Improving your online customer journeys is critical both to boost conversion rates and to improve customer experience to boost customer loyalty. So when experiences are optimised, it's one of those rare improvements that can boost revenues in both the short and long term.
But improving the journey is far from easy, and to do it you'll need lots of data of how your customers actually use the site. When it comes to testing, we have a rule of thumb we have seen in our tests and others. 1/3rd of tests will lead to a significant improvement; 1/3rd will have no effect, and 1/3rd will make conversion significantly worse. It really is hit and miss, but it's important to try plenty of different tests, as it often surprising what yields positive results and what doesn't. If you just assume you know your customers without looking at the data the chances are you'll be making plenty of decisions which lead to a worse customer journey.
Our recent survey of 1100 marketers found no one technique dominated for customer journey analysis, although AB testing was the most popular. This may well be because it is one of the easiest methods to set up. Whilst A/B testing can be highly effective, it is not always enough to get a true idea of what your customers need or want. You should blend a range of techniques to build the best possible picture of how your users use your site, and remember, the customer is always right!
By Robert Allen
Rob Allen is Marketing Manager for Numiko, a digital agency that design and build websites for purpose driven organisations, such as the Science Museum Group, Cancer Research UK, University of London and the Electoral Commission. Rob was blog editor at Smart Insights from 2015-2017. You can follow Rob on LinkedIn.
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