Data comes out of everything that we do so every channel’s got a huge amount of data, every piece of research has data, and we’re trying to balance that with user behavior.
David Wharram is the CEO at Coast Digital, an award-winning digital agency exploring and defining the intuitive user experience (UX) through the use of biometrics, such as eye tracking technology and facial expression.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Wharram discusses how biometrics and neuromarketing research have altered the digital marketing landscape.
How do you think biometrics and neuromarketing research have played a role in helping you develop better user experiences? (1:32)
Biometrics is telling us “the why” so it’s given us an understanding from a content point of view, from an eye-tracking point of view, of where someone’s heading and why they’re going there.
Emotional understanding that we can touch on, like facial expression, allow us to understand the why and I think that’s really the difference.
Biometrics has become a powerful tool for marketers to measure and analyze a user’s reactions—emotional, physical and biological—to what they’re seeing on the screen, providing valuable insight into UX and personalization.
What are some of the key ingredients that you cite as the the things that make a website successful? (4:41)
We should start our journey in digital marketing with something like biometrics because we can really understand what message is going to resonate at the beginning.
Research has shown that the typical user visits a website for an average of 15 seconds. Not a lot of time to make a good first impression. A compelling web design that also translates across mobile devices and tablets is key.
You do development work in two great open-source platforms, WordPress and Drupal. What would you say are the benefits of those two respective platforms? (6:21)
They’re solid robust platforms. We want to evolve a site, we want to change a site, based on what’s working and what’s not working. We want to get to the endpoint much quicker.
WordPress powers over 30% of the internet and an estimated 60 percent of all CMS-built websites use the platform.
What is neuromarketing and why is it important? How are you using it to influence buying behavior? (10:03)
When you combine GSR, which is galvanic skin response, and facial expression and eye tracking, you get the best return from them.
Eye tracking is one angle, then we use GSR and facial expression to understand the emotional significance of what we’re putting in front of someone and the emotional stimuli.
There have been a number of neuromarketing studies that have shown the impact of the use of biometrics, including Nabisco. Researchers used eye tracking to determine how customers reacted to the packaging of Chips Ahoy. The customers in the study were actually having a negative response. So, naturally, they redesigned the package.
Read David Wharram’s article for Velocitize, “Why Biometric Testing is a Digital Marketing Game Changer,” here.
To learn more about Coast Digital, visit their website. Follow them on Twitter at @CoastDigital.
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