I’m a firm believer in design thinking principles,
particularly when it comes to web and mobile apps. I’ve been a product and marketing manager
since the mid-90’s. Back then, complex
and clunky workflows and user experiences didn’t matter as much because it was
all new and unchartered territory for software product managers and engineers. As long as you had a “web presence” you were
set. The new norm for marketing
materials, including business cards, was to promote a website address. Today,
we see Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. added to all marketing
communications.
It’s 2015 and we know better about clunky workflows and user
experiences. Design and innovation
consulting firms such as IDEO, universities such as the Institute of Design (d. school) at Stanford
University, and the many authors on the subject such as Jon Kolko, “Well Designed: How to Use Empathy to Create Products PeopleLove” are all sharing the same information about being user-centric (humanize
technology). There really is no excuse
for poor user experiences anymore (and ultimately “customer experiences” across all
touch points).
My theory is that Marketing and Sales departments are in a
KPI (key performance indicator) battle.
Both groups need to report their KPIs on a regular basis to executive
management via a Dashboard or Report on a regular basis. What’s interesting is that departmental KPIs
can be misleading and perhaps even contradict other department KPIs and/or the
overall business strategy. Most
organizations want to build scalable business models, which provide long-term
profitability and therefore sustainability.
That’s where the hockey stick growth charts come in to play.
If Sales and Marketing are held accountable to their
metrics, they can toggle their budgets accordingly as they discover the best
performing channels and campaigns. Some lead generation methods incorporate the
following:
·
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
·
Social Media
·
Local Optimization
·
Paid Search
·
Website Design
·
Email Marketing
·
Event Promotion
·
Direct Mail (includes Mobile campaigns)
·
White Papers
·
Document creation (aka – Content Marketing)
·
Telemarketing
·
B2B Appointment Setting
Why does this matter? If a company has a tried and true
business model that no longer produces the results management is accustomed to,
they are simply trying to survive. Desperate
times result in desperate measures. They resolve to “advertising revenue” to
stay afloat, or at least get by for the remaining fiscal year. “Subscriptions” may also be a key element in
the business model. But there has to be
compelling value to entice customers to pay for it. Organizations need to make it easy and
enjoyable for end users to access and view the content in order to build out a scalable
model.
What is a good
example? The newspaper industry (and
Yellow Pages for that matter). I live in
Colorado and my favorite newspaper, Rocky Mountain News, which had been in
existence since the Civil War, went belly up.
The “survivor” is The Denver Post.
I’m not sure how they will continue to survive by producing a user experience such as this:
Screenshot 1: Top of
Homepage
Screenshot 2: Middle
of Homepage
Screenshot 3: Footer
of Homepage
What is the Denver Post’s reason for being? To deliver the news. Their primary target market is metro Denver,
followed by the rest of Colorado (where there are smaller competing
newspapers). Beyond that, it’s anyone
who has an interest in keeping up with Colorado and metro Denver news around
the globe.
As their homepage demonstrates, they need a LOT of ad
impressions. Let’s break down their ad
positions:
·
Left and Right side of the page; duplicate
“skyscraper” banners
·
Top of the page banner
·
Skinny banner beneath the double Navigation bars
(which is the same sponsor as the 2
duplicate skyscraper ads on the left and right sides)
·
Ad to the Right of the “Top Story,” below the
“skinny banner”
·
Sponsored Content: Left of the “Top Story”
·
Square banner #1 – as you scroll down the page
it appears on the left side of the ”right skyscraper banner”.
·
Square banner#2 – just below Square Banner #1
·
Square banner #3 – below Square Banner #2
·
Square banner #4 – below Square Banner #3
·
Bottom of page banner
Did you count how many ads there are on the homepage? 11.
Plus 2 of the 11 ads remain in view as you scroll down the
page to actually try to read the news. The 2 ads are the left and right
“skyscraper” banners, in case I didn’t notice them the entire time I’ve been on
the page. Why would this car
dealership waste their money? This is akin
to walking down the street and people handing out flyers, the same flyer, with
every step you take. I’m not going to
pay attention to the ad, and I’m annoyed with the dealership. Imagine how “in
your face” their sales people are when you’re at their lot? No thanks!
An end user’s experience becomes irritating with the
bombardment of ads. End users likely will
not click on any stories (or ads) and abandon the site. The bounce rate for this particular homepage
must be quite high. Hint to the Denver Post: engage
readers, don’t drive them away from your content. Readers
come to your site because they want to be informed. Unfortunately the site makes it so hard to
become informed.
I want to support my local newspaper. I want it to be my “go
to” news source and I would be willing to pay for a subscription to show my
support. But they have a long way to go
before I switch my allegiance from Google News.
Why does The Denver Post continue to run their homepage this
way? I would imagine it’s because they need a high volume of impressions to
drive their revenues. This KPI contradicts long-term profitability and sustainability because
it drives target readership away to substitute products.
The short-term gain of an impression has a long-term cost
for them in readership, potential subscriptions, and ultimately loyalty from
their community.
What should The Denver Post do differently?
- First, spend some time with their readers. Just listen.
o
Conduct one-on-one usability test sessions and
record feedback on what readers think of the homepage experience (and subpages
if they ever get there). Make note of
what they are saying, but also what their body language is saying, emotions in
their words (note anger, frustration, hostility, etc.), feel the pain points your
readers feel when trying to read the news at your web site.
o
Conduct focus groups to uncover what reader
expectations are in 2015, and what they might become moving forward (key piece
likely involves mobile). Apply what you
learn into themes. Prioritize themes.
Plan to execute on high value, big wins.
They are likely low hanging fruit (because a redesign is what you need
at this point).
o
Create a ‘reader advisory board’ – readers who
raise their hand because they have a vested interest in seeing The Denver Post
succeed. Rocky Mountain News is gone, what’s left for a Denver-based major newspaper?
o
There are more tactics, but these 3 will get you
a long way to develop empathy for your
readers. (I’m assuming you do care about readers, not just advertisers.)
- Work with User Experience (UX) professionals.
o
They may recommend developing “customer journey
maps” and “personas”. Basically, you
need a solid understanding of how to attract attention, keep it and engage with
your readers so the focus on ads in their face doesn’t turn them off. A
homepage shouldn’t be similar to walking down the strip in Vegas.
o
Create mock-ups and/or prototypes about what an
ideal user experience could be – and test them with your readers. This is where the Reader Advisory Board comes
into play. Quick feedback, so you can
iterate quickly and refine the prototype to get it right.
- Build the new user experience.
o
This is the tricky part. It depends on your backend infrastructure and
database schema and how you can streamline your content delivery. I’m not an engineer, however your engineers will figure out the
“how” – and your marketing and product team will deliver a clear vision of the
“what”, which is the new website and reader experience. Communicate with engineering everything you
learned through your discovery sessions with readers. They will appreciate the context and also
understand their pain points.
- Educate Sales on the value of “meaningful” KPIs, which are in alignment with the overall business strategy. I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m assuming the strategy includes x% increase in subscriptions, x% increase in readership, (and circulation), a metric tied to “happy path” analysis in website, x% increase in reader time spent on website, x% increase in # articles read per reader per session, etc.
- Engage with your Readers (and reader advisory board) in a 2-way dialogue. Build and nurture relationships with the readers and build your community (or as Seth Godin says, “build your tribe.”)
If I were in charge of the “Next Gen” Denver Post website,
those are the initial steps I would take.
