Thursday, November 30, 2023
Monday, November 27, 2023
Advertising’s new clutter problem: How marketers are waging the war for attention
The battle for attention is nothing new for advertisers, but its frontiers are ever-shifting. We gathered ad execs from The Drum Network to map out the terrain.
A cluttered home garage
How are advertisers dealing with a new era of clutter? / Todd Kent via Unsplash
One of marketing’s latest credos is that advertisers’ job is to ‘stop the scroll’. It’s a telling slogan, evoking THE SCROLL as a monolith to be battled, and we humans doing the scrolling as (at most) the mindless meatbags attached to the thumbs attached to the phone performing the scroll.
Not all that charitable to the already embattled race of humanity, then, but true enough: whether you’re advertising on TV, app, or print, you’re vying for the attention of minds (for better or worse) remade by the vertically scrolling feeds of social and short-form video.
This is not a single change, but a raft of them. One is dwindling attention spans: one oft-cited piece of research, now eight years old, claimed that the social media age had reduced our average attention span from 12 to eight seconds, less than that of a goldfish; a more recent study is more generous, putting the number at 75 seconds (both of have been criticized). Another is the sheer availability of information. Another: the personalization of our feeds, delivering algorithmically tailored content doses.
We can group these changes together purely negatively: mendacious Silicon Valley types have stolen our attention and broken our brains in the process. It’s also possible (though a little harder) to find a positive spin: we’ve become more discerning, more used to picking out what we like and skipping the chaff. The truth is probably a little of each.
The new clutter?
Cutting through the noise, though, is what advertisers do, and even when there’s a lot of it. For decades, marketers were worried about ‘clutter’: with ad placements expanding, the number of messages a person would see in a day grew, as did concerns about drowning in the soup.
But as the boundaries have blurred between what is and isn’t advertising, we don’t hear the ‘clutter’ concern so much. Take TikTok: a short scroll will see some fully-fledged ads dropped into your feed; some videos with paid promotion; some from brands you follow (including media); and a whole lot of promotion for the personal brands of influencers for whom your attention is their currency.
The concept of clutter, in other words, is harder to pin down in the age of personalization and mixed media. “We’ve passed peak clutter in terms of as many ads as possible on a page,” says Jean-Paul Edwards, managing director (product) at OMD Worldwide, “ but clutter manifests in other ways, now: far more types of channels; consuming more channels at once; far more inputs going on; and far more advertisers out there: 20 years ago, [broadcaster] ITV maybe only had three to four thousand advertisers a year; now, Facebook claims it’s got 10 million”.
Shorter creative and the creator-led solution
What can marketers do? For a start, they can change formats and creative to make an impact more quickly. A skippable-after-five-seconds YouTube ad isn’t much use if it’s not interesting within five seconds; more generally, shorter ads seem better at gaining traction than longer ones. As Edwards says, “It’ll probably only be on the screen for a second or two; now, the art is to get someone to pause.” The good news? “There’s lots of information that shows that, to form new memory structures, you need about three seconds of attention – but if you’re relying on pre-existing memory structures, you get away with a lot less.” Recognizable brands, in other words, can get you to the front of the line.
This is bread and butter for social strategists – as is a nuanced understanding of how we pay attention in different channels. “Different channels have different natural kind of attention delivery – a function of human physiology, how our eyes move; how we consume text, pictures, video; whether we’re scrolling or swiping,” says Edwards. “The mere fact of shouting more loudly isn’t at all sustainable and annoys customers… and that can drive more ad avoidance”.
But what will actually stop scrolls is arresting creative. Wasserman’s social strategy lead Grace Bright boils down the brands that achieve that enviable feat into three categories: first, those “which operate with a startup mentality: jumping through less hoops; the content feels less contrived; they use real people that work for them and customers. The beauty industry does this well, as does online banking – like Revolut.” The other categories: second, “ads that don’t feel like an ad”, and third, “brands with a portfolio of creators that you constantly work with – [sports retailers] JD and FootAsylum are great examples: their formats are fantastic, and people keep coming back because they love the creators.”
The latter point might require some humility from marketers: creators are the channel experts who know the nuances of attention in their area of expertise. As Will Marsh, account director at The Goat Agency puts it, smart marketers simply open themselves up to “the sheer amount of talent that’s available to everybody on the internet,” across the spectrum of huge stars to niche creators – “they are your content machine”.
Yazmin King, Croud’s paid social account director, says that smart creator-led strategies now focus on scalability and “working with lots of different creators – TikTok are doing amazing things in this space with the TikTok Creative Exchange program, which is a smart solution that can be used organically and within paid.”
Old strategy and new tools
This modern kind of clutter is problem and promise all in one – as Marsh puts it, “I see the clutter of platforms as an opportunity”: to stand above the deluge of content by understanding platforms and users better than your competitors. “Users today are more savvy,” says Tom Emrich, director of product management at Niantic, “they understand more about how algorithms work, and with the nature of influencer marketing, they’re more tribal.”
Emrich goes on: “One way to combat that fatigue is to really lean into personalization – if the ad feels part of the conversation, if they feel like they’re part of a collaboration, then it feels much more organic. That’s the direction we’re headed in: to more of a collaboration between brand and user. We see that in AI to cater to the user, and even allowing the user to manipulate the creative. Each experience will be different because the user is the main actor of that experience.”
Amid all this talk of AI and personalization, though, some of our panel report what Amy Stamper, Impression’s head of paid social calls a “return to the old-school traditions of media planning,” encouraged by the same phenomena. “We’ve all seen clients complain that they’re seeing their ads too many times, and we’ve all set up automations and dashboards to signal when an individual might be oversaturated. We’re coming back to ‘who do we want to saturate and when do we want to saturate them?’”
“We’re bringing it back to brand awareness planning, making sure we’ve got the right frequency rather than going for absolutely everyone. It’s about picking your battles, picking your channels… even if you’re going wide with everyone, you can stand to be a bit more selective, contrary to what the platforms sometimes say.”
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
19 Of The Most Effective Ways Agencies Generate Leads
19 Of The Most Effective Ways Agencies Generate Leads
Business people networking, greeting each other during a coffee break at a conference.
GETTY
Agencies need a steady flow of marketing-qualified leads coming in to keep their business development pipeline consistently filled. Without an effective lead-generation strategy, an agency will find it difficult to compete with other firms that are looking for leads among the same target audiences, much less convert those prospects into paying clients.
Although lead generation is challenging—not to mention time- and labor-intensive—there are many methods and tools agencies can use to streamline the process and connect with prospective clients in an efficient, effective manner. Below, 19 members of Forbes Agency Council share the methods that bring their agencies the most success in terms of lead generation. Check out their tips below to learn more about how and why these lead-gen methods work.
1. Content Marketing
Content marketing is our powerhouse for generating marketing-qualified leads. By consistently delivering high-value content, such as in-depth industry reports, webinars and blog posts, we engage our target audience. For instance, our recent webinar on AI in marketing brought us 200-plus MQLs, proving the effectiveness of educating our audience on industry trends and solutions. - Jon James, Ignited Results
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2. Webinars
We have had great success with hosting our own webinars. We typically conduct them every other month as a way to share insights, highlight team members and engage with our target audience in a genuine way. With today’s digital tools and account-based marketing approaches, it is easier than ever to target audiences. We promote them through direct and paid channels, finding great engagement and qualified leads. - Mark Skroch, BCV Social
3. Video Advertising
We use video advertising to consistently tell our market who we are, who we work for and the value we create. This works well for us because of the consistency of our messaging and our low-friction approach to learning more about us. This, combined with our PR and stellar reputation, has led to warm market-qualified leads who already like what they see. - Austin Irabor, NETFLY
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4. Speaking Engagements
Our agency’s most effective method for procuring marketing-qualified leads is through speaking engagements and webinars. This approach works exceptionally well because it establishes us as thought leaders in medical marketing, educates our target audience (doctors) and nurtures warm leads who are more likely to convert due to the trust and credibility we’ve built during these engagements. - Lori Werner, Medical Marketing Whiz
5. SEO And Blogging
Our agency excels at attracting potential clients through organic SEO and blogging regularly. SEO enhances visibility on search engines, while consistent blogging showcases our industry expertise. Together, they drive targeted traffic and engage prospective clients effectively. - Durée Ross, Durée & Company, Inc.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
6. B2B Review Sites
Our best source of leads is happy clients, or client contacts who move to a new company. However, B2B review sites, such as Clutch.co and DesignRush, are a valuable channel. Users are “in the mood” with a strong intention to find an agency partner, and they’re able to see rich information, such as our services, detailed client testimonials and budget parameters. Leads practically self-qualify before they contact us. - Eric Gilbertsen, REQ
7. Thought Leadership
Employing thought leadership as our keystone for acquiring MQLs, we curate high-caliber content, spotlighting our expertise and insights. Leveraging platforms such as LinkedIn and exclusive communities such as CMO Alliance, we position our agency at the nexus of knowledge and innovation, attracting leads that value informed, forward-thinking partnerships. - Kate Vasylenko, 42DM Corporation
8. Markeding
Our most effective method of attracting ideal client leads has always been via markeding—not a typo, but a mashup of the words “marketing” and “education”. Speaking to audiences (live or virtually) to teach them how to effectively and sustainably optimize, measure, manage and scale marketing gives voice to both our value and our values and creates meaningful connections. Those who are attracted to the way we work self-select. - Lorrie Thomas Ross, Web Marketing Therapy Inc.
9. Referrals
Seeking referrals from satisfied clients who have faith in your abilities can be a game-changer. Recommendations from such trusted sources catapult you to the forefront of prospects’ thoughts, sparing you the need to prove yourself in initial conversations. Instead, you engage in more fruitful discussions, as your reputation precedes you, eliminating any sense of meeting a stranger. - James Hacking, Socially Powerful
10. Content Personalization
At our agency, the pinnacle of all methods for procuring marketing-qualified leads is content personalization. By tailoring content to specific audience segments, we resonate on a deeper level, leading to higher engagement. This bespoke approach not only attracts, but also nurtures genuinely interested prospects into loyal clients. - Kenny Tripura, Edkent Media
11. Forms Requiring Real Input
Requiring a piece of information that’s more personal and goes beyond a form’s auto-fill options will filter out real leads versus unrealistic signups. For example, someone putting in a style preference or their sizing shows that they put more thought into the purchase by having to go beyond the auto-population of name, email and phone number. - Spencer Hadelman, Advantage Marketing
12. Specialized Service Pages
Creating specialized service pages designed for particular target audiences drives our lead generation. By optimizing these dedicated pages with relevant keywords, we tackle lower competition, meet specific needs, enhance trust and establish ourselves as experts among those particular audiences. This strategy drives our marketing success, delivering high-quality leads and superior conversions. - Ajay Prasad, GMR Web Team
13. Niche Media Publications
For us, highly targeted campaigns that offer valuable content, as well as applying an ABM approach to our marketing tactics, have proven to be a success, but our webinar sessions and publications in niche media have generated excellent results. The ability to showcase our expertise, as well as our partners and clients as webinar guests, allows us to have top-level engagement. - Nataliya Andreychuk, Viseven
14. Intent Data
Intent data provides a real-time look at a lead’s online activities, searches and other interactions. Knowing what a lead is searching for or interested in allows us to better understand their stage in the buying journey and tailor our messaging accordingly. If a lead’s online behavior indicates a surge in interest, we can trigger an immediate response to increase the likelihood of conversion. - Paula Chiocchi, Outward Media, Inc.
15. Strategic Partnerships
Collaborating with complementary businesses and industry leaders allows us to tap into their established audience and credibility. This method provides a warm introduction to our services, leverages shared trust and often results in leads that are more predisposed to engage with us, saving time and resources in the lead nurturing process. - Ivonna Young, The Lavender Agency
16. Inbound Strategies
We've found success procuring MQLs with inbound marketing, particularly SEO-driven content strategies. By creating valuable, keyword-optimized content, we are able to attract motivated leads actively searching for solutions we offer. This method has been effective at ensuring that we are attracting high-quality leads with a genuine interest in our expertise. - Adam Binder, Creative Click Media
17. Social Proof, Testimonials And Promotions
Driving MQLs relies on a few tenets that prove consistent across D2C and B2B businesses. Of these, social proof, testimonials and promotions are the strongest. Social proof can be as simple as showcasing brands you work with or PR placements. Testimonials can be customer reviews, referrals or success stories. But the most compelling way to drive an MQL is to create an offer that can’t be refused. - Justin Buckley, ATTN Agency
18. Networking
Networking used to seem old-school, but this method is coming back in a big way: networking on LinkedIn, at local meetups or at national conferences. Making connections is key. Email and messaging inboxes are saturated with spray-and-pray salespeople. Building trust and expanding our networks is going to be our biggest success driver in 2024. - Bernard May, National Positions
19. Customer Surveys And Newsletters
Biannual customer surveys are our compass, unveiling client needs and fueling referrals. Consistent LinkedIn updates and monthly newsletters about company news, thought leadership, culture and client successes help us build trust and familiarity within the industry. These aren’t rituals, but pillars shaping our ethos, refining our strategies and fortifying our relationships. - Lars Voedisch, PRecious Communications
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Thursday, November 16, 2023
How to Ask Better QuestionsA good leader will interrogate everything.
How to Ask Better QuestionsA good leader will interrogate everything.
As business owners, there are a lot of things on our plates and it can be really easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutia. It is really easy to just start accepting the status quo, take the wins and losses as they come, and get buried in paperwork and to-do lists. But if you want to get ahead and grow your business, you must do one thing every single day, consistently.
Ask questions.
A good leader will question everything. They will look at things from all angles and won't be afraid to ask tough questions in order to make better decisions. So today, I wanted to share some tips on how to ask better questions to grow your business faster and smarter.
Asking the Right Questions
Asking questions is a great first step, but if you want to get ahead, you have to ask the right questions. Strategic questions that will help you make better planning decisions for the future and are ultimately the ones that you want to master and ask often. Here's why it matters:
1. Navigating Complexity: Business landscapes are intricate, and strategic questions serve as navigational tools. They enable entrepreneurs to navigate through the complexity, uncovering hidden opportunities and potential challenges. Why are we doing the things that we are doing? How are others doing it? And could we do it a different way?
2. Fostering Innovation: Thoughtful questions spark creativity and innovation. They challenge the status quo, inspiring you to think beyond conventional boundaries and explore new avenues for growth. Just because you are doing it a certain way doesn't make it right. Just because you have been doing it for 10 years doesn't mean there isn't a better way to approach a problem.
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3. Enhancing Decision Making: Strategic questions form the foundation of sound decision making. They prompt you to consider various perspectives, weigh alternatives, and make informed choices that align with your business objectives.
Building a Culture of Asking Questions
After working with thousands of businesses over the years, I can tell you with great certainty that the businesses that make questions a deliberate part of their culture are the most successful in the long term. And you should make it a part of your culture that questions are not just encouraged, but celebrated. This culture shift will stimulate continuous learning and adaptability. Here are a few reasons why this is important:
1. Go Deeper: By delving into the deeper layers of your business, you will uncover insights that will be instrumental in refining strategies and optimizing operations.
2. Encourage Vulnerability: When we are encouraged to ask not only external questions about market trends, but also internal questions about our own leadership styles and areas for improvement, we become stronger overall.
3. Heightened Self-awareness: Leaders who ask questions experience self-awareness as they grapple with introspective questions. This self-awareness became a catalyst for personal and professional growth.
4. Strategic Refinement: Thoughtful questioning leads to strategic refinement in your business models. You are able to identify areas for improvement, streamline processes, and align your endeavors with your overarching goals.
The art of asking questions is not merely a skill; it is a transformative force that will propel your business toward innovation and success. By embracing strategic questioning, you can navigate challenges, foster innovation, and make decisions grounded in a profound understanding of your business.
Monday, November 13, 2023
Halo Effect: Why Great Brands Are Built in Details
Halo Effect: Why Great Brands Are Built in Details (And How To Nail It)
In 1983, Horst Schulze took on a big challenge.
He became a founding member and the president of The Ritz-Carlton Company.
The co-founders’ goal was clear.
Take the legacy of Ritz and Carlton names in the hotel industry.
And turn it into a successful luxury hotel chain.
But the hotel industry is one of those competitive sectors.
Many new businesses start, but not many last.
And a luxury brand where you have to justify rooms for thousands of dollars?
Good luck.
But Schulze had previous experience at Hilton and Hyatt hotels.
So he knew what he was getting into.
Ritz-Carlton had to have what other luxury hotels offered as a start — great facilities, service, and location.
But he also had to find a way to differentiate for Ritz-Carlton to last.
“Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”
So Schulze decided to question the basics.
What would a customer look for in a hotel?
What was the real desire?
He commissioned research to find an answer.
And after hundreds of interviews and surveys, one thing came up repeatedly.
Unlike many thought, people didn’t like hotels.
They had to stay in one as they were traveling, but deep inside they always looked for the comfort of home.
And not any home.
The home they had when they were kids — a safe, comfortable space where everything was taken care of by their mother and father at that moment.
And where they get a little spoiled with surprises.
Now, this insight might not mean anything to many people.
But Schulze had spent enough time in the hotel industry to know what to do with it.
He empowered all employees to solve any customer issue or improve their experience when they see a chance without getting any approvals.
And he authorized a $2,000 per employee per guest budget for this.
This rule became famous as “the $2,000 rule” in the hotel industry.
And it created many legendary stories.
Like when a Ritz-Carlton employee flew from Atlanta to Hawaii to return the computer a guest forgot before a big speech.
Or when Ritz-Carlton employees dove to rescue the camera that a guest lost in the sea (they used this story in a campaign saying “memories rescued”).
But besides creating interesting stories, this exceptional service truly differentiated Ritz-Carlton from others.
And it became one of the best luxury hotel brands in the world.
Schulze codified Ritz-Carlton’s philosophy with a mantra:
“We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”
When details build the brand
Here’s the thing.
Some other hotel chains had more luxurious facilities.
But they didn’t become as successful as Ritz-Carlton and became synonymous with the word “luxury” in the hotel industry.
Why?
Well, trying to solve customer problems is a given in luxury service.
But all big companies have processes.
So employees might ask managers, get approvals, and sometimes lose hours before fixing a problem.
But at Ritz-Carlton, it was instant.
Any employee had the authority (and the budget) to solve a problem or delight a customer with a surprise.
This didn’t only cause customers to be happy with the service.
But it also affected how they see the other aspects of the brand.
And that’s called the Halo Effect.
A Reddit user tells how a Ritz-Carlton waiter inviting a guest to a $600 tab caused the guest to take his business conference —which was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars— to Ritz-Carlton.
Perfect example.
It applies on a personal level too (psychologist Edward Thorndike coined the term).
When you meet with a good-looking person who speaks with confidence, you intuitively believe that person is competent in what he or she does.
Even if you have no idea about the actual competency.
So, how can you benefit from the Halo Effect for your brand?
Two ways to use the Halo Effect for your brand:
1. Chase excellence
After his extraordinary success with Ritz-Carlton, Schulze wrote a book to share his wisdom.
The book has many business lessons and stories — including the ones we talked about at the beginning.
You know the title he gave to the book?
“Excellence wins.”
And excellence means not only doing a good job but obsessing over every detail.
Like how you onboard a client, the copy on your website, or the design of your product…
Another company that has chased excellence since its early days is Apple.
Back in 1977, Steve Jobs & Mike Markkula wrote Apple’s three marketing principles.
The first two principles were empathy and focus.
These words need no explanation.
But the last one triggers a question mark in your mind.
Impute.
It said:
“People do judge a book by its cover. We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software, etc.
If we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod.
If we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”
Based on this principle, Apple has been paying attention to all the details of its brand.
The packaging of iPhones, the design of its stores, and new product presentations…
Because they knew people judged a book by its cover.
And they still know details are not trivial.
Details are the brand.
So chase excellence.
The extra resources you spend on details might look unnecessary at first.
But over time, that becomes the difference between an average brand and a great one.
2. Keep a narrow front
The Halo Effect has a sister.
And it causes the reverse.
When we notice something bad about a brand, that builds a negative bias about all the other aspects of that brand.
It’s called the Horn Effect.
Now here’s the thing.
When you have more products and services, you increase your chances of doing an average job.
Because the more things you do, the less expertise you have.
You broaden the front.
And you risk customers and clients judging your brand by that average work.
It’s a recipe for failure.
How do we judge Apple?
By the amazing (and only a few) personal devices they build.
But Samsung?
Maybe you bought a Samsung microwave.
You opened that big ugly brown box full of foam and bubble wrap to put it in your kitchen.
And it started making weird noises after a month.
This does not only affect how you see Samsung microwaves but also the Samsung brand.
And then their executives question why they don’t have pricing power.
By the way, the same happens in services too.
The more services you offer for more customer segments, the less valuable you become for each.
Remember brand dilution.
And always keep a narrow front.
In crowded markets, only specialists win.
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Thursday, November 9, 2023
6 Ways to Get More Out of Your Order Confirmation Page
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The order confirmation page is too often a dead end for users
- The confirmation page can be a way to increase user engagement with your brand
- Cross-sells, newsletter sign-up, account creation, informational resources, apps and other promotions, and surveys can all be added to the confirmation page to reduce checkout friction and increase engagement
Turning visitors into customers is one of the primary goals of any e-commerce site, but what happens after they’ve successfully placed an order?
A user has just filled out numerous form fields and spent their hard-earned money on your site — what a shame it would be to waste this great opportunity for customer engagement by simply redisplaying the order information on the order confirmation page: “Thank you for your money — off you go”.
Instead, Baymard’s large-scale testing shows that the confirmation page can offer users useful information and actions that can improve engagement and long-term retention.
In this article, we’ll discuss our Premium research findings on 6 ways confirmation pages can be leveraged to help users after their purchase is complete.
1) Cross-Selling
Advance Auto Parts (first image) and Overstock (second image) both offer users relevant cross-sells at the bottom of the confirmation page.
The appeal of cross-selling is obvious — but throwing a bunch of deals in users’ faces just after they added a product to the cart can also scare users away and get in the way of actually buying the product.
By moving cross-sell deals to the order confirmation page you get the best of both worlds: a chance to offer additional products but without interrupting or scaring away users who want to buy from you.
By placing cross-sell deals at the order confirmation page itself users can add products to their order without having to resubmit any payment data.
Each cross-sell deal could have an “Add to order” button, allowing users to purchase them with as few taps as possible.
You may even add a sense of urgency by informing users about the limited time window they have before the order is processed — for example, “In the next 5 minutes you can add one of these super deals on accessories for your XYZ product at a 25% discount”.
While requiring a bit more technical integration this is a powerful way to cross sell additional products in a truly seamless manner while also simplifying the checkout process.
2) Newsletter Sign-Up
At H&M, users are asked if they’d like to sign up to receive “Fashion News”, and are incentivized with a discount on their next purchase.
There’s really no need to distract users with newsletter sign-up as they’re working their way through your checkout form — instead, ask on the order confirmation page, after they’ve completed the purchase.
Since you already have the email address, the implementation can be very simple, with a link or button that a user simply clicks to subscribe (or unsubscribe, if the default is subscribing, though we can’t recommend that approach).
Alternatively, you can have a prefilled email field (so the user can use another email address — particularly useful for B2B audiences).
One major advantage of moving the newsletter sign-up to the order confirmation page is that you have much more space to promote the benefits of the newsletter.
Traditionally, when newsletter sign-up is part of the checkout process, you have to balance advertising the benefits of the newsletter with the clutter added to the checkout form.
On the order confirmation page, you don’t have this same struggle and can dedicate an entire section of the page to the advantages of newsletter sign-up.
If you have multiple newsletters, this only compounds the benefit of moving sign-up to the order confirmation page.
3) Account Creation
Staples (first image) and Crate & Barrel (second image) make it easy to create an account on the confirmation page, allowing users to create an account in only one click.
Moving account creation to the order confirmation page vastly simplifies the checkout process.
Indeed, saving account creation for the confirmation page cuts out steps and the complex thought and decision process users would otherwise initiate: “Which password should I use? Do I trust this site to store my information securely? Do they also store my card? Do I want an account here? Do I want to be affiliated with this company? How often will I shop here again? Will they automatically send me a lot of newsletters?”
Like newsletter sign-up, we once again also reap the benefits of additional space for promoting the benefits of creating an account.
If you use the user’s email address as their username the implementation can be very simple too: just a single password field.
However, in some cases it may still be preferable to include account creation in the checkout process, depending on the industry.
For example, for a SaaS product an account can be a very integrated part of the product. In such cases placing the account creation in the checkout process might make more sense (although not always).
4) Informational Resources
Some sites may benefit from providing users with additional information about their order immediately after their purchase — as shown here at Sea Paradise (tour itinerary details, first image) and Burger King (map of the delivery, timeline, and courier contact method, second image).
The order confirmation page is the perfect place to have informational resources related to the ordered products or services.
For example, itinerary or delivery details could be provided for users shopping for tours and experiences or ordering takeout.
Confirmation pages can also offer guides and “how-tos”; for example, for an espresso machine purchase it could be a video guide on “Brewing the perfect cup of espresso”, for a road racing bike it could be a 2-page guide on proper care and adjustment of the gears, for software it could be video tutorials, and so on.
Anything that makes the user feel more confident in the purchase is good and can lower canceled orders — not to mention create a delightful purchasing experience and make sure the user can hit the ground running as soon as the order is delivered.
There’s obviously some work involved in creating content and mapping it with the appropriate products.
However, it can also be what sets you apart from the competition in a crowded marketplace (especially for DTC or smaller sites) — showing that you actually care about the user and her experience with the product(s) she just bought from you.
When executed right, this unexpected and valuable content can create that most rare of things: delight in an online checkout experience.
For an e-commerce store with thousands of products, this might not be feasible to do for each product, but you can start out by creating resource content for each of your top 5–10 product categories or best-selling products.
Also, you may source content from hobbyists who post guides on personal blogs, forums, YouTube, etc.
5) Apps and Other Promotions
It’s understandable that sites want to promote their apps to users — but doing so during product finding can be tremendously distracting.
At L.L. Bean (first image), users are offered a store credit card, while at Domino’s Pizza (second image) a CTA for applying to be a delivery driver is promoted.
Similarly, ads and other promotions are typically ignored or frustrating for users while they’re in the process of shopping for products or checking out.
On the confirmation page, on the other hand, if a user becomes frustrated by a promotion they can simply leave without jeopardizing the sale.
Additionally, you may ask users to engage on social media by following your brand on X or liking it on Facebook, Instagram, etc.
6) Surveys
At Neiman Marcus (first image), users are asked to describe why they bought a product, while Tirerack.com (second image) provides checkboxes to elicit how users heard about the brand.
What users are thinking right in the moment of purchase is presumably of great interest to any e-commerce owner — so why not ask them?
For example, simply have a text field on the order confirmation page asking the user whatever it is that makes you stay awake at night.
Or ask a single question that users can answer in a single tap.
In short, getting users to respond to your question will likely be easier if the time requirement from them is as minimal as possible.
Get the Most Out of Your Confirmation Page
Before considering ways to enhance the order confirmation page, it’s critical to ensure that it serves its primary function well — confirming an order’s been placed and providing key order details. ASOS’s app does this well, along with providing ways for users to further engage with the brand.
So there you have it, 6 suggestions for getting more out of the order confirmation page:
- Cross-selling
- Newsletter sign-up
- Account creation
- Informational resources
- Apps and other promotions
- Surveys
These suggestions aren’t meant to replace the order confirmation itself — you should always clearly show an order summary, expected arrival date, and have a short note stating that the confirmation has also been emailed to the user.
Rather, these suggestions should be seen as supplemental components that can reduce checkout friction and further engage the customer.
Depending on your industry, it’s important to experiment and test out different combinations: are there unique opportunities you can capitalize on, creating delight and increasing revenue?
If so (and there likely are), the order confirmation page is a perfect place to provide these to end users.
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