Consumers & the purchase funnel engagement

Did you know… a user’s experience begins way before they engage with your products?

Most companies don’t include “Digital Ads”  (whether its on their site or third-party sites) as part of their user journey and/or their UX research plan. As a result, this creates purchase  barriers for their users, from the point of awareness to the point of the purchase decision-making.

Research Overview

One of our clients wanted to test the overall content of their product page to understand why there is a decline in their user engagement and sales conversion rate.

Through our initial steps to gather information to understand their current situation, we uncovered that the majority of consumer traffic to their dedicated product page was driven from two Ads they have on social media. This product page was specifically designed as a promotional landing page for these Ads .

Our recommendation was to conduct research with the two Ads in addition to the product page.

Research Goals

The goal of the research was to understand the unique selling proposition’s consistency, clarity, and appeal throughout the entire user purchase journey  – from the point where the Ads grab consumers’ attention and interest on social media, when they click the Ads and engage with the product, to when they take action to make a purchase.

Research participants were provided with the scenario that: While researching online for a product (similar to that of our client) they came across two different advertisings at different times from our client.

Noteworthy: The Ads had the same key message but looked slightly different in imagery. Both Ads call to action also led to the same product information page.

Testing the Digital Ad unique selling proposition

We learned that using the word “free” in the key message is not enticing to users but creates a barrier to purchase…

Sample Consumer Insights

100% of participants indicated both “Ads are gimmicks, and nothing is ever for free.”

Participant’s Quote:

“I think that there is a catch…you see it all the time saying free this, free that…”

80% of users indicated that in real life, they would not click on the Ads. However, they stated that if they were to click on the Ads, they would expect the product page to provide key information about the Product Offering being free.

Noteworthy: In this case, the product page did not communicate the same free message as the Ads.

Connect your marketing team with your product and/or content team to ensure your key messages from the point of awareness to the point of purchase are consistent.

A disconnect in consumers’ purchase journey will cost you sales revenue

When participants clicked on Ad 1, 60% stated that the information on the product page somewhat aligns with the Ad they encountered. They expressed mistrust of the Ad, indicating that the product information page does not communicate that the product is free.

Participant’s Quote:

“It seems like a gimmick to sell multiple products from the company.”

100% of participants indicated that Ad 2 does not in anyway align with the information on the product page.

Participant’s Quote:

“The page has no bearing on what I am looking for.”

In both cases (Ad 1 & 2), participants indicated that there is a disconnect with the two Ads and the product information page, which the Ads led them to.  They concluded that this would discourage them from purchasing the product – they would not make a purchase at all.