It’s not that we didn’t know the value of audience research. We all know that it’s important to know who your audience is whether you’re writing, performing or creating a design. Otherwise, how can you ensure quality or perform well?

Sometimes, we just did it informally for an internal guide and didn’t deliver the research to the client. Other times, sadly, it just got skipped because there was no budget. So for a dark time in Knowmad’s history, we didn’t formalize the audience research process and it wasn’t fun.

These days, I don’t know how we designed a site without this valuable and easy to obtain information! Crazy, I know. I also know we’re not alone here in having skimped on the audience research step in the past so I thought I’d share some insight into our ever-evolving process.

Audience Research: In a Nutshell

So, how do we conduct audience research? The research can be very simple and you might be surprised how much we human beings love helping by giving our opinions. Generally speaking, we like doing favors for others, if it doesn’t take too much of our time and isn’t a lot of work. Translation: keep it simple and quick.

The hardest part of the research is asking for help from the audience groups and getting their attention. We haven’t yet had to offer an iPad to get responses because our clients typically recruit audience members through existing relationships.

Here’s a quick overview of how we conduct & use the research.

1. Define target audience groups
2. Create questions to illicit insight on needs, values, goals & tasks
3. Analyze the results & create a user task matrix
4. Share the results with our client
5. Use the information gathered to inform wire-frames for design
6. Use the information for content strategy
7. Also use the information for visual design
8. Review the audience research during & after project development

As you can see, this information drives most of the process. I really don’t know how we ever built websites without it.

What questions do we ask?

Our questions vary by industry and organization type. Generally speaking, the questions center around needs, desires, values and behavior. Technical questions are limited to keep the interview or survey easy for the audience member. Most technical questions can be answered via an analysis of web analytics. Some common questions include a variant of the following:

• What do you expect to accomplish while on this website?
• In relation to Company X, please rank order the following values.
• How much does the website influence your purchase?
• In relation to Company X’s website, please rank order these 5 tasks.
• How much time to you spend in the following social networks? (Provide a list with % options for time, e.g. ’50% or less’)

What’s in it for the client?

Aligning audience needs with established business goals ensures the web presence is performing for the business or organization. We use audience research for both functional & visual design as well as content strategy. Audience research helps us & our clients prevent spending budgets on web initiatives that audience members won’t find beneficial.

My favorite example for this is the idea of adding a forum to a website. On the surface, it may sound like a fantastic idea. Users will stay on the site, they’ll talk to one another and Ad revenues will go up!

Forums are a lot more work than you might expect to succeed. You need moderators who are quick to respond. When spam issues arise, they must be remedied quickly. To get a forum going, you may need ‘ghost posters’ to make it look active and encourage real users to join the conversations.

If audience members do not already engage in this behavior (posting to and reading forums), it’s much easier and often more effective to engage them via an existing behavior.

Are you conducting research on your project’s target audience? If so, share your techniques and stories. We’d love to hear them.

Kmart isn’t a place I shop, which isn’t saying a lot because I’m not a big in-store shopper. I can’t say I’ve even been on the Kmart website until reading this news nugget. The brand doesn’t strike me as modern, so it made me curious about how the company is using the web and what results they might achieve.

After a quick search, I found that Kmart has several initiatives on the web including a mobile app (kmart2go), mygofer.com and kmartdesign.com. Business strategy and the web are two of my favorite topics so I began to wonder…

What can we learn from Kmart?

Here’s what stands out to me about Kmart’s web strategy, none of which is surprising and gives us a great example to look at for web strategy.

• Clearly define business goals
• Segment and target specific audiences.
• Offer presentation formats specific to the target audience
• Use Social Media to augment existing marketing, PR and sales strategies

Clearly Define Business Goals

As you can see by looking at the different web presences for Kmart, they all support the overall organizational sales goals. I have no doubt that, internally, the corporation is measuring the ROI of each part of the overall web strategy. Otherwise, why invest?

Segment & Target

Kmart is making it easy for target audiences to interact and/or buy by understanding their preferences, where they hang out on the web and what messages buyers want to hear.

Audience-Driven Design

Kmartdesign.com is customized for the design audience, not only in it’s visual appearance but also in the content strategy of the web site. The site’s content strategy focuses in on sharing the unique personality of the brand’s designers, including many videos to reach the site’s young audience.

Mobile Design

Each website for Kmart is not only optimized for the web but also for mobile platforms. Considering the 65% annual predicted rise of mobile commerce by some analysts, this is likely to be a very smart move even if the analysts are overly optimistic.

Strategic Social Media

Kmart is using social media outlets like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to augment their existing, traditional marketing & PR strategies. The use of Social Media supports the goals of the web strategy by making it easier for buyers to shop while on Facebook. Enter ‘Shoppable Videos’.

Shoppable Video

What is it and why do we care? I haven’t personally seen ‘shoppable video’ previously but now I’m keeping an eye out for it. It’s an evolutionary idea for video. Users can watch a video about a particular design line and, by a single click on the video, browse the product line in Kmart’s online store. The video was created by AboutFace, a content marketing agency that makes short form video documentaries for brands, and then optimizes that content for use within social media.

While I think the web strategy will likely increase sales and have a positive impact on brand, it will likely have a larger impact on buyers that have little, if any, previous experience with the brand. The initiatives on the web from Kmart appear to be competitive reactions to Walmart’s in-store pickup service, released in 2007, and Target’s Style Boutique.

So what do you think? Will any of Kmart’s web strategy change the way you perceive the brand, making you more likely to shop with the company?

Claiming a business name on social networks is an important part of a strong marketing strategy because it creates a permission-based channel to market to potential buyers. These are the people that want to be updated on what your business is offering. Creating a business name on these networks also protects your corporate brand by preventing other individuals or organizations from claiming the brand name and misrepresenting the brand on these networks.

One of the first networks to start claiming the business brand name is Facebook.com. As of March 2010, Facebook has over 400 million active users. More than 100 million active users are currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. Fifty percent (50%) of Facebook’s userbase log on to the network in any given day. No matter your business size, your buyers are most likely on the Facebook network.

Setting a business up on Facebook is quick and easy. We’ll assume that you’re already registered on facebook.com. If you’re not already registered on facebook.com, visit the website’s homepage to register. Once you’ve completed that step, read on to setup your business page.

Setup a Business Page on Facebook

If you don’t already have a page setup for the business on Facebook, log into Facebook and setup a new Facebook page. When you create a new Facebook fan page for a business, you can select either the “Local Business” or “Brand or Product” option (unless you are an artist, band, or public figure). Choose the option and associated category that best fits your business need. Use your associated business name, brand or product name for ‘Name of Page’. For now, we’ll assume that you’re using the business name for the page.

During page creation, you can choose if you’d like to publish the page or keep it unpublished until a later time. If you don’t already have a plan in place for your page, we suggest you keep it unpublished while you research what your page will contain. You can publish the page when you’re ready.

Setup a Vanity URL

A vanity URL is a URL or domain name, created to point to something to which it is related and indicated in the name of the URL. For example, www.facebook.com/yourbusinessname. Facebook started offering vanity urls in the summer of 2009. Facebook offers vanity URLs in the form of usernames for pages. For business pages, you need to have at least 25 fans to claim the vanity url.

You’ll want to claim the vanity URL (a.k.a. – username) for your business for at least two reasons.

• You’ll want to make it easy to find and share your Facebook Business Page.
• You can prevent others from taking the brand name in the network. (See my earlier comments about protecting your brand.)

Claiming your business vanity url on Facebook is fairly simple. However, be aware that you will not be able to edit or transfer this username once you set it.

• Visit Facebook’s username page to setup a vanity url on facebook.com.
• Click the link in the page to ‘Set a username for your Pages’.
• Choose the page you’re setting up the url for from the dropdown.
• Enter your desired username for your business page (e.g. – yourbusinessname) and click the button to ‘Check Availability’.
• Once you find an available and appropriate name, accept the username for the page. You’ll be presented with the shortened url for your business page.

Were you able to successfully setup your fan page? If so, post your link in the comments below.

Take a look at your current website and consider the following questions:

• Does your website support your business goals?
• Does the sales team need more leads? Would they have more leads if your website had more traffic?
• Does the website help your sales process?
• Is there an opportunity to gain market share by being perceived as a market leader or offering better online service?
• How are you currently gathering leads online and is the approach working?

When Mallard Creek Polymers, a specialty latex manufacturer, considered these questions, the answers led them to Knowmad Technologies.

The management team at Mallard Creek Polymers recognized changes in the marketplace that could be advantageous for their company. Their sales team needed more good leads to achieve their sales goals. To take advantage of the newly found opportunities and meet their business goals, the company hired Knowmad Technologies to help create a web strategy and redesign the corporate website.

The refreshed site incorporates strategic lead capture tools and delivers qualified leads to their sales team. Thirty days after launching the new custom web design, the company received a 33% increase in web leads. How has your site performed over the last 30 days?

One of the features we’re most excited about is called ‘Annotations’.  The reason we’re excited about this feature is because this feature will make it easier to share information about traffic changes with all users on any analytics account. If a marketing manager releases a new print campaign, for instance, they can make a note directly on the time graph. This means less time hunting down the reason for the traffic spike or dip for other account users.

“A simple note from a colleague can save hours of real work (and
frustration) for an analyst who is tasked to explain a usually dry set
of numbers.” – Google Analytics Blog

How to use Annotations

Below is a video from Google on how to use Annotations.

Custom Variables

Google is also rolling out changes to an existing feature called ‘Custom Variables’. Custom Variables were originally released in Oct. 2009 and were only available in the “Custom Variables” report in the Visitors section. You can now use custom variables in custom-built reports. In addition, you can use custom variables to create advanced visitor segments.

What does this mean? It means that it’s easier to track visitor behavior that is specific to your business. For example, a registration-based web site can track a ‘Registered
Member’ to see how the behavior of a registered user differs from an anonymous user. These two types of users often behave quite differently. Previously, it was very difficult to differentiate between
the two. Using this information, we can now more easily track and understand each experience separately.

New Analytics Tracking Code Setup Wizard

The Analytics Tracking Code Setup Wizard promises to make setting up tracking code easier for all users, technical or not. The expectation is that this will make tracking easier for campaign tagging, multiple sub-domains, mobile traffic, etc. You specify the options via the wizard, then the wizard will provide the appropriate code that can be pasted where needed.

Analytics API

A new version of the Analytics API is also pending release. There aren’t a lot of details on API additions with the exception of Advanced Segmentation support.

Once you click ‘Continue’ you’re presented with a slightly confusing screen to configure new privacy settings. Your old defaults are unselected by default.

Upon seeing the new screen, I found myself just accepting the new settings and then refining the privacy controls using the ‘Settings’ link. Several settings were set to ‘Friends of a Friend’ and ‘Everyone’ where I didn’t want this type of access. I found the most important settings under the ‘Profile’ and ‘Search’ link.

Rafe Needleman has written an easy to read article on refining Facebook privacy settings on his CNET blog.

Some of these features include:

Online Appointment Request
Most people don’t like sitting on hold to make an appointment with a service provider.

Many
different businesses can benefit from allowing a customer to request an
appointment online. This could be as simple as a form that a user
submits to receive a call-back. We implemented a cost-effective
solution like this for a health-care service provider that supports
multiple office locations. When a user submits the appointment request
form, the chosen location is alerted of the request by email.

Support form
Earlier
this year, we implemented a support form for a client to enable their
customers to request information on product warranty repair and
replacement. The form submissions are then captured into their customer
service process via a process automation script we created for them.

This
offering is a win-win for both the company and their customers. The
company estimates that providing this feature saves five minutes per
request, or 58 hours per week of time. Customers now have a way to
directly contact the company at any time, instead of having to call
back during Eastern Standard working hours.

Troubleshooting Page
Another
great way to save on customer service costs and provide improved
customer service is to offer self-help in the form of a
trouble-shooting page. This feature may take the form of a list of
frequently asked questions or an interactive form to guide customers to
resolutions. This type of self-help may also include a search feature
and/or references to search-able product manuals.

Order Tracker
This common feature makes it easy for a customer to track their orders without calling the customer service desk.

Live chat
I
find that the ability to chat live with a customer service department
is a preferred method of immediately finding information and getting a
question answered. Often, I have a single question about a product or
service. The faster I can gain clarity, the quicker I will purchase.

This
idea comes with a caveat. If you can’t routinely man this live chat,
avoid this feature. It’s worse to have an often closed support channel.
 
Of
course, we never recommend that these features be an exclusive way that
your customers can connect with your business. It is important that a
phone number and other contact information is prominently displayed on
your Web site. Allow the customer to choose which way best suits him to
receive assistance.

So how can you improve and extend the life of your Web technology? Look for what is possible in the processes that will have the greatest impact on your business. These might include sales force automation, customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management.
Here are some of the ways you can leverage your technology for greater impact.

Business process automation.
Business process automation can be applied to existing systems to control costs and improve efficiency. It consists of creating well-defined processes, integrating applications and using automation where it makes sense. Web technologies can be harnessed to automate the flow of information in your business from initial lead to purchase to delivery to after-sale service.
As an example of how business process automation can leverage your current Web technologies for greater impact, let’s look at a company selling products online.

The company must have a check-out process. During the Web-based checkout process, shipping can be dynamically calculated based on the purchaser’s location and the closest warehouse that contains the product being ordered. The correct shipping amount appears on the screen so the purchaser pays the correct amount. This automation prevents revenue loss during the order process due.
Meanwhile, information related to orders placed on the Web site via the e-commerce shopping cart is exported automatically several times each day.

Using this exported data, orders are processed from the Web site into the company-wide computer system that handles not only inventory, but accounting as well. End users, including accounting staff, distribution and customer service are able to manage the order fulfillment workflow by using the existing systems with which they are familiar. Within hours of an order being placed on the Web site, critical data is available to all who need in a format that is user-friendly and requires little, if any, additional training.

Data and content management.
With the increasing volume of data in today’s modern business environment, an automated, computer-based approach to processing and managing large amounts of data is critical to a company’s success. You can leverage your current Web technology with a data management system that can process large amounts of data into databases and various devices, integrating databases into existing processes and applications, designing databases and creating reports on large datasets. You can use a Content Management System to gain more control and more effectively manage your Web site.

For example, WebGUI offers a versatile Application Program Interface (API) and many advanced features that can be customized on a per-site basis and is easily integrated with your current systems.
Research is important. Web technologies can be leveraged to benefit your business, but it is important to consider how the solution you choose will grow with your business.  If the platform you choose is not scalable, then it becomes more of a problem than a solution. Make sure the underlying platform and the tool design are able to support your growth.

The purpose of your Web site may be to share information through education, interaction, and entertainment and to gather information, store it, and easily retrieve it when needed. Your mission may be to engage visitors and persuade them to take a specific action such as contacting you, registering for an event, or purchasing from you.

Purpose can be accomplished through careful planning of the functionality of your Web site. In its simplest terms, functionality is what your Web site allows you to do, what it allows visitors to do, and what it does automatically.