The ROI of Unified Digital Experience Platforms for Multi-Location Businesses

To have successful customer outreach efforts in a digitally congested world, companies need to meet people where they are. It’s no longer enough to just assume they’ll find their way to the right page of your website; you need multiple digital channels to capture qualified leads. 

Keeping up with all those channels can be difficult without the right digital experience platform (DXP). A lot of companies start with one DXP platform for their websites and then add on a bunch of tools and features as their digital marketing expands. The result? A convoluted, clunky mess.

There is a better way, unified digital experience platforms that put the right information in front of the right people. We’ll explain a little bit about how these systems work and what you can do to measure their ROI to help you understand how to choose a digital experience platform (DXP).

What Is a Digital Experience Platform?

A digital experience platform, or DXP, is the combination of digital platforms, tools, and features that deliver a variety of content to customers and potential customers. DXP software can make it easy for companies and organizations to organize, maintain, and access important digital assets. Modern DXP technologies have evolved from earlier, simpler content management systems (CMS).

Why a Unified Digital Experience Platform Is Essential for Multi-Location Businesses

The need for a singular unified DXP is amplified for multi-location companies. For one thing, having a single digital location from which to send content saves marketing managers a lot of time. 

Creating and nurturing brand cohesion is difficult when employees must juggle disjointed platforms. Using the best digital experience platforms can also allow companies just enough elbow room for each location’s personality to come through in marketing materials. 

Understanding ROI for DXPs

While it can be extremely helpful to measure the financial success (or lack thereof) of unified DXPs, it can also be a little challenging to know which benefits (and to what degree) stem from your new DXP. 

Some ROI metrics, such as website visitors, bounce rates, and conversions, are relatively straightforward, but how can you quantify the benefits of a digital experience platform? 

That’s just one example of soft ROI, which is not easily calculated but useful nonetheless. Other metrics of soft ROI, such as brand loyalty, may not fully surface until several years later. Our advice is to simply be patient and consider all possible effects while trusting the numbers. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Metrics to Use When Measuring DXP ROI

We’ve highlighted five ROI metrics below, but the possibilities are endless when measuring the effectiveness of a digital experience platform for multi-location businesses. 

1. Increased Profit

We’ll start with the most basic one here. If your DXP doesn’t increase your company’s net profit, big changes are likely in order.

2. Customer Acquisition Cost

Getting new customers from your marketing efforts is great, but how much did you spend to actually get those new customers? Analyzing the customer acquisition cost after a specified period of time offers a good barometer of new DXP and marketing technologies.

3. Average Time to Launch

An effective and intuitive DXP should make it easier for your marketing or RevOps team to launch new products, campaigns, and other internal deliverables. A good way to gauge the effectiveness here is to calculate how much time you save when launching new campaigns and user experience features.

4. Customer Lifetime Value

Getting new customers is part of the goal, but keeping your high-paying customers and knowing how often and the average amount they spend during their lifetime as a customer is just as important. Ensuring your customers and leads enjoy a seamless digital experience with your company is a great way to retain those people. The key? Implementing the right digital experience management platform. 

5. Conversion Rate

Website visitors are more likely to take a desired action—purchasing a product, sending a query to customer service, or submitting contact information—if it’s easy to do so. The moment customers experience friction when trying to take an action, the chances of them taking that action plummet. If your company isn’t getting conversions out of website visitors, you might want to take a good look at the digital experience from their point of view.

How to Measure ROI for Your DXP, Step-by-Step

Take these steps to measure the financial return and general effectiveness of your company’s DXP:

1. Figure out which metrics you want to follow, and ensure you have (or acquire) the capabilities to measure them. 
2. Give your team enough time to gather accurate, well-rounded data. 
3. Meticulously check expenses to make sure the bottom line reflects the true total cost of ownership.
4. Form an unbiased team to gather data and calculate your DXP’s ROI.
5. Don’t stop measuring results. 

Maximize the ROI of Your DXP with a Solution Built for Multi-Location Businesses

Calculating the ROI of a digital experience platform isn’t always straightforward. It’s always worthwhile to have some sense of ROI after a big change, but you probably don’t need cold, hard numbers to know whether or not your company’s DXP is effective. 

Having numerous locations for your company’s products can further complicate the delivery of seamless digital experiences for customers. In these circumstances, having a unified, customer-centric digital experience platform tailored to serve multi-location businesses is crucial.

PowerChord is one of the few SaaS providers that prioritizes tools, accommodations, and scalability for multi-location companies. We understand the challenges of reaching and converting leads, and we can help you gather the data you need for sustained success. We’d love a chance to chat with you about setting up a cohesive and unified brand experience.