Introduction

In August 2014, Rosetta’s User Research Team completed a competitive assessment, ranking well-known tech brands’ websites against each other. This presentation contains key observations, highlights best practices and identifies opportunities for B2B brands to build a leading web presence to meet the needs of today’s enterprise technology buyers.

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Rachel Thayer

Websites Assessed: www.brocade.com www.cisco.com www.emc.com www.intel.com www.juniper.net www.oracle.com www.qualcomm.com www.salesforce.com www.sap.com

Danielle Best Kyle Curley

User Research Team:

   

Rating Scale and Criteria Each of our criteria below were scored on a 1 to 5 rating scale. There were up to five questions asked in each category.

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BRAND Does the site clearly and concisely communicate the brand offering, while differentiating itself in a way that is relevant to the audience?

DESIGN Does the design support the brand through a consistent layout and offer visually appealing elements?

NAVIGATION Does the site reinforce product browsing and alternative navigation options? Is the nomenclature straight-forward?

PRODUCT PRESENTATION AND CONTENT How well is the brand providing relevant and compelling content (white papers, videos, etc.) that pushes customers through the research/purchase process? Are features such as reviews, comparisons and product categorization prevalent to aid the user in their experience?

PARTNER CHANNEL EXPERIENCE How well does the site enable potential or current partners to get the information they need at any stage in their relationship with the technology brand? Can customers easily find a local partner to work with?

MOBILE Does the mobile site match user expectations? Is it easy to navigate to the type of content that technology buyers would expect to find in a mobile experience?

   

COMPETITIVE SUMMARY

   

Competitive Summary | Average Ratings Across All Criteria

5

2.3

3.4 3.3

4.3

3.3

2.3

4.3

5

3.2

0

1

2

3

4

5

   

Competitive Summary | Ratings Across All Criteria

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Brocade Cisco EMC Intel Juniper Oracle Qualcomm Salesforce SAP

Brand 2.5 3 3.5 5 4 3 4.5 5 3.5

Design 2.5 4 4 5 3 2 5 5 3

Navigation 3 4 2.5 4 3 2 3.5 5 3

Product Presentation and Content

2 2 4 4 3 3 4 5 3

Partner Channel

Experience 2.5 3.5 3.5 4 2 3 3.5 5 4

Mobile 1 4 2 4 4.5 1 5 5 2.5

TOTAL AVERAGE 2.3 3.4 3.3 4.3 3.3 2.3 4.3 5 3.2

1= Poor 2=Weak 3=Satisfactory 4=Excellent 5=Best-in-Class

   

KEY FINDINGS

   

BRAND

   

Brand | Summary

What did we find? The brand personality is defined by site elements like design, imagery and user experience. In the last 18 months there has been a substantial shift away from branding tied to “legacy” product categories that each business may have traditionally been associated with. Corporate websites for companies like EMC, Intel, Qualcomm and Salesforce (where this trend is most evident) are placing greater focus on the business value generated by their solutions and removing a lot of product-centric imagery. We see more lofty statements about the business benefits each company drives, big and bold imagery, less “clutter” on the home page, and an effort to tie their business to spokespeople or customers who exemplify innovation. Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? There is a risk that in an effort to “out-simplify” the others in the category, the value proposition will become completely ambiguous. The biggest opportunity we see is for tech companies to offer a simple explanation of their value, while seamlessly connecting that value to each product offering via clear calls to action, simple navigation, great case studies and content that makes them the definitive category leader (like third-party rankings or really insightful self-published materials).

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Brand | Salesforce

SALESFORCE HAS A CONSISTENT, CLEAR MESSAGE Salesforce has a relatively small set of clearly integrated cloud solutions, but they should still be applauded for their simple value proposition of delivering sales, service and marketing in the cloud. Across product categories, their underlying value proposition of supporting customers anytime and anywhere remains valid. Subtle things like the tab navigation between offerings and the consistent calls to action that are specific to each product page help reinforce the integrated nature of their products.

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Brand | Salesforce (continued)

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SALESFORCE SEAMLESSLY CONNECTS VALUE STATEMENTS WITH PROOF The story Salesforce is promoting on home page hero images and product pages is reinforced everywhere on the site by a plethora of great customer examples. They avoid talking in nebulous terms about innovation or the “future of marketing” and prove that they are leading the category.

   

Brand | Juniper

JUNIPER SHOWS THE BUSINESS VALUE These sample hero images from Juniper are a unique approach at hitting an emotional chord with site visitors. The threat of cyber attacks and the risk of becoming an irrelevant business are clearly reasons an IT executive would invest in new technology. While these concepts help reinforce Juniper’s brand promise, clicking on the buttons continues the very “story-oriented” site experience, and it is difficult to tie these initial statements to the solutions Juniper offers to thwart these threats.

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Brand | Intel

INTEL CONNECTS THEIR PRODUCTS TO INNOVATION Intel has long been a leader in their ability to connect their core chipset technologies to product innovations. Their home page contains a mix of content related to the broader business value and focus on innovation, along with product-specific content. One product page (image to the right) features illustrator Bob Staake using a 2-in-1 device to create digital content.

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Brand | SAP

SAP COMBINES BUSINESS VALUE MESSAGING WITH IN-DEPTH PRODUCT INFORMATION Large enterprises will inherently have a more challenging time connecting a simple message that shows their business value to their broad array of products and solutions. SAP addresses this challenge by rotating a mix of hero content that features big customer stories with bold imagery, major product updates, recent third-party research or rankings and featured solutions. Each of these aligns with whatever stage in the journey a visitor might be in, while combining to reinforce a single brand position.

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DESIGN

   

Design | Summary

What did we find? There are a few notable design changes occurring, including: 1.  The popularity of responsive web design is influencing the look-and-feel of

corporate sites. Intel and Qualcomm are two examples where the .com design feels like a smartphone experience.

2.  Tech companies are notorious for inconsistent page layouts as the user switches between product categories or sections of the site. They seem to be improving in this area.

3.  Brands are increasingly using more of the page. There was a period of time when half the screen was left white on the margins, but we now see many companies using big imagery and experiences across the page.

4.  In rare instances we saw the product page design changing in a meaningful way – primarily the addition of better product imagery and a streamlined layout.

Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? The site visitor’s experience is not defined by the hero image on the home page. There needs to be great content that is contextually relevant as they dive deeper into the site, and good design/content strategy is going to separate sites where the user accomplishes what they wanted to from ones where they did not.

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Design | Intel & Qualcomm

INTEL AND QUALCOMM USE THE FULL PAGE WITH “SMARTPHONE-LIKE” SITE DESIGNS Both of these sites use the full screen, big imagery, minimal text and subtle design factors (like bouncing arrows) to push site visitors to further explore. These experiences are clearly influenced by mobile web designs, particularly in how they reduce the content paths and choices for visitors, relying on them to launch the home nav button if they have something they are searching for.

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Design | Salesforce & EMC

SALESFORCE AND EMC KEEP THE LAYOUT CONSISTENT Many enterprise companies have separate sites for partner channels, support communities and developer networks. Both EMC and Salesforce do a good job with consistent design elements across all of these properties, and they avoid having too many disconnected properties.

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NAVIGATION

   

Navigation | Summary

What did we find? Most enterprise technology firms have a large number of product categories, making navigation challenging. We were surprised to see several innovative solutions to help users streamline the process of getting to the right content: 1.  The use of imagery in the main navigation 2.  Search fields within the main navigation drop down 3.  Tab navigation throughout product pages 4.  Shortcuts or promotions for featured content within the main navigation Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? There are subtle things brands can do to improve the site experience. For example, if a particular category in the main navigation is going to take the user to a different site, an icon that notifies them that it’s a different site sets their expectation. Other ways to improve the experience include using language that a first-time visitor would understand (as opposed to internal product jargon), finding more intuitive ways to group content categories under the most appropriate navigation title, and adding an advanced filtering function to the search bar to help visitors refine their search.

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Navigation | EMC

EMC USES ICONOGRAPHY TO ENHANCE THE NAVIGATION EXPERIENCE When a user hovers over the main navigation drop-down menu they see icons. The iconography established in the navigation is used elsewhere on the site, establishing some visual recognition and context for what section the user is in. It also makes the experience more engaging. This only works because the number of site sections and product offerings is limited.

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Navigation | Cisco

CISCO EMBEDS PRODUCT SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY INTO THE DROP DOWN This particular feature is under the “Support” tab. This is a nice touch, as many people looking for support are likely looking for details for a specific product. This functionality reduces an additional step by letting the user get straight to the specific product information they need.

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Navigation | Salesforce

SALESFORCE USES TAB NAVIGATION THAT “MOVES” DOWN THE PAGE Salesforce tab navigation is set just above the fold on both the home page and product pages. Many usability studies have proven that the area above the fold is the most navigated area, even over the main navigation. In addition, when users select a tab, they remain on the same page and are anchored to that particular section. As they scroll down the page, the navigation tabs remain visible.

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Navigation | Oracle & Salesforce

ORACLE AND SALESFORCE PROMOTE FEATURED CONTENT IN THE DROP DOWN On Oracle.com, as the user hovers over each section of the main navigation drop down, they see featured content like “Popular Downloads” on the Downloads section or a quick link to “My Oracle Support” on the Support section. Done right, this strategy can simplify the user experience. Salesforce promotes featured case study content on the drop down.

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PRODUCT PRESENTATION/CONTENT

   

Product Presentation/Content | Summary What did we find? The quality and relevance of content at the product page level is perhaps the most important part of a site. We observed a few noteworthy attempts to streamline the product research experience, including: 1.  Content organized based on the user’s role in their organization (eg. CFO, Controller) 2.  Contextually-relevant case studies, videos, social content and supporting materials that

closely relate to the product on the page 3.  Visual or interactive content that brings a hardware or software product to life 4.  A section dedicated to learning how to buy products or solutions Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? With lots of products, lots of potential buyers (or influencers in the buying process) and various stages a buyer can be in when they are visiting the site, the best way to stand out is to: 1.  Learn which content pieces are actually useful and get rid of all the rest 2.  Help the user match their current need to the right content 3.  Allow visitors to get the desired product content without pushing them three levels

deeper into the site and taking them off the product page 4.  Have a clear next action for users in any stage of the buying process on the product page

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Product Presentation/Content | Oracle

ORACLE PRESENTS ROLE-BASED CONTENT In addition to the Overview section with baseline product details, Oracle does a nice job organizing content to meet the needs of different levels of buyers under a Roles tab. Once users click on the questions that are top issues for their role, they are taken to a page with all the contextually-relevant information (demo, white paper, case studio, overview video) to address that particular issue.

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Product Presentation/Content | SAP & Intel

SAP AND INTEL PULL IN SOCIAL, VIDEO AND CASE STUDY DATA ON PRODUCT PAGES Both of these companies do a nice job of simplifying the amount of content and focusing on things that are very relevant to the particular product page. For example, a company looking at SAP retail solutions can drill down into different categories of retail (softlines, hardlines or food retailing) and see content that is very specific to the distinct category needs.

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Product Presentation/Content | Qualcomm

QUALCOMM BRINGS CHIP TECHNOLOGY TO LIFE WITH REAL DEVICE EXAMPLES Qualcomm promotes their Snapdragon processors by allowing users to search for devices that are using the technology by OEM or by carrier, then view product details or click through to buy the product on the carrier site.

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Product Presentation/Content | EMC

EMC HIGHLIGHTS BUYING OPTIONS While this is not on the actual product page, having a top navigation section titled How to Buy helps EMC simplify the buying options for site visitors. They have a simple video explaining options and a clear path for returning site visitors that are ready to move forward in engaging with a sales rep or other form of purchase dialogue.

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Product Presentation/Content | Intel

INTEL SIMPLIFIES PRODUCT SELECTION WITH ADVANCED COMPARISON TOOLS Product selection tools are common on technology sites (including Cisco, EMC, Oracle and Juniper), but Intel has some nice features that go above and beyond the rest. For example, when users select different products for comparison, the Compare call to action changes from blue to green and the product image is displayed in the comparison box to the right of the page. In some instances, once the user selects the options and is taken to a comparison page, the differences between products are highlighted in yellow. 31

   

PARTNER CHANNEL EXPERIENCE

   

Partner Channel Experience | Summary What did we find? While there are still some immature partner channel web experiences, we observed several areas where they are improving, including: 1.  Greater focus on the benefits of a partnership 2.  More integrated, single experience across partnership stages 3.  Streamlined online application experiences during the new partner sign-up stage 4.  Simpler ways for site visitors to filter and find partners 5.  Comprehensive support 6.  Communities Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? There are very few vendors who have done a full content audit and fully integrated the relevant partner experiences into the actual corporate site. In many cases, they have built what looks like an integrated home page for partner content, but it ends up linking out to other sites, PDFs, separate sign-up form pop-ups or other types of content. Partners want to work with the business that creates the greatest potential revenue opportunity for them, but are also going to invest in companies that make it easy to do business. The process of researching partner benefits and applying to be a partner is the first chance to show how a brand values its partners.

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Partner Channel Experience | SAP

SAP FOCUSES ON THE BUSINESS VALUE AND USES VIDEO TO TELL THE STORY The video, text and case studies on SAP’s partner section do a nice job emphasizing benefits like the total addressable market of SAP’s solutions and the revenue potential that creates for partners. They also talk about their product strategy and the potential for long-term success and commitment, which wasn’t referenced by many of the others we analyzed.

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Partner Channel Experience | SAP (continued)

SAP CUSTOMIZES THE PARTNER APPLICATION PROCESS As part of the application process, many companies have one standard page with a huge amount of contact email addresses. A potential partner is likely going to want to feel at least a little special and at the very least is going to want to be able to confirm their application was received. SAP has two basic sets of questions to help indicate which application process they should submit. The simple form then shows users how many steps they have to complete.

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Partner Channel Experience | Oracle

ORACLE HAS WELL INTEGRATED PRODUCT RESOURCES FOR PARTNERS The Oracle partner site has very well organized product materials. Users can identify their objective on the site and see a segmented view of content that is really relevant and specific.

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Partner Channel Experience | Cisco

CISCO CREATES A SIMPLE AND UNIFIED EXPERIENCE FOR SOLUTION PARTNERS Using tab navigation, Cisco does a nice job unifying many of the key pieces of content that a partner might look for during the research process – from basic details, to membership requirements and the steps necessary to join.

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Partner Channel Experience | Salesforce

SALESFORCE PROMOTES PARTNERS IN AN EASY-TO-USE EXPERIENCE The Partner section on sites typically includes an area where users can see who are certified partners in their region or who has a particular solution. Salesforce does a nice job placing all partner types on one single experience that can easily be filtered by users. This is a benefit to those visitors looking for a partner, and is a good selling point for potential partners who want to have their company listed.

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Partner Channel Experience | Salesforce (continued)

SALESFORCE ALSO HAS A ROBUST COMMUNITY FOR PARTNERS The separate partner community site is the only example we found where a technology brand has turned the partnership experience from a “necessary evil” type of interaction, to a valuable resource and community that people may really get a lot of value from. Within this experience, partners can access comprehensive support materials based off of the stage they are in.

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MOBILE

   

Mobile | Summary What did we find? Each of the tech brands we evaluated is at a different place in the maturity of their mobile presence. Companies like Salesforce have a fully-optimized and very focused mobile site with just a handful of pages and many specific calls to action (Free Trial Sign-Up, Watch Demo Video, etc.). Other brands that have huge product portfolios, like SAP and EMC, have mobile-optimized home pages and secondary pages, but eventually send visitors to non-optimized product pages. Companies like Brocade and Oracle have no mobile optimization. Where are there opportunities for B2B brands to improve or differentiate? While there is a massive amount of potential tasks someone could be trying to accomplish on a technology company website, there is a much smaller number of tasks that they would turn to a mobile site for. The biggest opportunities we see are for brands to: 1.  Find the right balance between “exploratory” content that doesn’t have a lot of

functional use for the visitor and very specific product details. 2.  Connect mobile experiences to specific calls to action. What is the clear next step for

visitors if they want more product info or are having trouble and are looking for support?

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Mobile | Salesforce

SALESFORCE CREATES CLEAR CALLS TO ACTION FOR EACH PRODUCT CATEGORY Salesforce makes it incredibly simple for users to navigate between their four main product categories and has very specific calls to action like “Watch Sales Cloud Demo.” The bottom of the screen persistently has a call to action to call Salesforce, which is a natural and easy process from the phone. The other persistent call to action is “Free Trial” which slides the screen to a form where users can select which trial they want to sign up for.

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Mobile | Qualcomm

QUALCOMM ENCOURAGES USERS TO EXPLORE The responsive Qualcomm site uses arrow visual cues to push users to explore different sections of the site. The main navigation bar creates a direct path to all the main product pages, where users get educational content and the ability to dive deeper into specific product selling points (like Snapdragon technology). The site does a good job of balancing a moderate amount of content with a very easy-to-navigate mobile experience.

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Mobile | Cisco

CISCO PROVIDES EASY ACCESS TO A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCT DETAILS Of the larger companies with a significant number of product categories, Cisco does the best job allowing users to easily search for any product. On the product pages, users can get access to details about different models, data sheets and other information that might be useful when researching products or looking for support information.

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Key Takeaways

In our analysis we observed several ways for enterprise technology brands to improve how they engage with prospects or customers via their corporate website:

1.  Think beyond the home page. The entire site experience needs to help the user find and access the most contextually-relevant information, then take whatever step is next in the buyer journey. We saw many home pages and a few product pages that were highly optimized, but most companies have disconnected experiences as you get any deeper into the site.

2.  Build more substantial calls to action into the flow of the site. Most brands had a plethora of video or case study content to view, but very few had offers for demos or really compelling content to entice a potential customer to fill out a form and “raise their hand” as being interested.

3.  Prioritize content strategy. To convey a simple brand message on the home page and reinforce that throughout the site, it is critical to have a well defined content plan. This effort should include the removal of content and offers that make the experience overwhelming and do not offer significant value.

You can find more B2B engagement best practices on Slideshare.com/RosettaMktg and our blog, Currents.Rosetta.com.

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How to Learn More

Want to learn more about our analysis? Reach out at www.Rosetta.com/contact and we would be happy to tell you more about our analysis and key findings.

About Rosetta Rosetta is a customer engagement agency. We combine human insights, technology and next-generation storytelling to craft meaningful connections that drive tangible results. Visit www.Rosetta.com for more details.

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Thank You

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