Website Visitor Engagement: Why Website Design Must Engage Website Visitor Needs At Every Buy Cycle Stage

How to choose the right image: Discovering challenges, desires, and motivations

Digital Marketing Strategy: Website Design, Image Choice, Buy Cycle

In my last blog post, I addressed the importance of visual images in helping website visitors move from their current stage in the buy cycle to the next one, no matter which stage they are in when they arrive at your website.

In this post I continue to discussion of addressing the buy cycle stage of your visitors, whether that stage is Attention, Interest, Desire, or Action (AIDA).  In that article, it is established that visual images that create rapid emotional responses are the very best at creating Attention and Interest for prospects in the early stages of the

It has been established by science that visual images that create rapid emotional responses are the very best at creating Attention and Interest for prospects in the early stages of the buy cycle, while images that offer solutions to pain or satisfaction of desire will appeal to prospects in the later stages of the buy cycle.

In this example, the image reminds prospects of pain points in their business in the hope of inflaming desire to solve a problem.  Once again we turn to a recent article from wordstream:

Consider your prospect’s state of awareness

Not all landing page visitors are similar, and different prospects are at different stages of the buying cycle.

According to Eugene Schwartz, who wrote Breakthrough Advertising (the bible of copywriting), every one of your prospects can be divided into one of the following stages:

1. Unaware – This is a type of visitor who hasn’t realized yet that she has a problem that needs solving.
2. Pain-Aware – This type of visitor is aware of the pain, but hasn’t actively started looking for a solution. Many times, this type of visitor isn’t aware any solution exists.
3. Solution-Aware – At this stage,  your prospect has started searching for solutions; she knows what result she’s looking for but hasn’t necessarily heard of you yet. This prospect is looking at a wide range of solutions and is considering them all.
4. Product-Aware – This stage is when your landing page visitor has heard of you, is considering your solution, and has narrowed her search down. However, she isn’t 100% convinced yet you are the right solution for her. This is when the visitor spends more time getting to know your features, benefits, and offerings.
5. Most Aware – At this stage, your prospect has more or less decided to go with your solution. Usually, this prospect spends more time evaluating your pricing and the packages you’re selling.

Once you understand the state of awareness of your prospects, it’s easier to write copy for them, choose images, and essentially, design an entire page that addresses their state of awareness.

Case Study:  (Are You Selling FINE ART or Wall Decals?)

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Image Strategy #2: The Desired Outcome:

Instead of showing an image of your solution or product, a good example of using emotional targeting in your images is by showing prospects the outcome of their purchase – the desired result.

In the example below, we helped an ecommerce site selling decals and custom stickers optimize their homepage. The original variation below featured the specific decals and stickers customers can use to decorate their home, used a stock photo of a random guy on the page, and lacked personalization. In short, it didn’t show prospects what a decal might look like in their home.

The original landing page

In the variation we created, we used visuals that portrayed the desired result – a beautiful, serene home with great decor and a sense of ease. Our goal was to show the customer she can decorate her home easily, with little effort and see great results. Additional changes included emphasizing the search bar, and removing roadblocks such as the rotating slide images, the bullets and the amount of calls to action.

The more emotional variation we tested

Our changes increased conversions by 550% for our client (emphasis added).

Source:  http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/06/01/high-converting-landing-page-images

This article asks HUGE digital marketing question and proposes a secret answer that sounds good until you think it through:

At this point you’re probably asking yourself: “How do I know what the current and desired feeling of my prospects are?” Well, the answer is – RESEARCH.

I disagree with this answer and propose that a better answer is, “BY DESIGN”.

It is important to make sure your on-page and off-page SEO and or PPC efforts attract clicks from prospects in each stage in the buy cycle – ONE AT A TIME…. and sends them to the right landing page!  Good website design and seo strategy inform tactical execution for better results.  We help YOU CHOOSE the buy cycle of the prospects you attract, and move them through the stages of the buy cycle.  If they are not ready to act yet, your website can make a good impression, make a friend and collect an email address of a visitor to periodically nurture them along the path toward becoming a customer!

If you want to be more intentional about the kind of website visitors you attract, and how you move them through the buy cycle, “BY DESIGN”, I can help you with that!