With digital, social and mobile changing customer expectations and marketing – don’t forget to walk through your marketing campaign or experience with the fresh eyes of a new user. Sometimes, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of a project and it’s a relief to hit the launch button and get it out the door. But before you do that, make sure you step back and walk through the experience from the beginning as if you were seeing this for the first time. I experienced a number of digital campaigns over the past few months that included steps which didn’t work at all or were confusing.
One of my favorite reminders is – “I am not my customer.” I can’t assume that my audience thinks the same way that I do or have the same expectations. Look through their eyes and run through the program. Better yet, get someone who is your audience test it for you before you launch.
Some things to consider:
- Walk through the user experience – make sure that each of the details of the customer journey are working properly. Do the components of the website and campaign work properly?
- Does the experience resonate with your brand objectives? Does it portray the right message you want to the customer? I frequently see campaigns or videos that are trying to get their content to go viral through social channels but in the process of pushing the edge, make sure it fits the image you want to portray to your audience.
- As our customers become more empowered and connected does your campaign fit their changing expectations?
- Are there ways to simplify the user experience? Can you reduce the number of steps the customer needs to take as they walk through your site? I’ve seen campaign owners fall in love with their grand experience and not realize that simplifying the process for the user would be better.
Make sure your vendor or agency tests everything and it’s working as expected. Then double check and go through it yourself – maybe a few times. Do you have any best practices for seeing through your customer’s eyes?