The B2B website is having a renaissance. While many large companies have struggled to find the role of the website in their ever increasing landscape of digital touchpoints, the maturation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is changing this trend. Rather than simply showcasing products and services in the form of a digital catalogue, which has been the traditional ‘inside-out’ viewpoint to B2B websites, corporate brands must now understand the value of being relevant to the customer and their needs, how to speak their language, and resonate with their emotional triggers – which conversely means adopting an ‘outside-in’ approach to incorporating data, insights and technology.
To stay relevant, the websites must keep the customer up to date on the latest trends and correlations that shape their markets and, inevitably, their bottom line. While this can require cutting-edge technology, it’s more often the data and insights about the customer needs – and what those infer with regards to enhancing a digital brand experience – that shape the modern website. Incorporating technology, AI and machine learning are all mediums through which a brand can contextualize content to correspond with a phase of their customer’s information journey. If this contextualization is done right, it can dramatically shorten the sales cycle and create tangible business impact.
I see various brands moving towards using an intelligent search gateway as the primary destination for all of their subsequent website traffic. The traditional search functionality was often hidden in the top-right of a website, perhaps because a brand did not want the user to engage with it, through fear of not correctly understanding a user’s search intent and providing the wrong content. Through efforts made to gain in-depth, proprietary stakeholder insights and a deep understanding of web user behavior, such a search experience can now be more accurately positioned to provide the user with a relevant answer to their query and subsequently a more customized experience.
An example has been on the recent redesign of GE.com. AI scales this relevancy and customization over time, not only ensuring the individual’s next search is more accurately answered but also those of subsequent users. Receiving contextualized content recommendations enhances and simplifies the user’s experience, moving them from one point in their decision journey to the next. Presenting users with animated search phrases, questions and terms to incite them to engage and enter a search query of their own is furthermore in line with what has been widely recognized as the ‘Googlization’ of the world – the expectation of the user for a world-class search experience.
The trend in search experience results in a change in content experience. As content is no longer being ‘pushed’ from brand to stakeholder as a one-way communication, but instead being found based on an inferred customer search intent, users no longer need to conventionally navigate deep within the site to seek key information, but are instead empowered to find results quickly and easily. This means the traditional linear experience can be replaced with a circular user journey, where site visitors never encounter a dead end but can be continually presented with relevant content to explore while advancing through one phase of their decision journey to the next. By translating a user’s search intent into predictive search options, branded content can consequently be suggested for related subjects that the individual may not have previously considered, but that now based on their contextual interaction can be intuitively understood as appropriate.
Despite the ‘behind the scenes’ complex technology architecture, corporate websites should be presented as a simple, modern and intuitive user experience. There are times when digital businesses over-complicate their websites and pack in too much information. Not only does this create more clutter, but it does not consider what customers need and goes against the convention of customer service. A website operates as the brand’s spine, from which all other related marketing and communication activities connect to as part of a holistic branded customer experience.
Overall, there are five key trends that the B2B websites should consider as part of their transformation.
1. User-centric search: Intelligence in search is key in today’s web experience, where search simplifies the way in which users can express their needs and ability to find content as quickly and efficiently as possible. With innovations in AI, machine learning, semantic analysis and natural language processing, a smarter, intelligent search capability integrated into a brand’s website can further save time and expedite a sales cycle by providing users with the right content, at the right place and time.
2. Customer decision journey (CDJ) alignment: Understanding the user’s behavior and decision journey is not enough, the architecture of a website needs to fall in line with the logic of a user experience. A website is no longer a junkyard of information and policies that are seldom read by customers, but is instead a breeding ground for new opportunity. The use of great architecture will create a sleeker design and function as the nucleus of online discovery through to purchase.
3. Content relevancy: Every website needs to ensure its content is on-point and relevant, creating value and resonating with its customers. By clearly classifying content in sections that can be easily found and that answer key customer questions, this will enable brands to entangle with their customers. Putting content into context improves UX by keeping it simple.
4. Storytelling: Successful B2B brands are focused on telling their brand story, instead of solely selling their products. Storytelling is what humanizes the brand and explains to customers the purpose behind its existence. The new age of customers are not buying what you do, but instead buying why you do it. All corporate brands need to tell the story of their origin, to create meaningful customer experiences while sharing values that elevate the brand higher than the products or services that it provides.
5. Personalization: Hyper-personalization is not only a trend, but also an expectation of today’s digital-first customers. Through an assessment of stakeholder insights, each unique user receives a customized experience tailored to his or her needs and where they are in their decision journey – often through the help of AI.
Together, these five trends focus on optimizing the user experience to address user needs at each phase of their decision journey. This approach enables brands to connect with their customers, and earn a larger share of their lives, which ultimately translates into business.
