VOICES
Opinion
PROFIL
EAndreas Pouros runs down how you can perfectly
synergise creativity and technology in web design
Web designers often don’t realise the
best way to utilise data when building
a site. They sometimes overcomplicate the
results and try to appeal to too many
audiences, creating a bland site. Or it’s the
opposite: an idea dictates the design and
ignores the data. It’s the classic
conundrum: left brain vs right brain.
The design process should marry
innovative technology with creative
bravery. Data should inform a creative
brief to provide a brand experience that
resonates with the customer and increases
the rate of conversion.EXTRACT RAW DATA
Make sure you pick the right attribution
system for your brand. Attribution has come
a long way and now offers substantiallymore insight into a customer’s route to
sale on a website. Multi-touch attribution
assigns value to every function on the
website, highlighting the different areas
that have influenced a purchase.
As more purchases are conducted on
mobiles than ever, it’s important to deploy
a system that can track customers across
various devices. Cross-device systems
track data from a number of website
sessions and devices to form a more
cohesive image of customer interaction.
The data gathered provides crucial
context for website optimisation. Although
this process is slower than traditional
first-touch or last-touch attribution
systems, the results are undeniably
accurate and illustrative of a customer’s
journey on a brand’s website.KNOW THE CUSTOMER
As more data becomes available to
brands to learn about their customers,
companies should consider investing
in a tool to translate data into results.
Integral to understanding a customer is a
data management platform (DMP). DMPs
collate data from first-, second- and third-
party channels to create customer profiles
representing their preferences and values.
Through identifying the customer’s
demographic and key interests from
various data sources, brands can better
understand what their audiences want.
Website designers can capitalise on this to
tailor the experience to individual visitors,
as opposed to attempting to appease a
broad audience. By appealing directly to a
specific audience, brands are more likely
to increase their conversion rate.BE BRAVE AND CREATE
A fully informed creative brief should now
be available to designers. How they utilise
this information is down to them but data
should always be the starting point.
The key to appealing to a specific
audience is knowing what they want and
being bold within that remit. The best way
to do this is to ask where value can best be
added in the customer’s journey. Employ
DMP data to focus on why people visit your
site and how you can differentiate your
approach from competitors.
Keep it simple. Make the path to
purchase as seamless as possible and
use bold and interesting imagery that
resonates with your audience. Don’t be
afraid if this brings you into uncharted
territories. Embrace it.
With systems in place that measure your
site’s performance, you can identify areas
to tweak and improve. In web design, you
really do learn from your failures.
Web designers should think of
themselves as chefs. Extracting raw data
is the equivalent of sourcing ingredients;
analysing data using a DMP tells the chef
what their customer’s favourite meal is
and the modern twist that is given to
the final dish is the bold, engaging and
exciting website design.Pouros is the CEO of London-based Greenlight Digital,
the largest independent digital marketing agency in
the UK.
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