THE STATE OF DIGITAL EXPERIENCE AND CONVERSION IN 2021
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THE STATE
OF DIGITAL
EXPERIENCE
AND CONVERSION
IN 2021
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
METHODOLOGY 5
1. THE LINK BETWEEN DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
AND COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE
GROWS STRONGER 6
2. COMPANIES EXPAND THEIR
OPTIMIZATION TOOLKIT 11
3. MORE SOPHISTICATED AND EXPANSIVE
USE OF DIGITAL EXPERIENCE METRICS 14
4. IT AND ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS ARE STILL
A HURDLE 19
5. CMO-CIO ALIGNMENT KEY TO DIGITAL
EXPERIENCE OPTIMIZATION SUCCESS 22
RECOMMENDATIONS 26
— 2 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Organizations across all sectors are competing in a world where their
digital channels and capabilities are increasingly critical for driving profit
and sales growth. Companies are competing to provide the best possible
digital interactions and experiences for prospects and customers who are
now engaging and transacting online more than ever. Serious flaws or even
minor glitches in website and app design can have a significant impact
on commercial performance. With the Covid-19 pandemic likely driving a
permanent shift in customer behavior towards online channels, the importance
of digital experience optimization has become paramount.
The State of Digital Experience and Conversion in 2021 report from
Econsultancy and Decibel shows increasing numbers of businesses have
recognized the close correlation between the quality of their customers digital
experience and business outcomes. They are consequently investing in new
optimization-related tools and techniques that have led to the development of
more sophisticated metrics, and the evolution of digital experience ‘ownership’
within their organizations.
— 3 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL
Key findings include:
l Increased recognition of the role digital experience optimization plays in
driving top-line growth. Almost half (49%) of business executives surveyed
believe their customers’ overall digital experience is ‘critical’ to the success of
their organization.
l The pandemic has stretched companies when it comes to delivering on
digital experience, and has created a fertile environment for experimentation
and iterative improvement. However, the past year has also witnessed an
increase in the proportion of respondents reporting internal weaknesses as
their greatest barrier to increasing conversion on websites and apps (19%, up
from 14%). Nearly half of respondents say their organizations are limited to a
‘reactive approach to resolving problems’ or ‘short-term, tactical optimization’
(49%), so they have evidently remained stuck in fire-fighting mode during
the global health crisis. The greatest barriers to better conversion are legacy
technology (22%) and inability to understand online behavior at scale (20%).
l Development of more advanced digital experience optimization techniques
is growing. Businesses report growing penetration of tools such as heatmaps
and session recording tools (62%, up from 43%) and web analytics dashboards
(78%, up from 69%). And, while still not very common, a growing number of
companies have adopted optimization techniques that are ‘fully automated
with machine learning’ (16%, up from 11%).
l Businesses are looking beyond standard commercial and financial metrics to
better understand their customers’ emotional responses to the design of sites
and apps, and use those insights to advance the organization’s agenda. More
than four in 10 respondents (44%) have now developed in-house custom digital
experience scores. The proportion of businesses monitoring customer effort
scores has more than doubled, to 31% since the last survey.
— 4 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL
METHODOLOGY
The State of Digital Experience and Conversion in 2021 report is based on a
survey of more than 300 business executives, predominately from the UK and
the US, carried out in February 2021. The majority of respondents work in-
house for brands as marketing, ecommerce or user experience professionals,
across a range of business sectors. The report contains year-on-year
comparisons with a similar survey carried out in December 2019, before the
Covid-19 pandemic.
— 5 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL
1 THE LINK BETWEEN DIGITAL EXPERIENCE AND COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE GROWS STRONGER
THE LINK BETWEEN DIGITAL EXPERIENCE AND
COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE GROWS STRONGER
Digital properties are increasingly the primary or It appears that steps taken by organizations to
even the only touchpoints a business has with prioritize CX are already paying off. According to
its customers – so they are ever more central to Forrester’s US 2020 Customer Experience Index
commercial success. Econsultancy’s 2021 Digital rankings, 27% of brands improved their CX Index
Trends Report shows major shifts in user behavior
1
scores over the previous year, a significant jump
since the start of the crisis, with nearly half of compared to previous years which had seen more
consumer-facing companies reporting a burst of new modest gains3.
customers, and almost two-thirds reporting unusual
growth in digital/mobile visitors. As online channels and interactions have taken center
stage, organizations have redoubled their efforts to
The increased importance of digital touchpoints, improve the digital customer experience within the
accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, has galvanized context of their more strategic alignment with evolving
companies to organize their whole businesses around customer requirements. This Econsultancy/Decibel
the needs of the customer. survey shows growing recognition of the close link
between the quality of digital customer experience
Rather than being seen as a tactical discipline, and business performance. Almost half (49%) of the
CX optimization has become more strategic with business executives surveyed for this report describe
leadership buy-in more likely at the top of the their customers’ overall digital experience as ‘critical’
organization. According to Accenture, what it labels to the success of their organization (Figure 1).
as “the Business of Experience” (BX) is now a
boardroom priority because it relates back to every There is also an increased focus on how digital
aspect of a company’s operations. Its research experience optimization can improve conversion,
found that 77% of CEOs said their company is set reflecting the growing importance of digital
to fundamentally change the way it engages and engagement and transactions since the onset of the
interacts with its customers . 2
Covid-19 pandemic. If company leadership teams are
1. econsultancy.com/reports/2021-digital-trends-report/
2. accenture.com/gb-en/insights/interactive/business-of-experience
3. go.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forresters-us-2020-customer-experience-index-
reveals-cx-quality-improved-dramatically-over-the-past-year/
— 7 — THE STATE OF DIGITALseeking to ignite growth through an obsessive focus
According to Accenture,
on customer-centricity, then a logical part of this
transformation is to ensure that digital interactions are
what it labels as “the
as seamless as possible. Business of Experience”
(BX) is now a boardroom
Reducing user frustrations – whether a slow-loading priority because it relates
page or convoluted checkout process – can have
back to every aspect of a
a major bearing on sales, and therefore requires
constant focus and iterative improvements. A widely-
company’s operations
cited Forrester study4 has shown that a well-designed
user interface can treble a website’s conversion rate.
Yet friction points remain. Platform providers continue
to report high cart-abandonment rates among clients
– 42% in the third quarter of 20205.
Our research shows that the proportion of companies
that regard the maximizing of conversion on websites
to be ‘critical’ has jumped from 33% to 43%, while for 4. forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/03/23/the-bottom-line-why-good-ux-
design-means-better-business/?sh=2da814be2396
app conversion the figure has risen from 37% to 47%. 5. freshrelevance.com/resources/real-time-marketing-report-for-q3-2020
FIGURE -1
Importance to success of organization
OVERALL 2019 47% 42% 9% 2%
DIGITAL
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE 2021 49% 39% 10% 3%
MAXIMISING 2019 37% 43% 14% 6%
CONVERSION
ON YOUR
APPS 2021 47% 35% 14% 4%
MAXIMISING 2019 33% 47% 14% 6%
CONVERSION
ON YOUR
WEBSITES 2021 43% 41% 13% 3%
QUALITY 2019 39% 46% 13% 2%
OF THE
APP
EXPERIENCE 2021 36% 46% 15% 3%
n Critical n Important n Quite important n Not very important
— 8 — THE STATE OF DIGITALThe close correlation between digital experience quality However, Figure 2 indicates that many organizations
and conversion rates can be striking. Decibel, for remain in fire-fighting mode when it comes to digital
example, created modeling for the retailer River Island experience optimization, and are yet to develop a
which predicted that a one-point increase in its custom ‘strategic’ approach – where monitoring and adaptation
Digital Experience Score (DXS) metric would yield a is based on a ‘deep understanding of user journeys’.
43% conversion increase – potentially equivalent to an
extra $4.2m in monthly revenue6. This is perfectly understandable given the unpredictable
nature of recent circumstances and the need to focus
Moving from ‘fire-fighting’ mode to on the short-term while keeping a tight rein on budgets.
a more strategic approach Around half of companies surveyed – about the same
proportion as 2019 – remain limited to either a ‘reactive
Businesses need to ensure they have an appropriate, approach to resolving problems’ (19%) or ‘short-term,
long-term strategy to proactively address problems and tactical optimization’ (30%).
enable continuous improvement. This more deliberate
and intelligent approach is necessary because the bar
is constantly being raised in digital commerce. User
expectations are being driven inexorably upwards by
brands that are pushing the boundaries of experience
optimization (Amazon, Uber, et al.), and shoppers are
constantly re-benchmarking websites and apps against
6. https://decibel.com/resources/reports/validation-study-predicts-potential-4-2m-monthly-
the best experiences they have encountered. online-revenue-boost-for-river-island/
— 9 — THE STATE OF DIGITALOnly 35% of companies now say they take a describing their approach as ‘fully automated with
‘strategic’ approach, one that uses ‘digital experience machine learning’ (ML) has increased from 11% to 16%.
optimization based on a deep understanding of While still fairly niche, the automation offered by ML
customer journeys’ (down from 41%). One likely offers an opportunity to ramp up use of CX data and
explanation, as mentioned above, is that companies deliver smoother and more personalized experiences to
are now too cash-strapped and busy responding to the users at scale, driving up conversion further.
emergency situation brought on by the pandemic to
contemplate longer-term, strategic approaches. Automation provides brands with a way to manage this
increased complexity and velocity of interactions, by
More positive is the wider adoption of highly enabling them to leverage increased volumes of data to
advanced, technology-based digital experience deliver more intuitive and empathetic messaging and
optimization practices. The proportion of respondents ‘next best actions’ to aid conversion.
FIGURE-2
How would you describe your clients’ organizations’
approach to optimizing their websites and apps?
FULLY AUTOMATED WITH MACHINE
LEARNING – DELIVERING HIGHLY 2019 11%
PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES THAT
TRANSLATE INTO MEASURABLE 2021 16%
COMMERCIAL BENEFITS
STRATEGIC – DIGITAL EXPERIENCE 2019 41%
OPTIMIZATION BASED ON A
DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF 35%
CUSTOMER JOURNEYS 2021
CONVERSION RATE 2019 26%
OPTIMIZATION – FOCUS ON
SHORT-TERM, TACTICAL
OPTIMIZATION 2021 30%
ISSUE-RESOLUTION - 2019 22%
REACTIVE APPROACH TO
RESOLVING PROBLEMS 2021 19%
n 2019 n 2021
— 10 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL2 COMPANIES EXPAND THEIR OPTIMIZATION TOOLKIT
COMPANIES EXPAND THEIR
OPTIMIZATION TOOLKIT
Heatmaps and dashboards on rise FIGURE-3
Given the positioning of websites and apps as the
main channels for experience delivery today, it’s What tools and techniques does your
organization (or your clients) use to measure
positive to see a steady expansion of the toolkits used
online experiences and increase conversions?
to optimise the performance of digital properties.
Compared to 2019, almost all the tools featured have
seen increased usage (Figure 3).
2019 69%
WEB ANALYTICS
DASHBOARDS 2021 78%
There has been a particularly significant rise in usage
of heatmaps and session recording tools (from 43%
CONTENT 2019 57%
to 62%). Their increased use might be attributed to the TESTING (E.G.,
MULTIVARIATE, A/B) 2021 67%
fact that more than half of organizations see them as
‘very effective’ (58%, Figure 4). As well as gathering
2019 64%
basic digital analytics, organisations are looking USER EXPERIENCE
TESTING 2021 67%
to understand what is happening on their digital
properties, but also why. Heatmaps offer a unique, SITE VISITOR 2019 57%
SURVEYS
visual tool to understand users’ responses to different
2021 66%
parts of an app or website, and then apply those
learnings to improve usability. PERSONALIZATION 2019 61%
2021 66%
Adoption of web analytics dashboards has now
grown to 78% (up from 69%), and they are almost HEAT MAPS &
SESSION RECORDING 2019 43%
universally seen as an effective solution. Dashboards TOOLS
2021 62%
provide a neat, quick way to diffuse customized digital
USER JOURNEY
usage insights throughout organizations beyond FLOW MAPPING 2019 51%
& BOTTLENECK
the dedicated data analyst teams. Their increased DETECTION
2021 60%
penetration is an encouraging sign that more and
more business decisionmakers now demonstrate a BEHAVIOR 2019 47%
DETECTION
vested interest in how users are interacting with
2021 47%
their properties.
n 2019 n 2021
— 12 — THE STATE OF DIGITALAs with analytics dashboards, personalization and
Adoption of web analytics
content testing are both much more likely now than
two years ago to be seen as ‘very effective’
dashboards... provides a
(Figure 4). The across-the-board improvements neat, quick way to diffuse
in perceived effectiveness for different tools and customized digital usage
techniques can be attributed to a number of factors. insights throughout
Companies are training and recruiting staff who can organizations beyond the
use these tools and techniques more effectively, while,
dedicated data analyst teams
at the same time, the evolution of technology is also
leading to better and more quantifiable results.
The exception to this progress is behavior detection
– despite it being tied with personalization as the an opportunity here, as only 47% of the respondents
tool most likely to be rated ‘very effective’ (both are currently or have used it (Figure 3). A possible
67%), it is greatly underutilized. As was the case in explanation for this discrepancy is that this technology is
2019, it appears many organizations are missing not as established as other tools such as heatmaps. n
FIGURE-4
Proportion of respondents rating tools & techniques for measuring
online experiences and increasing conversions as ‘very effective’
BEHAVIOR DETECTION 2019 59%
2021 67%
2019 48%
PERSONALIZATION
2021 67%
CONTENT TESTING 2019 48%
(E.G., MULTIVARIATE, A/B) 2021 66%
WEB ANALYTICS 2019 48%
DASHBOARDS 2021 65%
USER EXPERIENCE 2019 56%
TESTING 2021 65%
USER JOURNEY FLOW MAPPING 2019 48%
& BOTTLENECK DETECTION 2021 64%
HEAT MAPS & SESSION 2019 48%
RECORDING TOOLS 2021 58%
2019 49%
SITE VISITOR SURVEYS
2021 55%
n 2019 n 2021
— 13 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL3
MORE SOPHISTICATED
AND EXPANSIVE USE OF
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE METRICS
— 14 — THE DIGITAL FUTUREMORE SOPHISTICATED AND EXPANSIVE
USE OF DIGITAL EXPERIENCE METRICS
Encouraging greater usage of websites and apps customers as they come in, and the experience they
delivers directly to the bottom line, by taking the load have once they’re in, and the dynamic between those
away from physical touchpoints and enabling closer, two, is really important. Retention can really benefit
more valuable relationships with customers. This, in acquisition because it makes the marketing dollars
turn, improves retention and optimizes commercial more efficient. The more people you’re keeping, the
performance, thus completing the virtuous cycle. How better your ROI over time.7”
users interact with websites and apps has become
increasingly business-critical in the economically Our research shows that more established (but
challenging times experienced by many business sometimes blunt) indicators still dominate when it
sectors since the onset of the pandemic. comes to measuring the quality of digital customer
experience (Figure 5), and this is likely because they
With consumers now demanding a higher level are generally the easiest or most familiar to report on.
of experience, and more intuitive and relevant Customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and brand
interactions, the onus is on companies to ensure they loyalty (i.e., repeat visits) remain the most popular
are using metrics that can effectively benchmark and metrics when it comes to measuring the quality of the
track their progress. customer’s digital experience, with usage rates of 54%,
53%, and 51%, respectively.
According to Claire Overstall, SVP, Global Head of
Customer at The Economist: “Customers are now
more demanding of a good experience, and your
7. thedrum.com/news/2021/02/12/better-experiences-hold-the-key-stronger-customer-
brand will suffer if you don’t give that. Managing the retention-2021
— 15 — THE STATE OF DIGITALOn a more encouraging note, an increasing number
“Retention can really benefit
of organizations are responding to the measurement
challenge by using custom metrics that are dedicated
acquisition because it
to monitoring digital experience improvement, rather makes the marketing dollars
than these broader-brush KPIs. more efficient...”
The challenge for organizations is how to Claire Overstall
quantitatively ‘connect’ digital experience optimization SVP, Global Head of Customer
with these areas of business impact, how to pinpoint at The Economist
the effect of changes, how to decide which problem-
areas need to be prioritized, and how to determine
where to direct future investment.
Traditional metrics, such as the Net Promoter Score
(NPS), do not necessarily translate well to digital
experiences, while popular digital indicators – such as
bounce rates, churn, and conversion – have a range of
inputs and only provide a partial or indirect view of the
level of challenge users faced during their interactions.
FIGURE-5
How do you (or should your clients) measure the quality of the
digital customer experience?
2019 54%
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 2021 58%
2019 49%
CONVERSION RATES
2021 53%
BRAND LOYALTY 2019 53%
(REPEAT VISIT) 2021 51%
IN-HOUSE KPI / DIGITAL 2019 38%
EXPERIENCE SCORE 2021 44%
2019 39%
TIME ON SITE
2021 44%
CUSTOMER LIFETIME 2019 28%
VALUE (CLV) 2021 43%
2019 46%
RETENTION RATE 2021 41%
2019 36%
ABANDONMENT RATES 2021 37%
CUSTOMER EFFORT 2019 15%
SCORE (CES) 2021 31%
NET PROMOTER 2019 28%
SCORE (NPS) 2021 31%
2019 24%
CHURN RATE 20%
2021
2019 1%
OTHER
2021 1%
n 2019 n 2021
— 16 — THE STATE OF DIGITALNearly half (44%) of respondents have developed It is, therefore, surprising that slightly fewer companies
in-house digital experience scores – a six percentage- than last year are measuring the quality of the digital
point increase since our previous research. These customer experience explicitly in terms of customer
scores typically draw together a range of performance retention (41%, down from 46%) and churn rates (20%,
indicators to rate the quality of user interactions down from 24%). To give companies the benefit of the
and combine them into a universal metric, linking doubt, it may be that these KPIs are baked into their
investment to business impact and giving a ‘True customized digital experience scores, discussed above.
North’ for digital experience optimization strategies.
While conversion of prospects into customers remains Putting a human face on the data
a vital and increasingly used KPI in the context of
customer acquisition, organizations should also With their growing toolkits (see Section 2) and evolving
ensure they maintain a laser focus on customer use of metrics, it’s a positive finding from this research
retention, given its strategic importance for sustaining that companies have been able to explore new ways to
business growth and the higher costs associated with assess the quality of the user interactions their digital
winning new customers. properties enable. The number of companies that monitor
— 17 — THE STATE OF DIGITALcustomer effort scores has doubled (31%, up from
FIGURE-6
15%), and as seen in Figure 6, most respondents
also now track levels of engagement with their
websites (64%, up from 58%). Do you (or should your clients) measure
any of the following aspects of the digital
Customers’ digital experiences are being more
experience across your website properties?
thoroughly monitored across a range of metrics,
2019 58%
including ‘quality’ indicators (e.g., for navigation LEVEL OF
ENGAGEMENT 2021 64%
and form interactions), technical performance,
and more emotion-based reporting such as levels
QUALITY OF 2019 44%
of happiness and frustration. Organizations NAVIGATION
2021 49%
ultimately need to prioritize their commercial
goals and associated KPIs, but the quantification TECHNICAL 2019 44%
PERFORMANCE
of customer emotions is increasingly important OF DIGITAL 2021 49%
PROPERTIES
for understanding the impact of the digital
experience on your brand in more than just purely QUALITY OF 2019 41%
INTERACTION
transactional terms. n WITH FORMS 2021 47%
2019 39%
LEVEL OF
HAPPINESS 2021
46%
LEVEL OF 2019 25%
FRUSTRATION
2021 30%
n 2019 n 2021
— 18 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL4 IT AND ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS ARE STILL A HURDLE
IT AND ORGANIZATIONAL
SILOS ARE STILL A HURDLE
New software, analytical skills and techniques shareholders in 2020 that Covid-19 was putting pressure
have opened up a whole new set of possibilities for on its e-commerce business as demand moved online
businesses when it comes to analyzing and optimizing as a result of closed stores9.
digital experiences.
The crisis is offering up learnings that, with the right
But these are not the only considerations when it comes investments, can help to galvanize digital experience
to delivering CX gains. Success can also depend on a improvement over the longer term.
number of other human or tech-related factors that can
dictate an organization’s level of data proficiency, i.e., its
ability to manage and process feedback received from FIGURE-7
thousands (or often millions) of app and website visits,
and turn it into business benefit. What do you see (for you or your clients)
as the greatest barrier to increasing
The increased complexity involved with delivering digital conversions on your (their) website or app?
experiences can create technical challenges even for
those companies that have invested in best-in-class 2019 25%
LEGACY
marketing and CX platforms. Underlying IT limitations TECHNOLOGY 2021 22%
remain the biggest headache faced by businesses when INABILITY TO 2019 20%
UNDERSTAND ONLINE
seeking to bolster digital experience, although their BEHAVIOR AT SCALE 2021 20%
prevalence has eased slightly since 2019 (Figure 7). POOR INTERNAL 2019 14%
PROCESSES STRUCTURE /
RESOURCES 2021 19%
Around one in five respondents cite legacy technology
POOR UNDERSTANDING 2019 15%
(22%) as their greatest barrier to better conversion rates. OF WHAT NEEDS
TO IMPROVE 2021 13%
Upgrading the IT stack is no silver bullet, however, and
the past 12 months have seen a rise in the proportion 2019 12%
LACK OF COMPANY
LEADERSHIP BUY-IN 2021 12%
of respondents reporting ‘poor internal processes
/ structure / resources’ as their principal challenge 12%
LOW VISIBILITY INTO 2019
(19%, up from 14%). The digital acceleration driven CUSTOMER JOURNEYS 2021 12%
by the pandemic has stretched resources (both cash
2019 2%
and people), while also exposing bottlenecks within OTHER
2021 2%
organizations.
n 2019 n 2021
At the start of the pandemic, leading retailers were
forced to warn consumers about customer service
delays, with high-profile brands such as Macy’s and
8. digitalcommerce360.com/2020/05/13/on-hold-retailers-encounter-customer-service-
Nordstrom under pressure to deal with long wait times strains-amid-coronavirus/
9. digiday.com/marketing/coronavirus-outbreak-grinds-e-commerce-operations-buckle-
for products8. Similarly, Procter & Gamble reported to increased-pressure/
— 20 — THE STATE OF DIGITALThe challenge of understanding Leadership buy-in
customer behavior at scale
As noted previously, more organizations now recognize
These barriers can inevitably contribute to the important role that experience optimization plays
difficulties in gaining an understanding of the in driving business performance; moreover, the need to
customers’ behavior. (See Figure 7 on the previous focus on improvement CX has heightened with Covid 19.
page) As was the case in 2019, a fifth of respondents Fortunately, this greater understanding of the link between
say the main barrier holding them back from CX and better business performance now extends to
improving conversion is an ‘inability to understand executives at the top of the organizational hierarchy.
online behavior at scale’. This not only echoes the
pandemic-based resource challenge referenced above, As previously illustrated in Figure 7, lack of company
is also consistent with the finding reported in Section leadership buy-in to the importance of digital experience
1 that many companies remain in a reactive or tactical is a top barrier for only 12% of respondents.
mode, rather than basing their efforts on a strategic,
long-term plan across all touchpoints. In addition, and supporting the point about leadership
buy-in, Figure 8 shows that two-thirds of respondents
Further, the proportion of executives who either ‘agree’ (65%) agree that within their organizations, ‘optimizing
or ‘strongly agree’ that they are able to ‘accurately our websites and apps is a top priority’, and a similar
quantify the quality of digital experiences’ is proportion (66%) agree that they are ‘strategic and
essentially unchanged since 2019 (66%, compared proactive’ in their approach to digital experience
to 67%, Figure 8). optimization. n
FIGURE-8
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following
statements relating to conversion optimization?
WE UNDERSTAND HOW 2019 31%
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE 45%
IMPROVEMENTS IMPACT
CONVERSIONS 2021 39% 38%
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM 2019 34% 38%
UNDERSTANDS THE IMPACT OF
THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE ON
CONVERSION 2021 36% 34%
WE ARE ABLE TO ACCURATELY 2019 29% 38%
QUANTIFY THE QUALITY OF
DIGITAL EXPERIENCES 2021 30% 36%
WE ARE STRATEGIC 2019 32% 37%
AND PROACTIVE IN OUR
APPROACH, NOT JUST
TACTICAL AND REACTIVE 2021 31% 35%
OPTIMIZING OUR 2019 35% 35%
WEBSITES AND APPS
FOR CONVERSION IS A
TOP PRIORITY
2021 37% 28%
n Somewhat agree n Strongly agree
— 21 — THE STATE OF DIGITAL5 CMO-CIO ALIGNMENT KEY TO DIGITAL EXPERIENCE OPTIMIZATION SUCCESS
CMO-CIO ALIGNMENT KEY TO EXPERIENCE
OPTIMIZATION SUCCESS
As was found in our 2019 research, the most
FIGURE-9
common approach to ownership of digital experience
optimization is for oversight to rest with the
marketing director or chief marketing officer (29% Who within your (or your client’s) organization
of respondents, Figure 9). Organizations are steadily is primarily responsible for optimizing
conversions and digital experiences?
moving away from having chief technology officers
run digital experience optimization (21%, down from
MARKETING
2019 28%
25%). Further, responsibility is also shifting from DIRECTOR / CHIEF
MARKETING
heads of customer experience (15%, down from 19%). OFFICER 2021 29%
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY
OFFICER / CHIEF 2019 25%
Still, approaches differ, and it is becoming more INFORMATION
OFFICE 2021 21%
common in some organizations to assign ownership
to the optimization director (9%, up two percentage 2019 19%
HEAD OF
points) or head of digital analytics (14%, up from 9%). CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE 2021 15%
Given the multiple ways in which different businesses HEAD OF DIGITAL 2019 9%
ANALYTICS
are structured, there is no correct approach in terms 2021 14%
of who is responsible for optimization and digital
experience, though the person in charge must have 2019 7%
OPTIMIZATION
DIRECTOR 2021 9%
the internal influence to rally together different parts
of the business, and the budget to get access to the
PRODUCT 2019 5%
right tools and technology. DIRECTOR
2021 3%
Building bridges CHIEF CUSTOMER 2019 2%
OFFICER
2021 2%
In the digital era, assigning ‘primary’ responsibility
to the marketing department makes a great deal of OTHER
2019 3%
sense, given that marketers require a 360-degree view 2021 6%
of the customer to fully empathize with their needs
and preferences, and deliver relevant, personalized n 2019 n 2021
experiences at scale.
— 23 — THE STATE OF DIGITALMarketing leaders have been forced to evolve, to face when pursuing experience improvement
with some arguing that the days of the traditional (Section 4). After all, the CIO oversees all the internal
brand-focused CMO are numbered as companies systems that enable marketers to gain a more
increasingly turn to C-suite executives who are rounded view of the customer. With trust increasingly
focused on business growth and customer at a premium in a privacy-conscious world where first-
intelligence . Coca-Cola is a good example of the
10
party data is more valuable than ever, it goes without
way thinking is evolving in relation to the CMO, with saying that security and efficacy are must-haves
the brand recently reinstating the role to “re-establish when it comes to selecting and operating marketing
strong business momentum” after replacing it with the technology.
role of Chief Growth Officer in 2017 .
11
While CMOs and CIOs are most likely to take a lead
With a clearer view into customer frustrations on role, Figure 10 shows an encouragingly collegiate
websites and apps comes a better understanding of approach to optimizing digital experiences at
how design improvements drive better commercial most businesses. Influence over online conversion
results, and where marketing budget should be optimization changes is shared between CX,
directed for optimum gain. marketing, optimization, analytics, and web
development. All five functions are seen by more than
This does not mean CIOs and CTOs should be cut out half of organizations as having ‘considerable impact’
of the loop on digital experience optimization – on the on changes.
contrary, their close involvement is crucial, especially
with the pandemic having accentuated the importance
of robust and future-proof digital technology in
keeping businesses connected with their customers.
CIOs and CMOs should be working hand in glove, 10. thedrum.com/profile/unlimited-group/news/to-be-or-not-to-be-is-the-cmo-role-finally-
being-shelved-for-covid
given the IT legacy challenges organizations continue 11. marketingweek.com/mcdonalds-brings-back-global-cmo-role/
— 24 — THE STATE OF DIGITALExecutive leadership and finance are reported as Companies ultimately require a top-down approach and
having relatively lower levels of influence, which could a long-term strategy for digital experience optimization,
suggest experience optimization is now more tightly with full leadership buy-in to ensure that this discipline
embedded within businesses’ day-to-day operations. becomes part of the DNA of the organization, and is
tightly linked to commercial performance. n
However, disconnecting leadership and finance from
digital experience optimization altogether could create
unintended issues – especially with finance now seen
as playing the lead role in many organizations’ digital
strategies. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of CFOs reported
that they had the final say on their business’ appropriate
technology direction, according to a recent study 12. businesswire.com/news/home/20210209005048/en/
Chief-Financial-Officers-Have-Exponentially-Larger-Roles-to-Play-in-Digital-
by Accenture12. Strategy-and-Execution-Accenture-Report-Finds
FIGURE-10
Impact of the functions when it comes to making changes aimed at
optimizing online conversion and experiences
ANALYTICS 57% 32%
OPTIMIZATION 55% 34%
CUSTOMER INSIGHT /
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 56% 32%
MARKETING 58% 30%
WEB DEVELOPMENT / IT 52% 35%
UX DEVELOPMENT 49% 36%
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM 42% 37%
OPERATIONS 37% 38%
FINANCE TEAM 30% 31%
n Considerable impact n Moderate impact
— 25 — THE STATE OF DIGITALRECOMMENDATIONS
1. Capitalize on digital acceleration. Digital interactions increasingly lie at
the heart of customer engagement, and are becoming even more important due
to the shift in consumer behavior towards online channels. Businesses have
an opportunity to build a deeper consensus for investing in digital experience
optimization and to embed this discipline more deeply within their organizations.
Savvy leaders will now recognize the need for a holistic, long-term approach to
improving the design of websites and apps, rather than the piecemeal, tactical
actions many companies are still limited to.
2. Scope out all the tech available. There is no catch-all for monitoring digital
experience improvement. Organizations need to invest in a range of applications
and techniques to understand all the ‘hows’, ‘whats’, ‘whys’, ‘wheres’, and ‘whens’
of customer responses to website and app design. Training is also key to making
full use of these solutions and maximizing their benefit.
3. Seek to foster empathy with the customer. Many traditional financial and
commercial metrics for assessing digital return on investment are inadequate
for identifying the nuanced emotional responses customers experience when
interacting with websites and apps. As ever, it is critical to ensure that these
‘drier’ KPIs do not miss points of customer frustration and struggle that could be
impacting commercial outcomes that are flying under the radar.
4. Build a coalition for optimization. Smooth integration - whether technical
or organizational - is key to digital experience optimization success. Whoever
takes the lead within the business must take a collegiate approach to site and
app improvement, break down silos and ensure there are platforms for input
from across all departments. Particularly important is a healthy and effective
relationship between the two key stakeholders of marketing and IT.
Without a strong partnership between these two functions, it is
much harder to achieve true agility and responsiveness to
customers’ heightened customer digital
experience expectations.
— 26 — THE STATE OF DIGITALIN PARTNERSHIP WITH
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