Chapter 2 Digital Marketing

Buyer Persona

A fictional person who represents a segment of a company's target customers, including characteristics such as demographics, interests, behaviors, goals, motivations, and pain points.

Target Audience

The group of people a company is trying to reach with its marketing.

Audience Research

Collecting real-world data about an audience to understand who they are, what they need, and how they behave.

Segmentation

Dividing a larger market or audience into groups that have something in common.

Pain Point

A problem, hassle, barrier, or frustration that a potential customer is trying to solve.

Customer Goal

What a customer is trying to achieve or what motivates them.

Benefit

What a product or service does for the customer or how it helps them.

Feature

A characteristic or capability of a product or service.

Buying Journey

The process a customer goes through from researching and considering a product to purchasing and potentially using it.

Intent

What a visitor is trying to accomplish during a particular website visit.

User Experience (UX)

How easily and effectively users can find information and accomplish what they want on a website.

Usability

How easily users can use a website to find what they need or accomplish their desired task.

Conversion

The desired action a website wants a visitor to complete.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of website visitors who complete the desired action.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Using data and testing to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action.

CRO Main Idea

Test, don't guess.

Landing Page

A webpage a visitor arrives at, often after clicking an advertisement or marketing link, that is designed around a particular objective.

Call to Action (CTA)

A button, link, or message that clearly tells the visitor what action to take next.

Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

A clear statement explaining the value a company or product provides and what distinguishes it from alternatives.

Responsive Web Design (RWD)

A web design method that automatically resizes and rearranges webpage elements to work well on different screen sizes.

Mobile-First Design

Designing for smaller screens first and then adapting the design for larger screens.

Mobile-First Priorities

Simplified navigation, fast load times, readable content, and touch-friendly interactive elements.

Hero Image

A large, prominent image near the top of a webpage, typically paired with a clear CTA.

Upper Fold

The portion of a webpage that is visible without scrolling.

Visual Hierarchy

Organizing webpage elements so users notice the most important information first.

Trust Symbol

Something that communicates that a website or business is legitimate and trustworthy, such as testimonials, guarantees, certifications, client logos, or secure payment icons.

KPI

A measurable performance indicator used to determine whether a marketing objective is being achieved.

User Experience Testing

Watching users attempt specific tasks on a website to identify confusion, hesitation, or unnecessary steps.

Steve Krug's Usability Philosophy

Websites should be easy to use and designed for scanning rather than requiring users to read everything.

Website Conventions

Using familiar website layouts and conventions so users do not have to learn how the website works.

Scanning

Designing content so users can quickly look over it using headings, short paragraphs, bullets, and clear sections.

Most Important Web Design Principle

Whether the website effectively achieves its goal and generates conversions, not simply whether it looks visually appealing.

Three Questions Design Framework

What are you offering? Why should I pick you? What do you want me to do next?

Navigation

The roadmap or menu that helps visitors find different areas of a website.

Minimal Navigation

A small, simple navigation menu that reduces distractions and emphasizes key content.

Robust Navigation

A larger navigation system that provides visitors with many options for finding products, services, or information.

Contrast

The difference between visual elements that helps important content stand out.

Action-Oriented CTA

CTA wording that directly tells users what to do, such as "Listen Now," "Buy Now," or "Subscribe."

Conversion-Centered Design (CCD)

Designing a webpage around encouraging visitors to complete a specific desired action.

Seven Principles of Conversion-Centered Design

Attention, Context, Clarity, Congruence, Credibility, Closing, and Continuance.

Attention

Directing the visitor's attention toward the desired action or CTA.

Attention Ratio

The ratio of things a visitor CAN do to things they SHOULD do. Ideally it is 1:1; as attention ratio goes DOWN, conversion rates go UP.

Attention-Driven Design (ADD)

Using visual design principles to focus a visitor's attention on important information and the conversion goal.

Proximity

Elements close together are perceived as related; words or elements close to a CTA can influence conversion.

Anomaly

Breaking an established visual pattern to make an element stand out.

Dominance

Making an element visually prominent so visitors recognize it as important.

Consistency

Designing similar types of content consistently so visitors do not have to relearn the page.

Continuation

Using lines or other visual elements to guide visitors through a page in the desired order.

Direction/Directional Cues

Using elements such as arrows to point visitors toward important information or actions.

Encapsulation

Visually enclosing or grouping elements to separate them from other content and draw attention to them.

Alliteration

NOT a attention-driven design principles

Context

Designing the post-click experience so it remains consistent with the information and expectations established before the visitor clicked.

Message Match

Carrying the headline, message, or offer from an advertisement through to the landing page so the visitor knows they are in the right place.

Message Match Fail

When the landing page does not match or deliver the message or promise made in the advertisement.

Design Match

Carrying the visual appearance and design cues of an advertisement through to the landing page.

Conversation Momentum

Carrying the tone, style, and conversation established before the click into the landing page.

Clarity

Clearly communicating the campaign proposition so visitors can accurately answer, "What is this page about?"

5-Second Test

Showing someone a webpage for about five seconds and asking what the page is about to test its clarity.

Information Hierarchy

The order in which information is communicated on a landing page.

Copy Informs Design

Copy informs design, NOT the other way around; write the campaign copy first and design around it.

Congruence

Aligning every element on the landing page with the campaign goal and removing elements that distract from it.

Campaign Goal

The one specific action the landing page is designed to get visitors to complete.

Credibility

Providing authentic and verifiable reasons for visitors to trust that the company can deliver what it promises.

Closing

Using positive messaging and click triggers near the point of conversion while removing negative influences.

Closer

Copy or messaging near the CTA that helps encourage the visitor to complete the conversion.

Continuance

Using the post-conversion experience to continue the relationship and create additional conversion opportunities.

Post-Conversion Rule

After the visitor converts, you SHOULD ask them to take another relevant action.

Form-First Design

Designing a lead-generation form as if it were the only element on the page so it clearly communicates what, why, and how.

NSAMCWADLP

Never Start A Marketing Campaign Without A Dedicated Landing Page.

NBALPWACG

Never Build A Landing Page Without A Campaign Goal.

Dedicated Landing Page

A page specifically created for a marketing campaign and designed to match the campaign's audience, message, offer, and desired action.

Landing Page vs. Homepage

A landing page focuses on one specific campaign or objective, while a homepage serves broader purposes and usually provides more navigation options.

Ad-to-Landing-Page Alignment

The landing page should match the advertisement in product/service, message, and visual components.

Product/Service Match

A specific offering directly fulfills the explicit intent, requirements, or core problem outlined by a user or business requirement

Visual Match

The landing page should use consistent imagery, colors, and design cues with the advertisement.

Landing Page Dimension That Does NOT Need to Match the Ad

URL.

Single-Product Landing Page

A landing page focused on one specific advertised product.

Multi-Product Landing Page

A landing page featuring multiple products from the same advertised product category.

Lead-Generation Landing Page

A landing page designed to collect visitor information, usually through a form or phone call.

Subscription Landing Page

A landing page designed to encourage visitors to subscribe to a service, publication, or recurring content.

Single-Purpose Landing Page

A landing page that directs visitors toward one primary action.

A/B Testing

Showing different versions of a webpage to different visitors and comparing performance using a defined KPI.

A/B Testing Best Practice

Use data to choose what to test and test a clear hypothesis so you can determine what caused the performance change.

Analytics vs. UX Testing

Analytics shows WHAT users are doing; UX testing can help explain WHY users are confused or having difficulty.

Buyer Persona Purpose

To help marketers make decisions from the customer's perspective rather than focusing only on what the company wants.

Buyer Persona Must Be Based On

Real-world evidence and audience research, not gut instinct or assumptions.

Demographics

Characteristics such as age, location, language, and spending power.

Psychographics

Information about interests, motivations, attitudes, behaviors, and what drives decisions.

Intent vs. Persona

A persona tells you WHO the visitor generally is; intent tells you WHAT the visitor is trying to accomplish right now.

Customer Segment

A group of customers who share characteristics, needs, or behaviors.

Too Many Segments

Trying to appeal to too many groups can clutter a webpage and make it less effective for everyone.

Where should you put the phone number on a lead gen site?

Prominently above the fold, usually toward the upper right-hand side.

Steve Krug focuses on

1. Clear visual hierarchy, 2. creating conventions, 3. Eliminating mindless choices, 4. Cutting the noise

Oli Gardner’s principle of clarity has been violated if

A visitor has no idea where a link leads

What should the ad and landing page match?

Product (or service), message, and visual components