I can’t say it’s not surprising because there are a lot of microsites going on out there that are just fighting for attention. Whether it’s for the latest automobile (like the Yaris), or for a new TV (LG’s Scarlet), or perhaps for a tourism campaign (like for the Cherry Blossom Festival), all the neat features you can possibly have are pointless unless you have a design that can appeal to your audience first and then motivates them to continue with their experience. This “engagement” is key with any website, but if you’re going with a specific niche or product, then you need to make sure that it has the “Wow” factor.
In a study by Keynote Competitive Research, the Yaris microsite was probed and deemed that “the more engaged people are with product and brand microsites, the more satisfied they will be and conversion rates will be higher than for people less engaged.” So apparently the old saying hold true…when designing a site, form over function.
As you can see above, the design is the highest rated thing that eMarketer indicates will create great results, but only by a little bit. Design is a primary influencer, but surveys and video clips can also help muster conversions. For those target audience members who don’t know that much about social media, the greatness of a site can be an attractive appeal.
