'Remember who's the hero of the story': The Narrative on winning UX

Narrative content director Robyn Daly

Narrative, the content marketing specialist within the Publicis Machine group, recently scooped the top award for Best Corporate Website in the 2018 SA Publication Forum Awards for the Sanlam Reality website – this is the second time they’ve done so in three years, with Sanlam Reality one of the first clients they won.

Here, Daly explains why they attribute the site’s success to the seamless, rich content experience it offers members, as well as how this appeals to ever-changing user behaviour…

As you were one of the founders of Narrative back in 2013, let’s start with the context of why Narrative formed at the time, as well as how it works as a content marketing specialist within the Publicis Machine group.
Timing is vital when launching a business, and for us, it worked that content marketing was at a tipping point. Big budget print plays under the banner of “custom publishing” were getting too expensive for most brands, who were looking around for alternatives, and other brands wanting to enter the space to form a meaningful connection with their customers didn’t have the appetite for print.

Digital content was largely under the umbrella of social media agencies that were creating cool posts, but skimming over the surface of lasting connection. So we saw the opportunity to help brands own the conversation with their customers, by telling meaningful stories customers wanted to hear across any platform.

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Brands could have a true 360 connection, and only needed one agency for it. We plugged in at the point where a consumer publishing mindset meets digital content innovation. Digital is more affordable, faster and more measurable than print, so it had great appeal. Then we added quality storytelling by seasoned journalists who are specialists in their field – that is like gold; it always will be.

Then, 18 months after launching Narrative, we (along with Machine Agency and Moonwalk PR agency) were bought out by the global ad agency, Publicis. We joined forces as an integrated agency, able to offer clients a full spectrum of specialist services. It offers great advantages for clients who now get one client service contact, who holds the keys to the specialists and can bring in content, PR, strategy and so on, as needed.

We’re still specialist storytellers, and we’re very proud of that.

Sticking to work you can be proud of, congrats on your recent scooping of best corporate website at the SA Publication Forum Awards for the second time! Talk us through the rich content and overall user experience you offer users on the Sanlam Reality website by constantly reviewing and refining the content.
Thank you. It’s a really special award and we’re delighted to win it for a second time. I’ve been involved with Sanlam Reality since its launch in 2009, when the contract was with Ramsay Media. Initially, the main touchpoint was the print magazine; the mag continues as a much-loved tangible benefit, however, the key entry point for members into their programme is now through the website.

Narrative Sanlam Reality Wealth Sense.

Narrative Sanlam Reality Wealth Sense and digital mags.

This has so much to offer members, but it can all be distilled into two areas: information and empowerment. It gives members all they need to understand and make the most of the Sanlam Reality programme benefits, and it offers advice and a variety of tools and calculators to empower them to become Wealthsmiths in their own lives.

Because not everybody is a big reader and some things are best explained in pictures or activities, we’ve created it as a rich and immersive content experience that helps them understand their financial needs and risk.

Fantastic. Let’s dive further into the need to move away from text-heavy content to visually appealing infographics, bite-size info, tools like calculators and video, and why this appeals to consumers.

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We constantly review the insights on how the user journey is playing out – gathered both from analytics tools and member feedback – and it’s clear that user behaviour is changing.

Shorter form website content is becoming even shorter, snackable content and that’s getting the most engagement.

So we’ve harnessed the power of infographics, snippets, listicles, video and calculators to convey information quickly and efficiently for people on the go.

You’re certainly getting this right, based on your SA Publication Forum Awards wins. What does it take to sustain a digital portal that succeeds in providing valuable UX?
It’s no longer enough for brands to just have a digital presence, they need to align with what their customers are trying to achieve in their lives. People have very specific goals and they’re laser-focused on achieving them. So it’s critically important for us to be customer-centric in our approach to UX. Now, more than ever, our clients are in the business of exchanging value.

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Portals such as Sanlam Reality work because we focus on delivering maximum value. Our development partners at Nurun do this by analysing quantitative and qualitative data points, understanding the Sanlam Reality market segments and tailoring our content to customer preferences.

Together, we continuously work at reducing friction, simplifying our process and measuring how effective our changes are. When creating software, it’s relatively easy to create something that is functional, but the real challenge is to provide experiences that are memorable, personal and meaningful.

That’s for sure. Let’s end with a few tips on creating excellent content for any brand’s audience in 2018.
The secret to creating engaging content is for brands to remember who is the hero in the story. Brands often get it wrong because they’re so immersed in their own world, which is why having a specialist content marketing agency is really powerful. We’re able to balance the needs of the brand and the customer – whether that’s trade, internal or consumer – more objectively.

Whoever the content is intended for, the starting point needs to be answering the audience’s question: “What’s in it for me?”

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That’s why the Sanlam Reality content play works so well. It’s about delivering meaningful value and rewarding the member, while still meeting the greater Sanlam business imperatives of engendering financially responsible behaviour and programme usage.

A strong strategy to emulate as we reach the tail-end of 2018. Visit the Publicis Machine press office and follow Narrative and Daly on Twitter for more of their success.