Educational Website Experiences Drive High Customer Lifetime Value

Content powers all customer experiences and marketing channels. Creating content that simultaneously supports both the customer journey and the brand requires focus and scale. It is no longer enough to help guide consumers to a product; they want to be educated too.

Sites are in fact a learning destination for customers who are just browsing. The majority of customers- 73%- appreciate when companies proactively provide educational content about products and services. This customer appreciation can translate to conversion, considering 62% are also more likely to buy from a brand that offers helpful content. However, rather than expect an immediate conversion, marketers need to aim for purposeful time on site that can improve brand recall and drive potential purchases.

Product pages serve as a key measure for brands' investment in creating helpful and educational experiences. However, many brands are still working on creating comprehensive product page experiences. Ratings and reviews, cross-sell and comparisons are all useful and effective ways to increase product familiarity and encourage a next action.

Hilti, a top-10 brand in the overall Digital IQ ranking, illustrates the leaps manufacturing brands have made to catch up with digitally mature sectors like retail. The brand weaves together a number of key elements to enhance product discovery. They integrate product reviews, which can help validate customer decisions and provide further context on the product.

Hilti's product pages also offer support for online learning opportunities. Users can access content to learn about how they can use the product via product application videos, links to further product consultation and live product demos prior to making a purchase. This educational content can assist customers to make informed purchase decisions and encourage reflection that might prompt future needs and subsequent purchases.

Hilti boasted a 135% higher average visit duration on desktop than its other competitors in the Industrials & Chemicals industry, as well as 53% more desktop visits per visitor, a sign their site content is resonating.

For more insights and recommendations, check out our recently published Digital IQ: Website Benchmarks 2022 or Nicole Greene and Evan Bakkers'Website Benchmarks Digital IQ 2022 Webinar.