Tag: ROI

- by Joe Duffelen

‘Digital interaction applications’ – what are they?

Platform and device-neutral digital interaction applications are the latest concepts set to drive engagement with an organisation’s customers and prospects.

SO, WHY AND HOW ARE DIGITAL INTERACTION APPLICATIONS SO EFFECTIVE?

WHY?

A digital interaction application will offer visitors a vibrant user experience; a site so interactive and interchangeable it becomes a personal website for each user. The website will appear to mould itself to the individual, creating dynamic, relevant content evading all the waffle that no one wants crowding their page.

HOW?

Digital interaction applications host the vital qualities to not only engage a user but gather and filter the information that the user provides, in order to tailor the website to their needs. Digital interaction applications utilise game design techniques and mechanics to enhance non-games in order to encourage people to adopt them, or to influence how they are used. This can be called ‘gamification’, making technology more engaging by encouraging users to participate in desired behaviours and by taking advantage of the human psychological predisposition to engage in gaming. Digital interaction applications can encourage people to perform tasks that are ordinarily considered as tedious, such as completing surveys, shopping, filling out online forms or viewing web content. With this in mind, marketers are now beginning to use gamification techniques for improving customer engagement and encouraging positive website usage behaviour. So, with the ability to create a highly engaged and active user, through the digital interaction application specifications, combined with the correct tracking and online intelligence, the creation of the personal website begins.

 

ALL WELL AND GOOD BUT HOW WILL THIS LEAD TO ROI?

1. Longer session times:
It Is far from a well-kept secret that the longer someone spends on a website, the more they will engage, the more they will interact, increasing the chances of that user purchasing a product and/or service.

2. Higher response rates:
The dynamic, relevant content that is available to the visitor encourages the individual or organisation to become more approachable. Once familiar with the site, each user will understand that a digital interaction application will not bombard them with irrelevant content yet provide pertinent information and opportunities leading to a more responsive user.

3. High instances of recommendations and referrals:
High response rates and satisfied customers lead to more recommendations and referrals which ultimately lead to greater ROI.

4. Better analysis and insight into customer preferences and interactions:
The whole concept enables the company to evaluate what its target audience really wants. Is there a demand for more training tips? A need for insight into the latest products? Being able to physically see how consumers are shaping their digital interaction application offers immediate insight into the user’s needs and demands and then how and what to sell to that particular user/organisation.

 

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE ABOVE is:

Dell’s Small Business Solutions Centre

The Dell Small Business Solutions Centre offers small businesses the opportunity to better understand their IT needs and to find out more around the various server and storage solutions Dell can offer them. The Volume-developed multilingual application helps educate users and facilitates the decision-making process through better knowledge and understanding.

The Volume Technology Team created this in JavaScript to ensure the user experience is neither governed nor restricted by Flash or video, and is therefore available on all the modern devices that so many small-business owners use today. No longer will the user be restricted by HTML and video but greeted with open arms by the limitless virtual environment.

The whole concept is tied up with a full ‘Content Management System’ that completely puts the ‘interaction’ into digital interaction applications by enabling all content to be updated in real time and in multiple languages.

Dell Small Business Solutions Centre

THE FUTURE

I know full well that I am not the only one to have been captivated by a computer game for hours on end, where the treasure must be found, the enemy must be stopped or that triple backflip must be perfected, despite three days of trying already. Well, now that ‘corporate’ website wants a change in this direction (perhaps not the shooting or backflips though). I’m not saying that every website needs to become a digital interaction application because there are some that work the way they do. However, take the first step in establishing whether the forever transforming world of ‘online’ suggests your product, service or organisation could embrace this new, innovative concept.

- by Josie Rogers

What are the top five organisational concerns with social media? How can you deal with them?

When talking about social media with clients, there are a number of questions that commonly come up. Many stem from the challenges of adjusting to using social media as a new way of reaching customers and advocates. I have highlighted the five key concerns we get asked and how we help alleviate them.

The five most common concerns organisations have about using social media are:

1. Brand damage
2. Compliance issues
3. Lack of expertise
4. Difficulty in measuring ROI
5. Resource constraints

Brand damage

No one wants to be the next #McDstories gone sour or be the next brand caught deleting negative comments. On a less viral level, no one wants customer-retention issues stemming from slow responses from those in charge of running the social profiles.

One way of avoiding brand damage is to educate your staff through professional social-media workshops and clear social-media guidelines. This should help avoid situations that leave the profiles open to brand damage; it will also open doors to would-be brand advocates among your staff, who can represent the company, the brand and the products and services via their own social profiles.

Compliance issues

Have you ever seen a brand with myriad social-media accounts that all seem to do the same thing? How do you control the setup of new and random profiles? By putting policies and processes in place, there’ll be a clear process for account setup, which will avoid the proliferation of new accounts that serve no purpose or duplicate effort.

Develop clear and concise social-media policies, and ensure that employees contributing to social media have read and understood those policies. They should provide guidance on setting up and running accounts, and engaging with stakeholders.

Policies are great, but how can you ensure that they result in socially-savvy employees representing the brand in a productive way? Training, of course! Face-to-face or online-based training sessions give practical guidance on social-media activities, and on combining activities to engage an audience and generate leads. You can find out more about the benefits of training in one of our earlier blog post: Is training the answer to the social dilemma?

Lack of expertise

Are you planning to start social-media initiatives? How do you plan to integrate all of your planned social-media activities to ensure you’re driving value for the brand? Do you know what to do in order to achieve your goals?

When choosing to partner with an agency or consultancy, it is important to look for a proven track record of tangible success in social media – campaigns that deliver value and ROI. At Volume, we work alongside brands and provide expertise (from a number of social-media tactics to a fully integrated strategy supported by best-of-breed social tools) to ensure that our clients get the best return from their social media activities.

Difficulty in measuring ROI

How do you actually measure return on investment. What do you count as a success?

Start by setting measureable objectives you are looking to achieve. For example:

  • Site traffic generation
  • Interactions and engagement
  • Re-syndicated content
  • Event registrations and attendance
  • Leads

It is possible to use social media mapping tools such as SociView™ to understand your social media real estate, assess and rate your social instances to see how well they are performing. Each topic area is given a score based on the following:

1. Visibility
2. Influence
3. Relevance
4. Activity

Armed with this information, you can see how well your accounts comply with set score levels, and from there, ensure that accounts continue to perform well in a valued-added way.

Resource constraints

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has searched a brand’s social-media pages, groups and feeds eager to find specific information, only to discover that the last updates were a few months ago.

All too often, accounts are set up by keen but busy people – a few months on, the realisation hits that the resource needed to maintain the profiles negatively impacts their day job and primary objectives. Or people move on leaving accounts dormant.

We help minimise the time and resource needed to manage clients’ social media real estates by using a managed service. We monitor mapped social-media presence through SociView and ensure that all accounts comply with predefined target scores. Alternatively, we offer a range of social media support services to help  build and manage social media presence to ensure that clients gain maximum value from social media activities.

Do you face any other challenges when dealing with social media? How do you deal with them?

If you are interested in finding out more about our social-media services or SociView, get in touch: info@volume.co.uk