players and a supercomputer called Deep Blue, owned by IBM. That was in 1997, 23 years ago.

Garry Kasparov lost his game to the supercomputer. Kasparov had never previously lost a game to a human opponent so his loss to the supercomputer was his only one at 34 years old. The loss came in under 20 moves (Wired, 2020).

Fast forward 23 years and we live in a world filled with chatbots, smart cars, IoT devices and voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Simply put, AI or Artificial Intelligence ‘refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions’.

But what’s the general sentiment around AI? Well if we look to Hollywood, we see AI depicted as robots taking over the world resulting in apocalyptic ends or hard at work parents losing their jobs to machines. This is not accurate. 

I think that as the dominant species, it is normal to want to retain all control and be the smartest but if we never push boundaries, how do we develop as a species? To share Kasparov’s point of view, ‘We are comfortable with machines making us faster and stronger, but smarter? It’s some sort of human fear.’

A lack of understanding about technology advances such as AI has created a cult of fear mongers who are conflicted by the speed of AI development and who’d prefer for us to slow it down. But doesn’t this hold us back as a generation?

No one really knows what the future of AI even looks like and where it fits into our world. It has taken decades to get to where we are now and it is still not good enough, so if we slow down now then aren’t we just delaying the inevitable? Artificial intelligence is a simulation of human intelligence and therefore it cannot exist without a human.

We cannot press pause on where AI advances are going but maybe we can advance with it. We can create a balanced narrative on the topic so that more and more people move away from the fear and wrong use of AI and focus on how to equip ourselves to use it in a positive way. Yes, technology has been the cause of many job losses for those that are being left behind. However, it has also created new jobs and industries.

One of the industries that are benefitting greatly from AI is healthcare. Having a person’s full health history is proving to be vital in research and diagnosis, engineering and patient care. ‘This field of Artificial Intelligence is dedicated to representing information about the world in a form that a computer system can use to solve complex tasks such as diagnosing a medical condition or having a dialogue in a natural language.’ – Prof. Dame Wendy Hall, PhD.

If we look at AI as a tool, then we know that what matters is how we use it just like everything that has some power. There are ethical considerations with AI, as with most tech advances, which should be controlled by human intelligence. AI in the wrong hands and used for the wrong thing is obviously a concern, especially with the mounting issues of the irresponsible use of data and lack of privacy. However, this is a human problem, not an AI problem. The key focus in this case should then be forcing firm regulations and controls over the use of AI and actually having people stick to it.

Kasparov’s loss became an iconic moment in the history of AI and machine learning. What is his message now on the impact of AI, 23 years later? In an interview with Wired, he said: ‘We have to look for opportunities to create jobs that will emphasise our strengths. Technology is the main reason why so many of us are still alive to complain about technology. It’s a coin with two sides. I think it’s important that, instead of complaining, we look at how we can move forward faster.’  

He added: ‘AI is like a mirror, it amplifies both good and bad. We have to actually look and just understand how we can fix it, not say ‘Oh, we can create AI that will be better than us’.’

1997 also saw Microsoft becoming the world’s most valuable company, valued at $261 billion dollars and Steve Job’s return to Apple. The top valued companies currently are Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung respectively, most of which are significant players in the field of AI. For me, the lesson is that we should work with AI, not against it.

THE MEDIASHOP
www.mediashop.co.za

Brands Have To Adjust Their Strategies To New Media And Broadcast Channels

By
Haveyouheard
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Jon Savage, Head of Content and Platforms, HaveYouHeard.

Flighting a traditional ad for radio or television has stopped having the significant impact it once had. As a result, most marketers and brand ambassadors are turning to ‘new’ media.

But, while the agencies and companies they partner with may know how to book media space – and conceptualise and create – in this environment, just how many are comfortable playing in today’s diverse and cut-throat broadcast content jungle?

InBroadcast, conceptualised and developed by Jon Savage and Carl Booysen, ensured that the full-service agency HaveYouHeard’s broadcast know-how went beyond the traditional broadcast media of television and radio to embrace the new like podcasting, digital radio and YouTube. YouTube, in fact, is industry veteran Savage’s current passion, a channel he sees rivalling Netflix in Africa.

In February, Statista published figures showing how YouTube ad revenue is surging. Analysing Alphabet’s 2019 fiscal results, it showed that ‘revenue from YouTube ads’ had almost doubled in two years from $8.16-billion in 2017 to $11.16-billion in 2018 to $15.15-billion in 2019. This was the first time Alphabet had disclosed its revenue streams in such detail.

In contrast, while Netflix is still growing solidly, its market share has fallen as new competitors emerge. Business Insider figures from research company, Ampere Analysis, show Netflix’s global market share of over-the-top streaming video subscriptions has dropped from 91% in 2007 to 19% last year. 

But this is not why Savage is backing YouTube in Africa. Instead, he claims its fortune will be built on the continent’s adoption of mobile, and on YouTube’s grasp of its people’s dynamics.

‘Africa bypassed the laptop revolution and went straight to mobile. I believe that Africa will similarly bypass pay streaming content platforms and go straight to the free, that is, YouTube. This means unique opportunities for brands to infiltrate culture through content in a significant way,’ he said.

‘Unlike Netflix and competitors, YouTube is free and it’s working hard to break the barriers that exist on the continent, the biggest two being the cost of data and connectivity. Also, it is a truly democratic resource, which is what is behind its power. Put this all in the pot, season it with the fact that everyone is itching to become a YouTube entrepreneur, and YouTube is cooking up a storm. Brands just need to book a table,’ said Savage.

The other broadcast channel that is growing rapidly, and that Savage champions, is ‘audio’ or rather digital radio. Savage admits ‘It’s a bit like the Wild West, with content creators no longer looking to a traditional radio station to give them a platform and turn them into a star. Instead, digital radio allows them to create their own platform for them to broadcast to their own audience and also control the business.

‘And, importantly, while ‘radio stars’ and ‘DJ’s were what attracted listeners to traditional radio, today’s listeners want both content and control. They don’t want rigid ‘themes’, they want shorter and more variable content, they want to be able to switch it on or off based on their mood or the moment, anywhere, anytime.’

All this has turned media planning upside down. Brands have to adjust their strategies to these new media and broadcast channels. More and more, we are seeing brands partner with content creators who are socially relevant and have their own audience, helping the brand themselves grow their credibility and equity to a more intimate and engaged audience.

This said, Savage is quick to defend a metric both new and ‘mature’ media planners understand. ‘Let’s not undermine reach as a metric or measureable. Not only does digital radio provide the content listeners and viewers are seeking, it outperforms most traditional broadcast channels because it provides quick scale acceleration.’

HAVEYOUHEARD
+27 11 268 1331
haveyouheard.co.za

Good Website And Wireframing Attracts New Business

By
Bluegrass Digital
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Image source: Bluegrass Digital website.

According to Bluegrass Digital CEO Nick Durrant, good website design and interface structure is possibly the most important consideration for any modern business.

Websites can be built in so many different ways, but they’re only a few of them that will successfully attract new business and retain existing customers by providing a good customer experience.

The key to success lies in the initial design of the website and wireframing is one critical process that is so often neglected. By defining the information hierarchy and logical navigation of a website, wireframing makes it easier to plan the arrangement of content that will ultimately improve the user experience. 

Designers can now concentrate on the basic foundation of the website rather than the aesthetics because wireframes focus purely on the structural elements – nothing to do with the graphical interface such as colour and fonts. It is much easier and faster to make structural changes to a wireframe than to a fully designed page concept.

Wireframes enable designers to work on the underlying elements of a website without the distraction of graphics, something that will eliminate the need for expensive changes later. Here are some good reasons why one should consider wireframing when starting a web design project.

Structure

Wireframes help designers determine which elements need to be included in each page and the functional requirements for those elements. They also allow the client and designer to collaborate to create a solid page structure before the design is fully implemented.

Instead of creating a different wireframe for every possibility, one needs to settle on one concept. Wireframing is a brilliant tool to trial different ideas, but one needs to eventually settle on specific features and structures. 

Content

Wireframes allow designers to focus on site navigation and content. It helps them decide what content needs to be provided to guide the user along the correct path to find the required information. You need to define what you want your visitors to do when they visit your website. They also help clients and designers see which page elements are more important and one can easily see how the content is displayed on each page.

Purpose

Wireframes help designers avoid placing too much emphasis on design. Working in greyscale helps them focus on the purpose of the page, the functional processes, the structure and layout – not the design.

UX 

Wireframes highlight the basic structure and functionality of the website – the elements that will ultimately impact UX. Focusing on the design elements rather than basic structure could be disastrous, one needs to use wireframes to address critical elements such as usability, functionality and UX. By eliminating graphics, wireframes allow designers to focus on the functionality of each element on a page, placing a strong focus on developing the best possible UX.

Features

Wireframing helps designers decide which features are essential. It allows clients and designers to trial various apps and tools that could improve the UX and consequently increase the conversion rate. Seeing features without a graphical interface could help one identify the elements that really matter. Also, with wireframing, you can easily remove a feature if it doesn’t fit in with the goals of your website.

Time-saving

Wireframing will save a lot of time throughout the project lifecycle. It also simplifies the design phase because designers can now focus on the design and no longer worry about the flow and purpose of each page. They will now receive the approved wireframes from which to design.

Graphics

Starting with too much detail could lead to confusion; one can always add extra detail at a later stage. Designers should keep wireframes clean to keep everything as simple as possible; they can use grey rectangles for images and Lorem Ipsum for text.

Conversion

A wireframe project enables web designers to focus exclusively on the UX, from conversion to customer loyalty. However, conversion rates don’t necessarily translate to a good UX or future sales. It is equally important to retain loyal customers as it is to convert new ones.

Many companies spend a lot of time and money focusing on improving conversion rates, but they should also think about how they can improve the follow-through on those conversions. For example, a good website will always make sure a customer is well-informed even after taking their money. 

Wireframing simplifies the process of creating user interfaces but it doesn’t mean that creating good user interfaces is easy because UX design is a science. Wireframes are only part of the design process, so it’s worth engaging with an experienced UX professional as it will save you lots of time and money.

BLUEGRASS DIGITAL 
+27114751419 
www.bluegrassdigital.com

Ways To Increase Online Cart Checkout Sales

By
Payflex
-

Derek Cikes, Commercial Director at Payflex, identifies ten reasons for online shopper cart abandonment so that merchants can address the issues head-on and get those carts through checkout.

1. Extra costs are too high (shipping, tax, fees)

53% of online shoppers say they abandon their cart because they’re faced with extra costs at checkout that they did not budget for. International shipping fees can be exorbitant, and some payment gateways have fees attached to them.

Suggestion

Try to lock down the best shipping rates available. There are many shipping forwarders who can secure the best rates from global courier companies and do the negotiating for you. Securing lower shipping costs and easy customs clearance will save your customer money and alleviate your own custom logistics woes. 

On the topic of payment gateway fees, the simple solution is to have payment solutions that don’t have any fees. These do exist and it’s a no brainer to include them at checkout.  It’s a must-have if you want to create a frictionless checkout experience. 

2. The site wanted me to create an account

31% of online shoppers said they abandoned their carts because the site wanted them to create an account. You can understand this: having so many accounts can be daunting for any online shopper and convincing them to make your store one of them is difficult.

Suggestion

The online way to tackle this problem is to make the experience of creating an account as frictionless as possible. Perhaps make a promise in your call to action that an account can be created in less than 45 seconds – and mean it. 

3. Complicated checkout process

23% of online shoppers said they abandon their carts because the checkout process was too cumbersome. This is a travesty and no online store should lose customers on account of a complicated checkout process.

Suggestion

Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. The kiss approach covers a lot of areas and for a frictionless checkout experience, it’s the best advice we can give. Keep your checkout process to 5 simple steps: checkout, delivery details, payment details and confirmation. Studies confirm that the top 100 ecommerce sites use 5 steps so if your site has more, you need to adjust it. Adding a visual progress indicator to the checkout experience is also known to enhance the user’s journey through checkout.

4. I couldn’t see/calculate total order cost upfront

20% of online shoppers said they abandon their cart because they couldn’t properly calculate their order costs upfront. This is clearly a UX problem that needs fixing.

Suggestion

You’ll have to go back to the UX drawing board and work out why your customers are having difficulty with this. There is clearly a transparency issue that needs to be addressed. Simplicity and transparency are the most vital elements at checkout. 

5. I didn’t trust the site with my credit card details

17% of online shoppers said they abandon their carts because they didn’t trust the site with their credit card details. Creating a trustworthy brand upfront is crucial to your business’s success.

Suggestion

You can easily address this in your FAQs section or by adding your security provider logos to your checkout page or homepage to pre-address your customers concern.

6. Delivery was too slow

16% of online shoppers said they abandon their carts or cancel their orders on account of delivery being too slow. Although it seems like a shipping pain point, the real problem here is probably stock-related.

Suggestion

We understand that the model for a profitable online business often means only ordering stock upon request for that item. It keeps your overheads low and you’re your risk in check but if it starts becoming a major contributor to your cart abandonment, you’ll need to change your strategy, at least for your most popular items.

7. Website had errors/crashed

15% of online shoppers abandon their carts because the website crashes or has errors along the checkout process. Truly nothing could be more frustrating for a customer.

Suggestion

A robust infrastructure, reliable servers and a strong team of software developers can ensure this never happens to your site. It becomes especially important during busy seasons such as Black Friday and Christmas shopping. You need to be consistently ready for high volumes of traffic.

8. Return policy wasn’t satisfactory

10% of online shoppers abandoned their carts because of a returns policy that didn’t meet their needs. This can be tricky to address and find the balance between mitigating your risks and keeping your customers happy.

Suggestion

This can be a hard problem to solve, especially if you’re a new online store trying to attract new shoppers and build your name and your brands. It should be addressed to a degree but sometimes you need to apply the 80/20 principle and if only 10% of shoppers abandon their carts on account of you mitigating your returns risks, then perhaps it is commercially sounder to dig in your heels. 

9. There weren’t enough payment methods

6% of online shoppers said they abandon their carts because there were not enough payment options. 

What can you do about it?

Your online store should be exploring innovative ways to offer payment solutions that don’t drive your customers into debt. The credit card model is archaic and perpetuates a destructive buying cycle that is often short-lived. Interest-free payment solutions are a global phenomenon known as the Buy Now, Pay Later movement and they’re revolutionising the way online shoppers pay. 

10. The credit card was declined

4% of online shoppers abandon their carts because their credit cards get declined. There is not much you can actively do about this pain point, but it is still worth a mention as it’s important to know.

Suggestion

Give them the option of a payment solution that does not rely on the balance of their credit card. It would be short-sighted to simply address the problem with yet another credit-based payment solution. The only outcome will be a debt-ridden customer who can’t return to your store because of a growing credit crisis.

We hope that the above reasons for cart abandonment and the relevant solutions will help you to increase your sales and ultimately become a leader in your ecommerce marketplace.

PAYFLEX
+27104440004
support@payflex.co.za
payflex.co.za

Facebook Engagement And Conversions: A Daunting Challenge For Marketers

By
Brand Hubb
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Image source: Brand Hubb website.

Rob Anderson, CEO of Brand Hubb, recalls that Facebook was born in 2004, but its ‘newsfeed’ only showed up in 2006, with the like button premiering in 2007. Back then, there was no talk about algorithms because everything was seen in a chronological order, which meant you never missed a post from a friend or a brand you followed if you logged on once a day.

Do you remember the days circa 2013, where you would post about a new product or service to your Facebook audience, and you would receive hundreds of likes and sales? Kind of makes you wish you had taken more time to build an empire a little earlier on in life.

Goodbye chronological order

In 2009, Facebook changed all of that when it introduced a new sorting order for newsfeeds based on each post’s popularity. Every year since then, different algorithms have been introduced, which changed the way users’ feeds displayed and have kept marketers on their toes, as they try to interpret and master the ever-changing rules.

Fast forward to 2020 and the average organic reach for a Facebook post is 5.5%. While I am not debating the fact that you can make the algorithms work to your favour by posting at the right times, and posting consistently and posting high-quality content, Facebook will always present a daunting challenge for marketers. 

Paying people to like your page and then paying again when you want to advertise to them does not make much sense to me. What’s more, when they are seeing your brand’s paid for content, have you thought about how it is being displayed; because I guarantee you, those invasive auto play video ads that you cannot skip are only aggravating the viewer. 

Should all businesses have Facebook?

For some brands, having a Facebook page might actually not be worth the effort. Let me elaborate. In 2018, Kellogg’s South Africa stopped selling original Rice Krispies – replacing it with ‘Vanilla Rice Krispies’. The new cereal contained more sugar and less rice. This was met by a huge revolt on social media because no one had ever had a problem with the original Rice Krispies. 

While we could spend some time discussing the importance of doing proper market research and listening to customers, the takeout for me was that Facebook very easily became a platform for consumers to grumble, effectively turning the Kellogg’s marketing team into a 24-hour complaints department. It got so bad at one point that I noticed they slowed posting as frequently, as each post was subject to hundreds of angry emoji faces. 

I know that most brands value Facebook and do see it as a significant sales driver, so while I am not saying close your Facebook page down completely, I am saying that having all your eggs in the Facebook basket, might not really be the brightest idea.

For me, it raises the simple question – why are brands set on using Facebook as their main advertising channel? Is it not frustrating that one must spend a fortune on adverts in the hope that an audience you built organically actually sees your posts? Challenges provide opportunities to diversify by using other marketing tools such as google ads, google shopping, stories ads, Pinterest and my personal favourite – rewards marketing.

Rewards-based marketing

Have you ever considered rewarding your customers for their engagement? By doing so, you drive them to your platform effortlessly without having to rely on cracking an algorithm. A consumer will then actively visit your website to read a press release, watch a new campaign video or to answer a survey and in exchange, they are rewarded with loyalty points that they can use against purchases in your online store. That is a direct conversion, wouldn’t you say?

One of the main benefits of digital rewards is that consumers only have to take part in activities that interest them. There is no spray and pray advertising at play, but rather an opt in marketing technique that is providing solid results for listed brands. 

Other benefits include acquiring new audience leads through referral, new sign ups, repeat purchases and the opportunity to educate consumers on services. By rewarding consumers for engaging with brand content, businesses can drive consumers further down the sales funnel toward purchases. It also helps brands zone in on their best customers and offers something they will genuinely value. 

It is my belief that the rewards-based pull marketing strategy is going to change the face of marketing in 2020, and help move brands away from Facebook-only marketing strategies.

BRAND HUBB
+27100208600
marketing@brandhubb.com
brandhubb.com

AI Is A Central Focus In The Future Of Personalised Marketing

By
Reporter
-
Adriaan Gouws, Director: Client Leadership, Middle East and Africa at Acceleration.

According to Adriaan Gouws, Director: Client Leadership, Middle East and Africa at Acceleration, consumer insight around culture, purchase behaviour, brand sentiment and advocacy are some of the key drivers behind relevant consumer engagement. Ask any marketer, salesperson or creative director – the desire and need for consumer insight is one of the most important elements in their arsenal.

I think it is fair to say that an in-depth and thorough understanding of consumers and their behaviours are the holy grail of relevant (i.e. effective) marketing. This principle does not only ring true for B2C marketing but equally for B2B, although the process and means to engagement may be different.

As a marketing student many years ago, I found consumer behaviour to be one of the most fascinating subjects. Mainly because of its focus on the understanding of consumers and why they act the way they do.

As marketers, we live in a golden age, because there is no better time to gain insight into consumer behaviour and to improve our segmentation approaches. The reason for this is simple – the abundance of marketing data that is available to us. Data, along with technology, have truly become the fuel that enable more relevant consumer interactions, at scale. That said, despite the significant stride marketers have made over the past decade, capitalising on this opportunity has remained elusive for many.

Sure, techniques such as A/B testing and ever more sophisticated segmentation strategies have allowed us to tailor brand interactions for more granular groups of customers, improving the relevance of engagement for each consumer. But these rules-based or manual approaches are limited because they don’t scale well or enable us to create a truly tailored brand experience for each individual. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI)!

AI holds the key to more human and relevant marketing experiences at a great scale. Its real power lies in the way that it can crunch through massive datasets to learn about customers, then use this information to create a personal and relevant message for each one. 

Most marketers know there is no shortage of data about customers. People are telling brands what they want, need, prefer and expect through countless brand interactions on the web, social media, mobile apps, retail channels, and more each day. But making sense of this data to take real-time action is where the real challenge lies – with today’s data volumes, it’s simply beyond the abilities of any human operator.

AI and machine learning are the tools marketers need to process big sets of data rapidly and accurately, to drive truly personalised interactions with customers in real-time. By observing data signals about people’s behaviour and leveraging the information they supply about themselves, AI can make sense of their needs and preferences.

Using algorithms, AI can analyse and score customer traits, preferences, and behaviours, along with contextual identifiers such as their location or the time of day. There are few limits to the set of variables AI can leverage to understand the customer. Equipped with such data, the AI system can deliver a more relevant and personal experience for the customer or give marketers access to insights that help them make better strategic decisions.

Here are some examples of AI in action:

• Personalised recommendations, content, ads and messaging: brands today might target content at people from different demographics or who have shown different inferred interests or behaviour online – but AI takes this to new levels.

• It can automate the process of targeting the right content to the right person and at the right time, based on numerous variables, including contextual data, behaviour, demographics, expressed interests and more.

• Granular customer segmentation: most customer segmentation is still done at a relatively coarse level. AI can help markets break customers down into more granular groups, based on insights from big data.

• Predictive analytics: the next step from understanding how the customer behaves, is to predict what he or she will do next. For example, AI-powered tools can help brands to predict that a customer might be about to churn – this inferred from their behaviour. It can then target them with a personalised retention message or promotion.  

According to research from Google, 90% of leading marketers say personalisation significantly contributes to business profitability and 61% of people expect brands to tailor experiences based on their preference. AI will have a key role to play in the future as this need to personalise marketing interactions continues to grow.

ACCELERATION 
+27112670700 
acceleration.biz

Embracing Tech Can Enhance Customer Experience

By
BrandQuantum
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Image source: Brand Quantum instagram.

According to Paula Sartini, founder and CEO at BrandQuantum, the market is saturated with brands and companies are competing for customers on a global landscape.

Competition in today’s business landscape has never been fiercer. At the same time, customers want to be delighted in every customer engagement and with so much choice, they aren’t afraid to move on to another brand that meets their expectations. This is driving the need for companies to implement technology solutions to meet customer expectations and deliver consistent brand experiences in every customer interaction.

Customer experience

Customer experience is the discipline of defining the step-by-step customer journey from marketing through sales and service. It describes the key capabilities, content and interfaces that need to be present at each customer touchpoint and how those touchpoints work together to form a cohesive experience. 

Customer experience is becoming the most critical factor in a company’s success. Walker Insights anticipates that customer experience will overtake product and price as the most important consideration for selecting a brand by 2020. This is supported by the Forrester CX Index, which found that from 2011 to 2015, companies that scored near the top of the Index increased customer retention, had greater cross-selling opportunities and generated higher revenues than those companies that scored poorly on the index.

To meet evolving customer needs and improve customer experiences, companies need to implement technology solutions that can help accelerate them towards change, shift the way they traditionally do business and empower them to meet their changing customer’s needs. 

Embracing technology to enhance customer experience

Various new technologies are coming to the fore, most notably automation, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, while it may be tempting to implement these technologies to stay ahead of the competition, companies need to be strategic when implementing new technologies. Customer experience should be central to everything that companies do and technology should be implemented to help companies achieve their business objectives and meet their customer needs. 

With this in mind, technology should not replace the human touch that employees deliver in customer interactions. These interactions are important in building brand trust as customers remember how they were treated. As such, technology should be used to help employees deliver superior service by removing time-consuming repetitive tasks and providing the tools needed to help them make strategic decisions.

For example, several administrative functions that are performed regularly could be automated with technology so that employees don’t get bogged down handling mundane tasks. By implementing these technologies, employees would already have more time available to add strategic value to customers and the organisation. Further, technology should be used to provide the correct company information to employees regardless of the device they are using or where they are working from, in order to deliver a seamless service from anywhere in the world.

Customer data drives personalisation

Companies would also benefit from using the customer data they have collected over several years. New technologies such as ML enable companies to use big data to uncover customer trends, predict future behaviours and identify new opportunities. This data should be used to make informed business decisions and drive personalisation.

Customers are no longer impressed at receiving information with their name on the top of the email or SMS, they want to know that the companies they are engaging with understand them and know what they want. They are looking for personalised information and offerings based on their personal needs and purchasing patterns. 

Technology is key to customer experience

Customer experience should be at the centre of everything companies do and technology should be used to enhance these customer experiences. As such, technology and customer data should be used to provide opportunities for employees to deliver superior customer experiences and build brand trust in every interaction as it is the human touch that will differentiate brands from each other.

Meeting and exceeding customer expectations is going to be one of the key challenges companies face in 2019. To overcome this they will need to embrace change, break down silos between divisions and put the customer at the centre of what they do. They will also need to implement technology solutions that enable them to meet the needs of their technology-savvy customers while, at the same time, focusing on building trust with these customers. Technology is key to businesses success today, and those that haven’t implemented digital technologies as yet, need to start now if they want to exist in the future.

BRANDQUANTUM
www.brandquantum.com

Exceed Customer Expectations To Increase Online Conversion Rates

By
Bluegrass Digital
-
Image source: Bluegrass Digital website.

According to Bluegrass Digital CEO, Nick Durrant, to earn long term trust and loyalty, business leaders must raise the bar and exceed customer expectations.

This is the greatest challenge and can only be achieved by giving customers exactly what they expect – and even more. Understanding user expectations and designing the entire user experience towards exceeding them will certainly increase conversion rates. 

The most daunting challenge for any business is to create a lasting bond between a brand and its customers. Mobile apps and websites need to improve the customer’s online UX and also have the ability to attract new business. Therefore, design is critical for every stage of the sales cycle.

UX design has become an important part of business; it enables one to define customer journeys that attribute most to business success. Getting customers to engage isn’t an isolated incident, it is part of a multistep process and it needs only one badly designed touchpoint to lose a customer.

When designing apps and websites, one should learn from the customer and not assume you know their needs. UX is different for every customer, so businesses should make an effort to get close to them and watch them use the product.

Research

One needs to conduct research with existing and potential new users to determine what would be the most effective design. The UX is subjective, so the best way is to study and interact with users directly. Elements on a page are perceived differently by different users; one element might work for one user but be completely invisible to another. Therefore, a view of the way users interact with the website could provide valuable insights. Analyse the target audience and find out how they would go about a purchase, how the website makes them feel or what language they prefer. 

Get to know your customer

Getting to know your customer is critical to the success of any company, it enables one to develop experiences that relate to the voice and emotions of the user. Based on market research and existing customer data, one needs to create a user persona that represents the ideal customer.

This is a complex but essential task and will take substantial time to develop. One should also be aware that these personas could change in future as the business and customer base evolves. 

User interface

Whilst building a user interface, one needs to compare the effectiveness and quality of experience between various interfaces. Small changes in design could have a massive impact on the effectiveness of the site.

Google’s Optimise is a powerful tool that could be used for interface testing. It allows one to split the website impressions into two groups and view a different version of each page on the site. This will help one determine which version is best and make changes accordingly.

Build a sitemap

Thorough planning is essential once you understand how customers want to navigate the website. Build a sitemap of the pages you would like to create – this is a hierarchy of all the pages and subpages within the site. This makes it easier to understand how a user navigates from one page to another and how many clicks it will take to do that.

A sitemap helps eliminate bad ideas early in the process and will prevent structural changes later once the site is built. It will also show all the pages that will eventually need to be designed. It is an effective tool that will improve efficiency in the website building process.

Navigating through the site

The most effective sites are the ones that have made UX a top priority, so be open to change and learn how people use your website. One needs to draw a flowchart that illustrates how users should navigate through a website. Compare how you expect them to move through the site to how they actually interact with it. 

You can better plan the optimal experience for users by using the user personas and by understanding the profile of the user on your site. There are also a number of analytical tools that one can use to see how users are engaging with your website in real-time.

Wireframes

Visuals are as important as the site structure so you need to invest substantial time into creating wireframes. These are visual guides and the framework of web pages; they provide a preview of the website’s look and feel. A visual website framework can help eliminate usability issues before a page is loaded. It will also save on development or unnecessary adjustments later. 

Design patterns

User interface design patterns offer consistency and help find the most effective user interface. These design patterns could lead to better and more familiar experiences. Style tiles also help maintain consistency; they show the design of all modules on the site including specifics like colours, font sizes, buttons and type layout. Style tiles ensure a smooth UX across the entire site, helping users to interact with the various elements on the site. 

Style guides 

Consistency is the key to designing a memorable UX. Style guides provide designers and writers with a framework for developing a design and creating content. The style guide must be easily accessible to anyone working on the website to ensure that the design elements and brand align with the ultimate goals.

User Experience design

Creating a UX to the level of exceeding customer expectations is not one person’s responsibility; it must be the company’s vision. Good UX design must always be part of the product development process, it’s not always what it looks like or feels like, but rather how it works. 

Exceeding customer expectations

ESPN revenues skyrocketed by 35% after they incorporated suggestions from their users into their homepage redesign. A phenomenal UX can only be achieved by following an iterative design process. Everyone in the company must contribute to the process.

A Forrester report states that a well-designed user interface could raise a website’s conversion rate by up to 200%, while better UX design could boost conversion rates up to 400%.

BLUEGRASS DIGITAL 
hello@bluegrassdigtal.com
bluegrassdigital.com

2020 An Exciting Year For The Marketing And Communications Fraternity

By
PR Worx
-
Image source: PR Worx website.

Managing Director of PR Worx, Madelain Roscher, shares what to expect for 2020 in the public relations and communications sector.  

As we embark on a new decade complemented by the fastest technological growth we have seen in human history, we can expect ample new trends and advancements to sweep across the various industries, ushering in a different approach to both new and old challenges. Public Relations is no exception, and 2020 has launched with much optimism.

More empathy, less machine

Algorithms are now the managers of the digital world. This automated movement will lead to PR specialists embodying a more human element to sustain relevance because meaning comes from relatability. This does not mean PR practitioners will be relying on AI and machine learning less, but their approach to PR will have a larger empathy focus because the audience of any messaging or campaign remains human.  

The evolution of the strategy

In the age of AI, mass digitisation and big data, strategies can no longer be based on perceptions but must be supported by quantitative facts, analytics and statistics. This is also translating to the media. Journalists are after stories that are supported by analysed data that they can use in turn to inform larger stories. 

Furthermore, all communication strategies, to be effective, will have to factor in the various platforms available for disseminating information. With broadband’s omnipresence; with an estimated 6 billion Internet users by 2022 (75% of the projected world population of 8 billion) accompanied by the eruption of the Internet of Things (IoT) such as wearable technology – which is expected to reach R774 billion ($51.6 billion) by 2022 – most consumers will continue to receive their news, social media feeds and information on a host of new devices. 

Live long live streaming

Whilst live streaming is not a new trend, no 2020 trends piece would be complete without it. Compared to traditional video, live streaming outperforms the former. In one study, 79% said that live video facilitated a more authentic interaction with their audience than other formats. Whilst some marketers see live streaming as a fading fad, more than 90% of buyers are persuaded by interactive content. More brands will move to stream live interviews, discussions, panels and live events associated with their strategy. Live streaming can also be used to make announcements on organisations’ developments or products.

Tik Tok goes the clock

The explosive growth and reception of the social media app, Tik Tok, offers brands a direct connection with Gen Z. If it’s left out of their marketing and communication arsenal; companies will miss out on a huge proportion of the market.

According to Sensor Tower, Tik Tok has now been downloaded 1.5 billion times and is outperforming Instagram in terms of new downloads, with a significant uptake across the African continent, especially with young South Africans, Kenyans and Nigerians in particular. 

Storytelling never gets old

Storytelling does more than simply relay your message. One study found that 92% of consumers preferred ads that were in the form of stories. Through storytelling, we are able to emotionally connect with other people, brands and companies more effectively. Leaning on the human element, brands will continue to use storytelling as a method of imbuing themselves with their respective audiences. But words simply aren’t enough, the more stimulating and hyper-real the story, the stronger the connection. Multimedia tools such as augmented and virtual reality assist in bringing a story to life, coupled with the IoT organisations will be leveraging various mediums such as AI and social media.

Cleaner, concise content

Content remains a consistent force for any brand wishing to engage with audiences, prospective or current. Public Relations exist to connect brands with their stakeholders and to positively affect a brand’s reputation. Well-curated content achieves this through speaking to particular topics, either in print, video or audio format. As your audience sees your expertise in action, your brand’s awareness will grow. If the message resonates with them, your brand’s reputation will grow. Due to the perpetual information exposure, shorter and insightful content that relates to the audience will be the focus this year.

There will be further growth in user-generated content in 2020. Brands will have to find ways of integrating their customers’ content with their own marketing messages. As we’ve seen many times over, when people find content that they like and that is useful, they’ll share it. This also helps to spread the word about your brand organically and bolsters your strategy. Organisations that continue to speak solely about themselves and offer nothing for their audiences will be drowned out by the clear messaging shared across the various platforms by companies speaking directly to their audiences. This is further supported by YouTube’s reveal of uploading more than 500 hours of fresh video per minute. 

Building brand trust

Brand trust has eroded over the past couple of years, with more brands caught to be abusing their customers’ trust. One report even estimated that brands lose around R37.5 trillion ($2.5 trillion) per year because of a lack of trust from audiences. This year we will see a greater shift towards organisations aiming for transparency and authenticity.

One of the biggest ways to win trust is through your expertise, superior customer service and honest communications, especially during the tough times. Another layer of this trust comes from being helpful. Having already spoken about the importance of content creation — it is vital organisations produce content that is pertinent and helpful to their audiences. 

Given all the data organisations will use to inform their various strategies, there will be a huge focus on how that data is managed in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI). This means that on top of ensuring consumers’ data privacy, companies’ communications efforts are expected to be more accurate, efficient and effective. 

The age of AI and machine learning will require PR professionals to continuously assess what tools are available to use in assisting their clients. On top of that, with more data being produced daily, organisations, including PR firms should leverage this information in informing their current and future strategies.   

2020 promises to be an even more exciting year for the marketing-communications fraternity. All we need to do is spot and pursue the vast opportunities that lay ahead.

PR WORX
+27118961818 
info@prworx.co.za
prworx.co.za
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