The Experience Advantage

By Charles Wiedenhoft
Director of Business Planning & Optimization, RDI

Take a moment and imagine what your customers are doing online – right now. Like you, they are engaged in digital experiences performing everyday tasks such as checking email, managing finances, booking flights, downloading music or connecting with friends.  These digital experiences are always more engaging than passive messages. They create emotional imprints that can either elevate brands or remove equity from them.

Brands that deliver engaging digital experiences build and sustain long-term competitive advantages; therefore, getting the experience right must be a priority. At Red Door, we’ve learned that engaging experiences all have the following characteristics. Consider them when evaluating how well your organization is serving its customers online:

• Engaging experiences create value – Whether through efficiencies that help us get more done in a busy day, stay connected with friends and family, provide entertainment or solve problems good experiences keep us coming back for more. They encourage us to take action and give us something back in return.
• Engaging experiences don’t make us work too hard – A helpful experience is one that guides us towards a solution. Simple inputs produce remarkable results that can’t be replicated anywhere else. These kinds of experiences make our lives easier. They instill a sense of accomplishment, empowerment and satisfaction leaving us feeling energized, not depleted.
• Engaging experiences touch our emotions – Usability and utility are fundamental to a good experience; however, those attributes alone won’t differentiate brands from one another. An emotional component must also be considered. Dull experiences will always be swapped with ones that have likable personalities.
• Engaging experiences are always available – Experiences that create value are needed at home and on the go. We expect them to be with us anywhere and available all the time.  Mobile compatibility and portability to desktops and social profiles ensure that when we need an experience it will be ready and waiting for us.
• Engaging experiences are easy to share – When we discover a valuable experience it’s increasingly important that we’re able to share it with others. Experiences that prevent us from sharing products of interest or engaging in dialogue around compelling messages detach us from the people we value most.

We hear time and time again that experience is the message. As consumers shift more of their attention online it becomes increasingly important for brands to deliver engaging digital experiences. Luckily, a common sense approach is often all it takes. Matching the goals of customers with business objectives is the winning combination.