Latest Web Engagement News & Articles

As a follow-up to my previous article, Overview: The 'New' Google Analytics Platform, I'm providing a series of articles that dive into each of the platform's new components in more detail. For this article, I'm going to spend some time going through the Visitor Flow Report, a feature that can help you assess website engagement.

Mobile use of websites is on track to overtake conventional desktop access by the end of 2013, according to Gartner Research.

Cisco's data shows rapid growth of mobile data usage, and predicts even steeper growth over 2012 and 2013. More than one billion Android and iOS apps were downloaded in the final weeks of 2011, according to Flurry.

None of this should come as a surprise — as you fondly glance at the shiny thing in your right hand.

Source: Cisco

No longer is managing Web content enough. The entire user experience must be managed and optimized across all online channels. And because mobile is a platform shift, it requires not only a change of content strategy, but also a change of certain technology infrastructure as well.

Open source experts, Rivet Logic, are giving a one-hour, live webinar that delves into how you can use open source software to develop exceptional online experiences that address both desktop and mobile web clients.

The event runs Thursday January 19th at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern time. During the discussion you will learn how to blend open source software to seamlessly deliver engaging online experiences across channels. 

You can learn more and reserve your seat here.

In 2011, we saw the category of Customer Experience Management  (CXM) enter the scene. No longer was the web only about information sharing; we watched it explode to include an intricate set of social connections and mobile apps.

In 2012, we will likely see Customer Experience Management evolve into a deeper and more sophisticated engagement with any user engaging the riveting technology advancements in the online world of social, mobile or web apps.

Social media may have started out as a place for people to connect, converse and collaborate, but for the savvy marketer, it quickly evolved into an untapped treasure trove of potential customers.

For the enterprise, social media offers an even bigger opportunity in 2012 as it makes its way into productivity applications where users will desire the same friendly, accessible interface in their daily tasks. The experience for the savvy business user will look to social media as a common ground.

Why shouldn’t an employee’s training certifications be as easy to identify as their hobbies on Facebook? With advancements in gamification and leaderboards, healthy competition for stickers, badges and awards could find their way into the workplace.

2011 also saw the emergence of "B.Y.O.D" — IT had to make a decision on which devices they would support. Just as social media is more than a marketing channel (it is becoming a way of life), mobile goes beyond the apps.

Marketers who dipped their toe into the mobile waters in 2011, will continue be able to take advantage of the "always on" customer in 2012. Mobile marketing has an opportunity to expand into value-add apps that prove both productive and engaging for all information seekers – on any screen, anytime, anywhere.

Companies like Emergency Medicine Physicians (EMP) have modified the user experience to provide one-click access to popular content across many different mobile devices. EMP measures the length of time each doctor spends on the site as an increase in productivity. Doctors can tailor their one pane of glass to include their favorite "apps" and the browser and mobile experience are transparent. EMP’s goal was to simplify for empowerment.

If this resonates with you, check out the EMP case study here.

2012 offers a multi-channel experience that engages each user to his or her fullest potential. Success in Customer Experience Management depends on the ability of the organization to place a sophisticated understanding of the customer at the heart of every business interaction.

Stay tuned here as the story evolves.

The customer is the marketer; that's what social media is for. The customer is the advertiser; that's what Google is for.

We all (hopefully) use cloud services in some form, but with more apps starting to rely on them, expect Windows 8 to have cloud at the core, along with the endless possibilities of Kinect's motion, audio and lip-reading skills.

The more you integrate your content strategy with other disciplines within digital strategy — SEO, social media, usability and information architecture — the more successful it will be.

Mobile is a platform. It is a tactic, not a strategy. What you need is a strategy for the connected customer.

Creating a website structure and defining successful user journeys is an ongoing activity. It is a continually developing process as new technology changes and customer habits, expectations and norms evolve. For example, the variety of websites in the car insurance industry illustrates how each organization arranges their website and user journeys differently.

The first place to start is to identify your top tasks, then create an Information Architecture before defining user journeys.

We compare in order to make the best decision. To do that we need to consider the opinion of both experts and crowds.

At the giant search and social media conference Pubcon in Las Vegas, Google’s top Spam cop Matt Cutts said in his talk the company is getting out the knife again.  He reported Google is looking to discern “…what are the things that really matter, how much content is above the fold.”

You may remember the last time Cutts’ team went after low-quality content was with its Panda algorithm, also known as Farmer, that targeted content farms gaining top search hits on “shallow” content.

If customers get the first click right they have twice as much of a chance of completing their task than if they get it wrong.

Telerik has released version 4.3 of its Sitefinity .NET Web content management system. And like we expected, there are more capabilities to support the online customer experience.

While some people were speculating that Yahoo! would be up for sale soon, the company was lining up an agreement to buy interclick, a proprietary advertising and technology solutions provider.

Denmark-based Sitecore is on a roll.  The company said it’s experiencing concurrent expansion in product development, geography and revenue gains that make this a banner year for the web content management system company, which made an early bet on the Microsoft .Net platform. 

Check out our Exclusive interview with Darren Guarnaccia, Sitecore Senior VP of Product Marketing, who speaks about customer engagement taking center stage.

There is a growing resistance to traditional marketing techniques. Today's customer is more logical, less emotional.

Sitecore has announced the launch of an online resource for web marketers, publishers and business users called Sitecore Engage. Multimedia, text and other content on Sitecore Engage are designed to help align web and business strategies for better audience engagement.

A final reminder that at 1pm ET, 10 PT today we are holding our monthly tweet jam. We will focus on the 3C's of Customer Experience: Content, Community, Commerce. The hashtag again is #CXMChat, the discussion topics:

1. Content, Community, Commerce: Which is your top CXM focus and why?
2. Is CXM maturing as a discipline and how is it changing organizations?
3. Do you believe orgs need a more abstracted role called "Experience (or Engagement) Architect"?
4. How is ecommerce evolving in the age of CXM?
5. What do you think is the big opportunity for CXM in 2012?

Check out the list of panelists attending and get yourself ready to settle in for a fast paced discussion on customer experience.

You can watch the event right here, or join us via your Twitter tool of choice. See you soon!

A Few Reminders

• Introduce yourself with your first #CXMChat tweet. Include your name, job title and organization you work for.
• Subsequent tweets must start with the question number you are responding to and the #CXMChat hashtag. For example, "@bigbird Q5 We very much believe sentiment analysis works #CXMChat"
• Please don't pitch products or services; stay knowledge focused
• Keep the discussion professional, but informal
• Remember that this is a public chat — be thoughtful

We are a little less than one full day away from our October tweet jam. This month we cover three important elements of customer experience: Content, Community and Commerce. Take a gander at who will be there and what we'll be talking about.

The customer is not captive anymore. The customer is active. They are in control.

A little interesting potential acquisition news this morning. It looks like SDL might be wanting to get its hands on web engagement management provider Alterian.

Editor's Note: Alterian released a comment on the potential acquisition offer. Read on to get their perspective.