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Unlock Success with Digital Experience Design

In the age of all things digital, the world – and, indeed, life itself – is becoming ever-more intertwined with technology – and South Africa is no exception. A recent report by DataReportal found that as of January 2023, there are 43.38-million internet users in South Africa, representing a penetration rate of 72.3%. As internet penetration continues to increase, so too does the prevalence and relevance of digital in our day-to-day lives.

With much of our time spent online –  South Africans spend an average of nine hours and 38 minutes online daily, according to a recent report – it’s no wonder that brands and businesses are investing more readily into digital marketing campaigns. But with so much happening in the digital space, and so much content to compete with, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd.

As a remedy to getting lost and overlooked in all this busy-ness, digital experience design is fast becoming a necessity in the pursuit of success because of its ability to combine user-centric designs and data-driven strategies, while leveraging innovative technologies to deliver immersive, personalised experiences that capture attention and elevate results. It’s evident that a Customer-Centric strategy driven by human insights delivers best-in-class digital experiences. Fortunately, the availability of data makes a significant distinction between speculating and knowing what type of digital experiences will satisfy consumers and yield a substantial return on investment.

“We’ve learned that a well-designed digital experience sets a brand apart. While traditional digital marketing focuses on driving traffic and conversions through tools such as Paid Media, SEO, email marketing, and social media marketing, we focus on developing a digital experience design to ensure we can go beyond (while still acknowledging the important roles these tools have to play) to create a user experience that complements the brand at every touch point of the consumer’s journey, while yielding better results,” says Darren Mansour, the Founder and Digital Director of So Interactive.

A shift like this couldn’t be more relevant as the average attention span of users on social media comes in at just 2 seconds, according to information revealed by Facebook, the limited time and methods with which brands can try to make an impact is challenged further when you consider that 94% of first impressions of a brand or business are design-related when it comes to their website. This demonstrates how hard it can be to captivate users while reaffirming how important it is to ensure all of your digital elements are set up to succeed.

Mansour advises, “We focus on two main elements of the digital experience: Digital Experience Design, and Digital First Branding. By taking this approach, we provide the target audience with a memorable, personalised, and enjoyable user experience, that also tells the brand’s story in an authentic and impactful way to create a deeper connection between the consumer and the brand.’’ 

It isn’t just the consumer-brand connection that’s improved – there are a number of benefits that come from opting for a digital experience design, including increased engagement, improved user satisfaction, enhanced brand perception, higher conversion rates, and the means to gain an advantage over competitors to capture a larger share of the market.

“As a digital agency, we’ve long been drawn to designing digital experiences that are more meaningful and impactful than what’s been done before. And to be at the forefront of this shift, and capable of putting our expertise to work to create better connections through campaigns that produce improved business outcomes and sustained growth, makes every day incredibly rewarding. I’m already so proud of what we’ve created and I can say with confidence that the best is yet to come,” concludes Mansour.