What Is a Good Digital Experience?

Digital is a must. More and more consumers are turning to their devices to make informed purchasing decisions. According to an Airship study, 68 percent of Americans use their phones to compare prices and 63 percent use their device to read product reviews. Gone are the days of speaking to a sales associate to learn basic product information.

Just having a digital experience isn’t enough. You need to have a good digital experience that engages your audience, provides a great customer experience, and collects important customer information. 

What Is a Good Digital Experience?

Having a digital experience and having a good digital experience are two very different things. 

A good digital experience catches your customers’ attention and holds onto it. Consumers are overwhelmed with in-aisle and online marketing, it is important to break through the noise and provide consumers with an easy-to-use, original, and engaging experience.

A good digital experience is interactive providing opportunities for your consumer to connect digitally with your brand via chat, content, social media, product information, or more. Digital experiences are a great way to capture zero- party data through product registrations, mobile opt-in, lead registration, warranty, and more. 

Here are a few examples of digital experiences and why we love them:

• Lowe’s App– The Lowe’s app allows consumers to search their favorite store’s inventory and learn exactly where to find what they are looking for. Consumers can virtually view items in their space before purchase and create a shopping list all within the experience. 
• The Weather Channel– The Weather Channel released a Progressive Web App (PWA) which allows users to access important weather updates in areas with low Wi-Fi. This allows consumers to get critical updates on the weather systems around them, keeping them safe and informed. 
• Nike App– By focusing more on digital Nike has collected customer information to provide a personalized digital experience. They have opened the lines of communication with customers no matter where the product was purchased.

What Is a Digital Experience?

Now that we’ve tackled the importance of having a good digital experience let’s go back to basics. Digital experiences are interactive, online experiences designed to engage users and oftentimes meant to convert them into customers and brand advocates. 

One potential way to use a digital experience is with product recommendations that help customers make in-store purchasing decisions.  For example, consumers often spend time in-aisle staring at the numerous product options in front of them and typically get out their phone to help make their purchase decision. Imagine if there was a QR code promoted in-aisle that these consumers could scan to receive personalized product recommendations. The QR code would take the consumers to a product recommendations digital experience where they are asked a series of questions to determine their recommended products. Within a few minutes, the consumer has a personalized product recommendation and can make a more informed purchase decision. 

Digital experiences are also a great way to engage consumers after the product purchase and provide an excellent customer experience, thus creating brand loyalty. One way this can be done is through a product registration and product onboarding experience. A customer purchases a home appliance such as a new dishwasher and is ready to install it at home. A QR Code on the dishwasher first takes them to a product registration form where they can input their contact information and then immediately directs them to an onboarding experience complete with an installation guide, FAQs, how-to videos, and more.  The customer feels empowered to take on the project and is more likely to return to your brand next time.

What Does a Digital Experience Team Do?

Now that your mind is buzzing with ideas on potential digital experiences you can create, it’s time to get practical and talk about why a digital experience team is important.

A digital experience team manages the overall strategy, creating and updating the experiences, and analyzing the digital experience. This team should own all aspects of the digital experience management process. 

Most digital experience teams  are tasked with:

• Building the Digital Experience: They are true builders. It is their job to make an easy-to-use, interactive, and informative experience for customers.  
• Creating a Thoughtful Activation Strategy: They need to think about every detail of the consumer. Who are they, where are they and how are they activating this experience? How can you seamlessly integrate into their purchasing experience?
• Updating the Experience: One benefit of digital experiences is how easy they are to update. New product functionality is released, it’s time to update the experience. New pricing structure is rolled out, it’s time to update the experience. You want your customers to have the latest information so make it a priority to give it to them. 
• Tracking Data: Your world is about to explode with customer data that you’ve never had access to before. Whether you are using forms to capture zero-party data or Google Analytics, you now have access to customer insights that should inform business decisions moving forward. Insight like who is purchasing your product and from where, what information are they seeking out the most, and more. Don’t just let it sit there, you need to track it. 

What Is a Digital Experience Platform?

The good news is you’re not in this alone. There are resources to help your digital experience team tackle this strategic initiative. Digital experience platforms (DXPs) are tools designed to aid your team in building a digital experience. 

Lumavate is a digital experience platform (DXP) designed for marketers who move fast. Our platform supports the creation of interactive, engaging, and personalized digital experiences without needing help from a development team. That’s right.  The brilliant marketers who will build your activation strategy can also build the experience. 

Why Are Digital Experiences Important?

Digital is changing the way consumers shop. Brands need to meet their customers where they are and hold their attention. 68 percent of Millennials are likely to scan a QR Code for more information on a product, special incentives or to join a loyalty program. 

Your customers are asking you for more easily accessible product information, product recommendations, and customer service. It’s time to provide it to them. 

Are you ready to build the digital experience your customers are asking for? 

Create a free account now.