Telecomms

Industry snapshot: navigation issues, below average engagement

In the age of instant communication, telecommunications continues to thrive by hitting $1.74 trillion revenue in 2019, with projections to grow 5.0% from 2020 to 2027. With business and consumers living in a digitally saturated world, telecommunications companies can’t afford to falter when it comes to delivering on digital experiences. To capitalize on an increasingly widespread digital-first mindset, the telecoms industry needs to nail experiences on its websites and apps.

DIGITAL FRUSTRATION

Telecommunications’ biggest user frustrations

Telecommuncations is a highly competitive space, leaving little room for digital experience flaws. In fact, 76% of users will consider another competitor if they have just one bad experience. To drive up retention and prevent churn, telecom companies must focus on reducing and eliminating user frustration on websites and apps.

With 6.2% of page views containing instances of user frustration, telecommunications performs slightly better than the 6.5% average of other industries. It has a slightly higher occurrence of both bird’s nest behavior, which refers to when a user rapidly shakes their mouse in confusion, and repeated device rotation, the result of content not fitting the screen. It has fewer incidences of unresponsive multiclicks, which typically occur on broken links or buttons, and rapid scrolling per user session, which in certain contexts signals user frustration.

3 ways to reduce frustration in telecommunications

01

Improve site performance

Whether users are looking for ways to bundle services or switch providers, the speed of your site can make or break those journeys. Ensure site performance is up to par, especially on popular webpages tied to conversion and retention.

02

Cater to mobile experiences

With many users turning to their mobile devices to manage and look after their telecom packages, the experience provided on these devices is critical. Users will grow frustrated if they’re not quick, intuitive, and highly practical.

03

Set up simple navigation

Catering to consumers, small business owners, or corporations presents plenty of products and services to organize on your site or app. It’s best to design navigations and categorical menu layouts that minimize steps in the user journey.

Telecom businesses have a big opportunity to improve the navigation of their sites and apps, with lots of looping behavior currently detected in user interactions. Furthermore, engagement is relatively low, but users tend to be more focused on images than text.

Seb Thakar | Global Team Lead of Insights Services, Decibel

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DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT

Telecommunication’s biggest user engagements

Prioritizing user engagement is a fundamental priority for organizations looking to generate more buyer interest and retain a strong customer base. In fact, the strongest omni-channel engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for those with poor engagements tactics.

With sessions having an average Engagement Score of 4.3/10, telecommunications performs slightly worse than the 4.6 average of other industries. It has slightly more incidences of both reading behavior, which refers to users following content with their mouse, and select and copy behavior; but performs poorly on responsive multiclicks, which refers to users clicking through a responsive element like an image carousel.

3 ways to drive more engagement in telecommunications

01

Simplify webpage layouts

Overwhelming users with busy layouts or extremely dull designs will lose attention and engagement fast. Build webpages with a clean aesthetic and put the focus on content that will progress users through the buying journey.

02

Maximize content personalization

Keeping users engaged often hinges on content and messaging. Ensuring users with site history or accounts see relevant content personalized to their interests like upgrading smartphone deals or streaming service bundles can keep engagement high.

03

Make call-to-actions clear

Keeping call-to-actions front and center on webpages will play a major role in driving engagements – along with conversions. From account setup to bill payments to customer service, make it easy to find and engage with these signposts.

USER JOURNEYS

Telecommunications’ user journey trends

While you may have a long list of user journeys across your site you’d like to optimize, it’s best to prioritize those that matter most. 86% of senior-level marketers agree that it’s critical to create a cohesive customer journey, and you’ve got to start with the most popular ones first.

With an average Navigation Score of 9.2/10, telecommunications performs slightly worse than the 9.4 average of other industries. Per page view, the on-page refresh rate is quite high at 18.1%, suggesting performance issues. In terms of the journey, the revisit rate of pages is very high at 41.5% against the 30.7% average of other industries – suggesting telecommunications customers are rarely finding what they need on each page, often having to look twice or cover old ground.

EXPERIENCE & CONVERSION

Telecommunications’ correlation between digital experience and conversion

Research shows every $1 invested in user experience brings $100 in return. While experiences on your website or app have a major impact on your bottom line, you’ll want an industry specific understanding of how digital experiences affect conversions.

Generally, the goal conversion rate for telecommunications is lower than in other industries, but its correlation to DXS® is in line, which could mean tolerance for mediocre experiences is around the same in telecommunications than elsewhere – rendering the quality of the overall experience vitally important.

3 telecommunications digital experience trends and tips to look out for in 2021

01

Big opportunity to improve navigation

With significant looping behavior in user journeys, telecom businesses have an opportunity to increase how intuitive their navigations are.

02

Competition may increase

As demand shifts online, digital services offered by telecom companies will be more widespread, so expect a rise in competition for eyeballs and loyalty.

03

Optimization will be crucial

With expectations for digital experiences always rising, investing in digital experience optimization has never been more crucial for telecom companies looking to maximize sales and repeat business.