When Marquette University and Laughlin Constable team up to host an event like the “Insight Summit Series: Digital Advertising,” only brilliance is expected to entail. That was exactly the case at Wednesday’s event. While there were many industry professionals speaking about SEO, strategy and content, the main take away seemed to continue to focus on consumer experience over everything.
Marty Kaiser said it best, “Instead of content first, think user experience first.”
Simply put, user experience should be integrated in every aspect of a campaign. For example, Elisabeth Osmeloski of Marketing Land talked heavily about SEO and semantic markup. Search engine optimization and semantic mark up are both tools to help users find what they are looking for in the most efficient manner.
More specifically, semantic markup helps search engines give direct, concise answers. Therefore, when a consumer is trying to buy a new purse and search ‘Coach,’ the search engine will know to direct the shopper to the handbag company Coach, rather than the bus company.
Even when it comes to branding and strengthening a brand or generating more awareness, companies are focusing on understanding their users first.
Casey Flanagan depicted the importance of user experience when he said, “a brand is a short cut to understanding.”
Companies need to eliminate the clutter and simplify. Many people may be under the impression that content is king, which may be half true. However, if a company has stellar content, but it is hidden with clutter or a non-user friendly website, the content is essentially useless.
Last, as a result of being aware of user experience, companies are able to foreshadow and predict what consumers will do on their website. With knowledge like this, companies can strategically place information and advertisements to ensure the highest level of engagement.
At the end of the day, yes, companies absolutely have to have relevant, accurate content to push to their consumers. Yet, if these companies don’t fully understand their target audiences, the messages will easily fall on deaf ears or worse, will not reach the right people. User experience simplifies things for consumers and helps make decisions for companies easier.
As a student studying public relations and marketing, the Insight Summit Series assured me that knowing all about target audiences and their wants and needs will be invaluable information in the future.
Do you agree? Should user experience hold as much weight as some professionals believe? Were you at the Insight Summit Series? Do you have a different take? Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear more insight!
danaelmzen 