h(Paid): Engaging Your Target Audience

Onsite engagement suffers when websites fail to serve the promised promotions and content used in advertisement copy. All too often, paid advertisements promote sales, offer specific product information, or detail local store information that is then difficult to locate onsite after users click on the ad. Such frictional elements divert users from taking the optimal conversion path and dissuade consumers from interacting with the brand due to frustration and confusion.

Engagement is the third component of h(Paid), which seeks to boost onsite activity and audience interaction by streamlining onsite usability and delivering a high-quality user experience. Most importantly, creative messaging used in paid advertisement copy should fulfill users’ search intent and align with consumers’ expected onsite experience. If a user clicks on an advertisement that promotes a store locator feature, the user should be directed to the brand’s landing page that contains the store locator. Achieving engagement can be as simple as providing users with the information promised within the ad copy and streamlining the onsite conversion path.

Ongoing page and funnel testing will provide marketers with an accurate portrayal of their success in engaging their target audiences and guide future improvements and optimization efforts. Marketing professionals should design the conversion flow based on best practices that promote the