Making Capture Fun│Ragnarokast #3

Steven

I’m Steven. 

Spencer

And I’m Spencer. Welcome to Ragnarokast, your podcast for all things marketing and MarTech. 

Steven

Hello everyone. 

Both

We’re the Co-CEOs of Ragnarok. 

Spencer

Hi there, I’m Spencer. 

Melanie

Hi There. I’m Melanie Zippe. I’m a strategist here at Ragnarok. I’m filling in for Steven today. 

Spencer 

I’m gonna take my cool sunglasses off ’cause I cannot see anything at all, but I just wanted to show them off for the, those of you who are viewing today, I just ordered them from goodr.com. This is not a paid ad, but you know, I just…pretty cool. Highly recommend. 

Alright, so today we have a special guest with us. Well, we have a special co-host, Melanie’s filling in for Steven, who’s on paternity leave. And we have Jace, our friend from Digioh, and also actually Cat, I mean, you’re here too. You know, we should, we should shout out Cat and Selin here before we get started. 

Cat

Hi. I don’t know Selin if you could access a mic…

Spencer 

She’s there. She, she’s like, like, don’t talk to me. She’s waving at me. I’ll, I’ll pass it on in proxy. 

Alright, here is today’s prompt. I’m gonna read it in 3, 2, 1. 

Data capture sounds a little sketchy without giving any context, but when it comes down to it, it’s how we create customized experiences for users. It’s like a little private personal shopper living in the interwebs, picking out what skincare routine is best for you. 

We’re here with our friend Jace from Digioh. We’ve talked about this platform briefly in a previous episode, but now you can hear it from the experts themselves on how we can make data capture a fun and interactive experience for our customers. 

Hi Jace. Wanna tell the people a little bit about yourself? 

Jace

Yeah. Hi, I’m Jace Farrin. I’m the head of marketing at Digioh. I was previously the head of design over at Digioh. And I, I feel like that that experience is actually really great to give me insight into, you know, working directly with, with customers and kind of their needs. And I also have a background in working in e-commerce, working for publishing. And so I have a pretty good beat on, you know, some of those goals and, and, and needs from those customers. 

Spencer

Awesome. Hey, Jace, you’re, you’re based somewhere here in the New York area? 

Jace

Yeah, I’m in, I’m in upstate New York. 

Spencer

Got it. Okay, cool. Question number one, before we get into the how of the conversation, tell us a little bit more about Digioh itself. 

Jace

Yeah, so Digi has been around for 12 years now. You know, it’s funny. People ask me, you know, what, what do you do for, for work? And I, I think when I started working with Digioh, I actually worked with Digioh as a freelancer like years and years ago. So I’ve been with the company a long time. You know, I, I had a hard time kind of explaining, I was like, I don’t know, do you know when you go a website and there’s a popup and it’s kind of annoying, we make those, but they’re less annoying. It was, it was kind of how I framed it. And over time, you know, I get to really understand that it, it’s, what we do is anytime you have any kind of interaction on a website where you’re, you know, answering a question or you’re, you’re getting some kind of some feedback, it’s, you know, we’re involved in that. 

So if you’re taking a quiz or, you know, signing up for, you know, to get a deal and, and, and entering your email, we are involved in kind of facilitating that, that transfer of, of data to get value. It’s pretty exciting because I, I think that, you know, the way that we approach that sort of as a team is, you know, we’re all really creative people and we try to approach it really earnestly of like, what are the things that get us excited about, you know, going on a website and what, what’s gonna make us trust a brand and wanna interact with brand? And so we really look at it that way. And so we’ve tried to come up with like more exciting ways instead of just like, you know, join our newsletter and, you know, and really, really engage and audiences authentically, but also, you know, looking at kinda the numbers and the tried and true what works and combining, you know, those thought processes to come up with a, a really fun engaging interaction. 

Spencer

Melanie, here’s had quite a lot of experience on your platform, so Melanie, maybe you can add a little bit of, you know, as a, as an external power user, little bit of your, your insight on it. 

Melanie

Fun fact, I’ve worked for over 20 companies in Digioh. I’ve worked for companies directly that use the platform and then also worked on the agency side and helping clients build out digo capture widgets. So as Jace said, I think a lot of people come to Digi thinking that it’s a, a tool to help you build your email list, right? So sign up for our newsletter, get this thing. But it’s so much more than that. I think the one thing that really highlighted I highlighted with my clients and just working in-house as well was how can we use this in like, align it with our content calendar and what we have going on. 

So we’ve got this new launch or we’ve got this quiz, or hey, we just wanna find out what our audience is into at the moment. We use Digioh for all of that. So quizzes, polls were really popular, and really just using it as an extension on your website. So I think that’s the, the value in Digo is it’s so flexible and allows you to do that and it can be really fun. So it’s, I agree there is that kind of getting over that hurdle of, oh, this is just an email capture, you know, boring thing to really having it power anything that you’re doing from a promotional standpoint. 

Jace

Yeah, no, I really, I really love that too. I, I think exactly that is, is thinking about, you know, what are, what are your goals and, and you’re looking at your production calendar because there’s so many things you can, you can do. And, and really it’s, you know, tying that all together where when, you know, you, you someone visits your site, there’s, there’s banners and teasers and, you know, a hero section and all ties into to the same messaging that you really want to promote and working towards the same goals. And so it’s so much more than just, you know, capture an email, but it’s using all of these, these features to, to really, you know, connect with an audience and, and to, you know, update it kind of on the fly because it is really flexible. 

So that, that, that’s very cool feedback to hear that that’s, that’s sort of your approach to it because I that’s perfect. That’s, that’s exactly what we want everybody to be doing. 

Spencer

On the, the kind of fun side because most people don’t think of, you know, like you said, like widgets and stuff is fun. What are the most engaging features? Not just the one to capture information, but actually like, make it a, a, a real experience for users? 

Jace

Yeah,I think that’s a great question. It’s actually funny that you, you were wearing some Goodr or sunglasses because they’re, they’re one of our customers and we actually, we, we have a quiz that we built for Goodr to help you find the perfect shades. And I, I think quizzes are like, just hands down one of the most fun ways to engage with customers, but it’s really, it’s also, you know, and you’re getting a lot of value out of, out of taking a quiz because you’re, you’re finding something that’s so unique and custom to you and, you know, so we have this, this quiz and it’s got, you know, this really great buttons with, you know, there’s images of each frame shape, so you can actually look, okay, I like cat eye or I like square sunglasses, and you can go through and answer these questions and get something at the end that’s really perfect for you. 

And it’s just, it’s, it’s a lot more, you know, fun than just like scrolling through and, and browsing, you know, a a thousand products on a site, but to just have a really, you know, a short interactive experience. You’re answering questions about your preferences. There’s, you know, really good visuals that can help you shop, and in the end you’ve got something that’s custom to you and it kind of has that feeling of, you know, like when you take like a Buzzfeed quiz and, and you’re finding out exactly what Disney Princess are you, but instead it’s like, what are the perfect sunglasses for you? And I think that that experience just feels so much more organic than, you know, scrolling through and applying filters and browsing. 

It kind of bridges the gap between, you know, having someone who is an expert who’s standing right there asking you those questions and, you know, being able to shop online. 

Spencer

Having gone through that myself, it’s really fun because Goodr has such a fun brand. Like they say that their CEO is, I think it’s Carl the Flamingo. 

Jace

Nice. 

And so all the emails are from Carl the Flamingo, and it’s always like, wow. And there’s lots of exclamation points and all their product names have things like whiskey shots with Satan, gardening with a Kraken, sunbathing with wizards, and they’re just sunglasses. But it’s great. It makes it more fun. So it’s cool that you guys can kind of be an extension of the brand itself through, through that experience. 

Jace

Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s super fun, the Flamingo, he makes an appearance like right on the splash page of the, of the quiz. And it’s, it’s great too because I, I think that’s one thing that, you know, I find time and time again when I, when I talk to our customers, you know, what, what stood out to you about Digioh? And it’s, it’s so interesting because there’s so many, you know, really advanced technical things that we can do and, you know, integrations, you know, with, with your existing tech stack and you can customize anything and, but the number one answer is always, oh, I can make it look exactly like my brand and, and be a part of my website and it doesn’t look like some, you know, stencil cookie cutter quiz solution. 

It’s funny because it, it’s, it’s something that I think it’s easy to overlook, but that, that really is something that is kind of in the forefront of people’s mind is like, does this fit with our voice and our style and our branding and, you know, is it seamless as, as an experience on our site? And I, I think their quiz is, is a perfect example of that because it, it really does feel like it, it just fits right in and it was built custom for them and, and I mean it was, but through, you know, a platform that made it super easy. It’s cool ’cause I, I think brands like that, that really have a strong voice get to carry that over with all of, you know, quizzes or any widgets that they add to their site, it doesn’t feel like this thing that’s tacked on it feels like part of just a complete experience. 

Spencer

Melanie, from your perspective, you know, having implemented Digi and helped clients, you know, and brands from within think through the best use of the tool, what are some key strategies that you might offer for a brand trying to make their dig you experience fun and engaging? 

Melanie

All of the experiences are gonna be based on what they’re trying to do. So whether that’s capture more email addresses, whether that’s drive products recommendations, we’re gonna build, you know, different experiences based on what, what each brand is looking to do. 

But, with that, there’s some things that are pretty common for kind of getting out the gate and getting active capture on your site. So as Jace mentioned, quizzes are a great way to engage without being super “salesy” or overly promotional. They’re a great way to garnish those email addresses too, because you’ve asked for, or you’ve gone through this experience, you are now wanting to know what your foundation matches or what, you know, what board shorts you should be wearing this summer. I’m gonna provide my email to then get those recommendations. So it’s a nice organic way to get people into your audience without being overly promotional. 

On the flip side though, let’s say we are having a Memorial Day sale and we’ve got a huge slash on prices or on products or we’ve got a promotion that’s specific to maybe an SMS list, Digioh’s a fantastic tool to use for promoting that as well. So you can go down and say, Hey, check this out, provide your email or your phone number for this discount, and we’ll send that information over by, by joining the list. So lots of ways to gather information and get that out to your audiences. 

And then, you know, even if you’re just looking for site engagement, one thing that worked really well were polls, and we worked with like a media site that I worked with or a magazine when the Bachelor was, was very popular. We would do weekly polls on who we think was gonna make it the next week and provide, you know, insight that way. So it’s really just depending on what you’re looking for in, in terms of engaging your audience or growing your list, digo can, can power really kind of any piece to that. 

Spencer

Damn, are you a Digioh salesperson or what? 

Melanie

Maybe…it sounds like it. But it’s fine, I think— 

Jace

Yeah, I was just gonna say like, I need to take notes on on all this.

Melanie

Exactly. 

Spencer

Yeah, yeah. He’s furiously scribbling. 

Jace

It’s gonna like our next, our next— 

Melanie

Put it, put it in the PowerPoint guys. 

Jace

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, no, that was extremely well said. And, and I, I think that’s really the, the key to it is, is ways you can, you know, kind of engage with people and, and make it interactive. And I, and I think small tweaks too, you know, instead of just like, you know, okay, you know, give sign up for our e our email list or you know, here we’ll give you 20% off even doing a little thing like, you know, having a popup that’s like asking somebody, you know, okay, you know, what kind of thing are you shopping for? 

I think an example we had recently was like a wedding dress site. And so it’s like, are, you know, are you the, the, the bride? Are you the mo you know, mother of the, the groom? You know, who are you in the wedding? What kinda dress are you looking for? And you answer the question, you get 20% off and it’s, it’s just a little bit more fun right? 

To, to kind of interact and you’re, you know, you’re collecting that, that data, which is really useful for your purposes and in order to, you know, provide value as well to your customers. So you know, they’re, they’re gonna get better recommendations because you know a little bit more about them. But I think really just kind of having that like personalization or that that interactivity, you know, doing things like, you know, click here to reveal your deal and, you know, might get something different based on which one you choose.  Anything you can do to, to kind of make it more interactive and engaging. I, I think it just gets people excited. 

And I think even to that, even something as simple as, as forms can be more fun, you know, when you kind of approach them differently. And so we’ve, we’ve seen a lot of the success with conversational forms where instead of, you know, you’re filling out your name, your address, and, and it’s this, you know, wall of entry fields and your eyes are glazing over, you know, we’re asking you those questions kind of in bite-sized bits. Like, you know, hey, where we’re, where do you live? You know, what kind of, you know, what are you looking for today? 

Or, you know, and, and you kind of do it in more of a conversational way and break it up into like little bits of information at a time. It actually, even though, you know, if you were furiously typing, you could probably fill that up quicker. It’s gonna feel more digestible in that way. And so even that it’s, it’s kind of, you know, even though it’s not a quiz where it’s like calculating result, just kind of approaching it in, in like a, a more natural conversational way, I think people really just respond well to that. It’s, it’s an easier interaction. It’s, it feels more friendly. And so, you know, we really try to think about, you know, anytime you’re engaging with your audience, what, what is the easiest way to, to talk to them and get the information from them and, you know, make it clear that you’re providing value, you’re not bogging them down asking too much and, and just make it feel natural and easy. 

And I, you know, that’s, that’s usually the goal is, is just be very transparent, build a real connection with your customers and that helps, I think with that idea of, you know, marketing is shady and, and you know, they’re, they’re just trying to steal my data. It’s like, no, we’re, we’re actually asking you very upfront and, and asking for your consent and using that consumer consent to data to give you value and being upfront about what that value is. And, you know, that entire approach I think is just so much more authentic and in the long run, powerful and, you know, has better results, makes your brand feel trustworthy, and it’s just more fun of engagement than filling in a form or browsing through a site, you know, clicking endlessly until you find what you need. 

Melanie

There’s definitely a stigma around lightbox captures or overlays, right? There’s this, I I mean I can speak to this too, right? From a user experience perspective, you give to a site, and everything pops up on the page, you have cookie consent, and then you’ve got sign up for the email, and then you’ve got banners that are coming in, and that can feel way overwhelming and really crazy. We know that from just an, an experience perspective. So I liked what you said about just bite-size pieces and you can be a little bit more discreet about that and also not scare away your audience with all of these things up front. 

I think there’s this unique element also to browsing as well. So once somebody gets to a certain point in the, you know, through their experience on your website, maybe show them a different experience based on what they’re browsing, which could be really cool as well. 

Jace

So, Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

Spencer

So I have a, an important question for you, Jace, that we were pontificating on last time about Digioh when Steven was here with me in the studio, which is the origin of the name and I almost don’t want to know what it is because we were, we were thinking maybe it’s a combination of Digimon and Yugioh. 

Melanie

Because Digimon, Digital Monsters, you know, if any of you out there remember 

Jace

I know Exact yeah. 

Spencer

Yugioh cards. So it just seems to fit really well together. So, you know, I, I almost don’t wanna know if I’m wrong or not, but honestly, do you know the, do you have the history of the name? So 

Jace

I I kind of do. So I, as I mentioned, I, I’ve known Rishi, our CEO for I don’t, as long as Digioh has been around before Digioh has been around, and I, I used to do freelance for him and, and around the time Digioh was, you know, coming up and, and it was still a concept. 

I, I do remember pitching some ideas for names and I, I think, and I, I don’t wanna take credit, I I think that might’ve been one of mine that I, that I floated and I, I was totally like that kid that was like watching, you know, Digimon and so I’m like, it had to be subconscious, right? That that was, you know, that was in there. So I, I think yes, that you’re right, it’s, it’s a completely, it’s just like a, you know, an anime weeb reference.

Spencer

I assume your first, your first suggestion was jaceisawesome.com, but I guess that one, that one didn’t go through.

Jace

You know, it’s funny as as Rishi actually had a, a, a website that was something like that, it was like getting more awesome way back then too. 

Spencer

Oh really? 

Jace

So that, yeah, it was like a marketing blog that, that he ran. I wonder if it still exists. 

Spencer

That’s a deep cut. I should search for it.

Jace

Someone’s gonna look it up and, and find it probably hasn’t been updated in like 15 years, but No, it probably was a name like that too. 

Spencer

Okay. You know what we’re gonna, I’m just gonna keep talking about Rishi and Digioh and we’re gonna bait him on getting, get him in here. So next time we’re gonna, we’re gonna review his old blog posts— 

Jace

Perfect. Love it. 

Spencer

—and be like, wow, man, this is, this is rough. No, I’m just kidding. 

Melanie

So, I think we had maybe some preconceived notions about what capture may be for, for your website, but after talking today, hopefully, we shed some light on how this experience can be fun for your website and really look at other ways to e engage and capture your audience with fun tools. 

Spencer

Awesome. Also, I completely blanked out ’cause I’m messing with Selin in the background here and I’m typing to her that she has to breakdance before we can end the podcast. So she’s shaking her head no, emphatically you can’t see her, but she was real. 

Jace

I don’t have anything after this, so I’m, I’m happy to wait for that. 

Spencer

Okay. Yeah. Should I turn the? No. Okay, fine. Next time I’ll keep working on it. 

So thanks Jace for coming in. Melanie, thank you for co-hosting. Lameo Steven isn’t here today. But you did a great job. I’m gonna keep calling him lame until he comes back because we miss him. 

For everyone out there, whether you’re a viewer for the first time, thank you for watching me awkwardly. Visit our website, ragnarokmarketing.com to learn more about Ragnarok and how to add Digioh to your tech stack. 

Don’t forget to like, subscribe what all the other actions that one does on social media. 

I’m sort of blanking there. Applause and smiley face and frowny face, whatever. Comment, share. Yeah, comment, share and whatever. Do it. Subscribe to our email newsletter. Do it. 

I know Jace said that we shouldn’t do that and just say that, but I am just gonna come out and say it subscribe. There’s very different content actually. It’s pretty similar but it’s still pretty good. Check it out for more thought leadership. 

Alright, sailing off to you. Breakdance time.