A recent article featured on Entrepreneur’s website, www.entrepreneur.com, titled “5 Branding Secrets to Help Boost Website Conversions,” discusses the importance of presenting your business’ brand online in an aesthetically pleasing way.
In the article Marie Dean, contributing writer, quotes Dr. Brent Coker from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Business and Economics to emphasize the importance of creating a beautiful digital presentation to attract and retain customers:
“As aesthetically orientated humans, we’re psychologically hardwired to trust beautiful people, and the same goes for websites. Our offline [behavior] and inclinations translate to our online existence. As the internet has become prettier, we are venturing out, and becoming less loyal. With websites becoming increasingly attractive and including more trimmings, this creates a greater feeling of trustworthiness and professionalism in online consumers.”
The article offers five ways businesses can present their brands in an attractive way:
- Keep the mobile audience in mind. Businesses risk providing a poor user experience, a poor brand presentation and, ultimately, poor online purchases, if they do not invest in their mobile audiences. Four out of five consumers shop on smartphones, according to comScore, and 78 percent of mobile searches end in a purchase.
- 3D product imaging and interactive demos. 3D rotating images and interactive product demonstrations are more effective in converting than flat static images. “As far back as 2001, E-Commerce Times reported on an email test conducted on Mother’s Day at Gifts.com,” writes Dean in the article. “It found that the 50,000 consumers who viewed a Mother’s Day pendant via 3D video converted seven times higher than those who viewed a 2D version of the pendant.”
- Informative videos. Demo/explainer videos help give your online visitors a better understanding of your business and its products/services. MarketingProfs reported 70 percent of marketing professionals state that video converts better than any other medium. And, according to comScore, 64 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase a product after watching a video about it.
- Interactive videos. “By engaging visitors, interactive video goes a step beyond just creating awareness with a ‘sit back and watch’ mentality,” shares Dean in the article. According to eMarketer, Sizmek research showed North American interactive video start rates at 84 percent, 83 percent of videos were viewed up until the halfway point and 70 percent of videos were viewed in their entirety. One way to make a video more interactive is to insert interactive “hotspots” with clickable content, buttons, etc.
- Analytics. It is important to use analytics to effectively measure your videos’ performance, the article notes. Additionally, analytics can help businesses see where customers are more engaged on their websites and where they need to improve to drive in more traffic.
Read the entire article on the importance of attractive websites here.
