Simple Ways to Create Delightful, Cross-Device Experiences

It’s a crazy, multi-device world.

According to one report from Facebook, 60% of online adults in the U.S. and U.K. use at least two devices each day, meaning that mobile is at the epicenter of many brands’ marketing, sales, and product strategies.

This trend creates a window of opportunity for companies that are looking to reach audiences at multiple points in their buyer journeys. The challenge, however, is that mass-market tools and analytics technologies haven’t caught up—basic reports in Google Analytics only provide aggregate-level traffic data, for instance. It’s tough to dissect the steps that your audiences are taking to become customers and repeat customers.

Despite this lack of transparency, one concept holds tried and true: you’re reaching human beings on the other side of the computer screen, and the best way to optimize the likelihood of them becoming customers is to always deliver a great experience. This means creating consistency across devices. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Make it easy for prospects to reach out

Conversions look different on multiple platforms. On a computer, prospects will likely want to fill out a form. On a smartphone, however, patterns will likely look a little different—smaller screens mean limited viewability and typing space.

In these cases, you’ll want to make it very easy for audiences to get in touch with your company by keeping form fields limited. You should also consider including a button that makes it easy for interested parties to call you directly.

Across devices—on desktop, mobile, and tablet—you’ll want to minimize the potential for friction. What’s important to keep in mind is that friction looks different from platform to platform. On mobile, your audiences are limited to clicks, taps, and swipes.

Position your phone number front and center on your website, in your search results page listings, and at the very top of your contact page. Your audiences shouldn’t need to fill out a bunch of forms to reach your team—make it easy for them to connect with you.

2. Track your audiences at the individual level

Today’s buyers command highly individualized and personalized experiences. To provide this level of customization and communication at scale, you’ll need data to guide you—and you can’t expect this information to just appear.

Before implementing any analytics software or technology, you need to take a step back to understand what your buyers truly care about. These points of information will then inform what data points you need to be collecting and similarly, what type of personalization technology you should be implementing.

What’s most important is that you define these characteristics at the individual, rather than aggregate, level. This vantage point will allow you to tailor your messaging and campaign triggers to each person, based on specific actions that they’ve taken on your website—regardless of the device.

If your company is collecting audiences’ email addresses or enabling social login, you’ll have already taken the first steps to capture data at the person-level. From there, you can create lists of engagement patterns to track. The final step is to create marketing messaging that engages individuals based on context.

3. Encourage simplicity in marketing

Get your points across quickly and identify points of friction. Provide transparency into your products and services with ready-to-access tours, photos, screenshots, and demos. Make these points of communication ready-to-access and visible on your website.

Avoid using text-heavy descriptions and heavy interactive content. Instead, focus on directing audiences to the information they need, as quickly as possible. In addition to keeping copy straightforward and easy to browse, consider using a combination of personalization and in-app messaging strategies to reach audiences in-the-moment.

Take care of the heavy lifting so that your audiences can get what they need, as quickly as possible, on any device. Ensure that your core value proposition is front and center—start with the basics, and create a guided experience for your customers, from there.

Final thoughts

The bottom line comes down to knowing your customers and understanding their varying patterns in browsing activity across devices. Know the full buyer journey and support your audience members through the individual paths they’re taking.

In addition to listening and learning, you’ll also want to respond to your audiences in real time. Personalization technology will be key to this process—but secondary to the right foundations and strategy.

This post originally appeared on the Evergage blog.

About the Author

Ritika Puri is a storyteller, educator, and entrepreneur. She founded Storyhackers (a now two-person team) to help companies create stronger relationships with customers through awesome content and copy. Ritika taught Blogging for Business at General Assembly in San Francisco and Los Angeles.