The holiday season has always been a make-or-break moment for many brands. In 2020, U.S. holiday sales hit an all-time high of $188.2 billion,1 with almost half of that activity taking place on mobile. Effectively engaging with customers online will again be crucial this year.
But breaking through this crowded landscape requires optimizing the entire customer experience, including after those customers click on an ad. And with so much shopping activity taking place on mobile, brands must design their experiences with mobile in mind.
To better understand how brands can remove friction to help increase revenue, we sat down together to discuss perspectives on how marketers can optimize engagement for the entire customer journey this holiday season.
Clément: Brandon, consumers are not just "going shopping,” they’re "always shopping,” particularly since their mobile devices are typically on hand. How should marketers keep their brands top-of-mind for consumers during those consumers’ research and discovery phase?
Brandon: Marketers should meet customers where they are and when they're interested, which, more often than not, is on social channels and on mobile websites. But their work shouldn't stop there. With online shopping so fully integrated into our daily lives, it's critical to seamlessly integrate your website with your advertising.
A key consideration is connecting what customers see in your social media ads with what they'll find on your site. Facebook recently rolled out Ads with Product Tags, Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops, and Shopping Custom Audiences, which make it easier to unify customers’ experience, whether they're on social media or on your web site.
Clément: How would you recommend how marketers can guide customers through their shopping journey after the click when they land on a brand's e-commerce website?
Brandon: Landing pages act as the bridge between discovery and purchase, linking advertising to owned experiences. If your post-click experience isn't seamless, landing pages can cause friction or become barriers to action. To ensure that your brand doesn't "miss the landing,” keep in mind what I call the "3 C's”:
- The first "C” is Continuity. Your landing page should seamlessly pick up where the ad left off, featuring consistent products, imagery and messaging.
- The second "C” is Content, which should be optimized for a mobile screen. Your site assets should include large visuals, with concise copy and easy-to-read fonts.
- Finally, the third "C” is Call to Action (CTA). Your consumers aren't going to take action if you don't tell them what to do. Your mobile CTA should be in a button format, span the screen's width, stand out and be sticky when scrolling.
The comfort-focused apparel brand Bombas discovered the value of this framework when it implemented a sticky filter on their category pages that allowed customers to quickly and easily narrow down the items most relevant to them. With this minor tweak, Bombas increased its conversion rate by 3% on their mobile website.
Clément: After customers land on your website, how can you convert them from a visitor to an email subscriber to continue the conversation after they leave your site?
Brandon: The goal of lead generation is to capture consumer preferences to better connect with those interested in learning more about your business. Collecting an email address is critical: In fact, 51% of marketers surveyed said that email is their top acquisition channel.2π
Customers are 2.1-times more likely to view personalized content as important.3 With a few basic details about them, like their gender and last category shopped, you can email them with a simple customized message.
Determine the optimal places to ask your customers about their preferences—for example, your website's global navigation, which is visible to all visitors. Brands also often learn about their customers from the My Account section of their sites or at checkout, a key moment when a customer has expressed interest in becoming a member or buying from you.
Clément: Thanks very much Brandon. I have one final consideration to add: Connect what you know about your customers to the platforms they’re on. Powerful tools are available, such as the server-to-server connection via Facebook's Conversions API, that allow you to fully optimize interactions with your customers.
By designing for a holistic, frictionless experience from discovery to checkout (and beyond), marketers can make the most of every moment with customers wherever and however they choose to engage, especially during this most critical time of the year. Click here to learn how to strengthen your data and boost holiday conversions.
Sources:
1 Adobe Digital Insights, January 2021, “Reviewing 2020's Holiday Shopping Season.”
2 Yieldify, “The New Rules of Customer Acquisition.”
3 Yieldify, “The New Rules of Customer Acquisition.”
