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Analysis
Dynamic Web Content:
Giving Customers What They Want
To improve Web content management effectiveness, companies are
deepening their understanding of customers and their behavior to
provide targeted messaging for specific customer segments.
Companies that demonstrate maturity with online content
transform the presentation of static content to a dynamic
delivery model, where content changes based on user interests,
actions, behavior and history.
Effective Web content provides targeted messaging to attract
customers onto a Web site followed by consistent, timely and
relevant information to guide them through the online
experience. The goal of these actions is to culminate in a
desired result such a sale, qualified lead or submitted
application.
Findings from a recent Aberdeen Group benchmark report, Online
Content Speaks Volumes, show that the firms enjoying
Best-in-Class prominence are going beyond static Web content --
where information and images
rarely change -- to continuous updates and dynamic content
delivery. Seventy-four percent of Best-in-Class companies
currently deliver non-static Web pages through combinations of
the following: updating
online content continuously, refreshing content on each visit,
altering content based on referral site or navigational path and
varying content in real time based on user behavior.
Marketing Takes the Reins
The delivery of dynamic content reflects advances in technology
as well as a shift in corporate culture, where Web content
management Email Marketing Software - Free Demo Latest News
about content
management is predominately a function of the marketing group,
rather than an IT discipline. In fact, marketing owns Web
content management for 76 percent of Best-in-Class companies.
Many of today's content management solutions share a common
feature: easy-to-use interfaces that place content management
and creation in the hands of the
marketing department. This provides better control for targeted
messaging and frees up resource constraints from IT or other
operational departments.
To improve Web content management effectiveness, companies are
deepening their understanding of customers and their behavior to
provide targeted messaging for specific customer segments.
Companies that demonstrate maturity with online content
transform the presentation of static content to a dynamic
delivery model, where
content changes based on user interests, actions, behavior and
history.
This delivery model is possible, in part, through segmentation,
used by 64 percent of Best-in-Class. Using segmentation,
different individuals visiting a site will receive alternative
content based on
factors such as: where they were referred from, if they are a
new or returning visitor, or what pages they've visited
previously. No Piece of Cake
Delivering dynamic content in a relevant and timely manner is a
difficult task. Even Best-in-Class companies struggle with
common problems associated with content management and delivery
issues. The dominant frustration for 68 percent of all
companies, including 72 percent of Best-in-Class, is that they
do not possess enough resources
to manage Web content. Other frustrations include the ability to
segment relevant content for specific market segments
effectively, which is a struggle for 51 percent of
Best-in-Class.
Finally, 36 percent of all companies are challenged by the fact
that their Web content strategy is not defined and understood
throughout their organizations. This problem is most prevalent
among Average and Laggard companies, who have not succeeded in
building a unified corporate strategy or aligning common goals
for Web content management. Companies that begin with those
building blocks for delivering content across one site, multiple
sites, or a network of partners, will have greater success
because of working towards a defined and measurable goal.
Behavioral Targeting and Contextual Content
Online retailers are uniquely suited to delivering dynamic Web
content due to the deep relationships they have with their
customers. Survey results show that behavior-driven content
delivered in a real-time manner is in the nascent stages of
adoption, as only 20 percent of Best-in-Class currently use this
capability. However, this number will
rise to 40 percent within the next 12 months and to 100 percent
adoption for Best-in-Class within the next 24 months. It's
important to note that there are different methods for
delivering relevant content to users based on what is known
about their habits and behaviors:
* Unique User Profiles. Unique user profiles are currently used
by 60 percent of Best-in-Class retailers, allow Web sites to
track individual customers through a cookie, which stores all of
their user information such as purchase history, contact
information, browsing behavior, promotions received and click
through rates. Unique user profiles provide a wealth of
information to deliver relavant cross-sell/up-sell merchandise
dynamically and personalize the online experience for each
customer based on their preferences and behavior.
* Contextual Content. Contextual content is delivered
differently than pages generated from a unique user profile.
Contextual content can be delivered to customers as soon as
their first Web site visit by interpreting their behavior and
serving relevant blocks of content. For example, a Web site
visitor who navigates to a page selling
widgets is automatically offered products that other site
visitors who landed on that page purchased previously. A key
advantage to this approach is that no prior history is required
to provide content recommendations, yet it works for both new
and returning visitors. Further, there is no need for marketers
to review reports to decide
what's effective. Instead many contextually driven content
systems are delivered in an automated fashion.
As described above, many companies are leveraging the marketing
power of collective wisdom and unique user profiles, made
possible through Web analytics, to perform complex tasks such as
affinity based recommendations, behavior driven content,
contextual presentation of content for new visitors and
multivariate testing. Although adoption of these tools may be
lagging today, deployment of Web content tools will experience
growth of 55 to 300 percent within the next 12 to 24
months.Recommended Actions
* Develop a strategy for online content management and delivery
and ensure that all parties invested throughout your
organization understand and are committed to the program. This
holds true regardless of whether you have an in-house developed
content management system, or work with a vendor partner.
Currently, only 43 percent of Laggards have a defined process in
place for Web content management and many are struggling as a
result.
* Use segmentation to instill a process of dynamic content
delivery vs. static content presentation. The strategy of
altering content delivery to different market segments is the
second most prevalent strategic action for both Average and
Best-in-Class companies. Segmentation provides companies the
ability to target the needs and wants of different users, to
improve the efficiency of the online experience, to aid in
product or information discovery and to enhance the overall
experience.
* Go beyond dynamic content presentation to personalized
delivery. Sixty percent of retailers are building and
maintaining profiles for unique users to provide a better online
experience. Adoption of unique user profiles will grow to 100
percent within the next two years, showing that understanding
customers on an individual level is important to all online
retailers. User profiles are built on past purchases, online and
offline experiences and preferences. Theycan be used to target
content and information by offering relevant messaging to users
both in the form of dynamic content and outbound email
campaigns.
By
John Lovett
E-Commerce Times
07/02/07 4:00 AM
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