Visit XP² – The ultimate experience optimization resource hub

In the summer of 2019, we kickstarted an internal project to redesign and rethink the Dynamic Yield blog. An incredibly important part of our business, content shared on our blog by members of our organization, customers, and partners allow us to showcase our platform, position ourselves as thought leaders in the digital marketing space, and connect with marketers embarking on their journey with experience optimization.

It started as a simple conversation in our Manhattan office, eventually leading to the creation of a number of mood boards vividly depicting our initial vision. We remained in this brainstorming phase for months – reimagining the layout and mocking up design elements that would help transform the entire look and feel, but eventually, we came to an important realization: we needed to focus on our core values.

Cracking the content code

Upon embarking on our journey to reimagine the Dynamic Yield blog, our Marketing team quickly realized the task at hand was much larger than a design project. We needed to communicate our values and our purpose, which creatively, was quite challenging. We started from scratch, identifying the core purpose of this project: to help our readers become better marketers.

The inception of our visual treatment

As a designer, I tend to start with artboards, thinking about the visual aesthetic first and foremost. However, this undertaking required me to think differently, which was quite an uphill battle. I took a walk down Fifth Avenue, purchased an overpriced flat white, my go-to order when searching for creative inspiration. I quickly realized that was a lot to ask of my eight-ounce cup of coffee and returned to the office, over-caffeinated yet still debilitated by “designer’s block.” I turned to the figurines and magnets propped up on my desk, analyzing their shapes and forms, tracking the context in which they exist to understand their unique purposes.

Eventually, the answer came to me in the form of a magazine. It’s simple construction and traditional print design became my primary source of inspiration. I realized that for much of history, we, as humans, have turned to books and print media for information. And here I was, determined to find a feasible, concise way to design a website that could emulate the winning principles of a book. The colors must be vibrant yet cohesive; each web page needed the matte sheen of a textbook page; readers should feel as if they can “flip” through pages. This was my breakthrough, and as I continued to move forward with the design, I needed to ensure these decisions supported our content marketing efforts.

Amplifying the reach of our content

During the past few years, we’ve built an impressive library of content – much of which extends beyond our blog – using various media formats to educate our audience. We’ve released books and guides (both in digital and print), hosted countless in-person events and online webinars, and penned hundreds of articles.

Our Marketing team has worked hard these past few years to ensure our content is educational, rather than promotional. Now, one lingering question remained: how can we help readers access and engage with the exact resources they are seeking out? Answering this question is precisely why I needed to overhaul our previous plans and designs. We had to think big – think outside the blog and outside Dynamic Yield. Our mission was to educate, and in order to effectively do so, we needed to properly compile our arsenal of articles, webinars, research reports, and more, and build a visually appealing, easy-to-use hub for marketers.

Introducing, XP²

XP² is a resource center built and designed to help readers learn new concepts in the world of experience optimization in order to become more skilled digital marketers. With a name built upon our primary goal – to help our audience take their knowledge to exponential levels – it’s home to six unique types of content.

Articles

First up is our library of 120+ articles, written by both in-house marketers and thought leaders, as well as impressive marketing experts from Staples, KPA Group, Lamps Plus, surefoot, Widerfunnel, and more. This knowledge base includes a unique filtering system to help visitors surface the exact content they are looking for according to:

• Job function
• Type of content
• Category
• Content topic
• Industry

Our existing blog will remain as-is, serving as the go-to source for all Dynamic Yield news, specifically company updates, product announcements, and press releases.

Learning Paths

In addition to these article, we’ve launched our new Learning Paths. A curated curriculum, this section includes 60+ lessons that provide an in-depth look at six core subjects in experience optimization:

1. A/B Testing & Optimization
2. Personalization & Targeting
3. Product Recommendations
4. CRO & Growth Marketing
5. eCommerce Experience Optimization
6. Advanced Experimentation

All lessons within each Learning Path have been carefully mapped out by our Content Marketing team to create a cohesive, educational ecosystem. Readers can track their progress as they make their way through “coursework” and can pick up where they left off thanks to automated, cookie-based bookmarks.

Inspiration Library

XP² is now home to our ever-growing Inspiration Library, which features 120+ real-world use cases across several industries, revealing their strategies, the implementation effort required, and their positive impact on real brands in the Dynamic Yield customer base. This robust collection of personalization examples is the perfect resource for marketers seeking some experimentation inspiration.

Guides & Reports

How does Amazon successfully market to their audience? What is the current state of personalization maturity? The answers to these questions and more live in the Guides & Reports section of XP². An essential compilation of long-form assets, this section of the resource center includes over 30 original guides, reports, and books, spanning a variety of topics relevant to experience optimization and languages, including English, German, Russian, French, and Spanish.

Encyclopedia

Have you ever encountered unfamiliar marketing terminology? From “asynchronous javascript” to “KPI,” our Encyclopedia has you covered. This comprehensive glossary is filled with commonplace and industry-specific phrases and acronyms, ensuring you’re never stumped by marketing speak. A home for must-know digital marketing lingo, our Encyclopedia will expand your vocabulary dramatically thanks to concise and easy-to-understand definitions.

Webinars

Prefer more engaging media formats? All of our on-demand webinars are now available in XP². These virtual events cover the most popular subject matter in digital marketing from both Dynamic Yield professionals and industry veterans, each of whom shares their perspective on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, experience design, best eCommerce practices, and the latest marketing trends.

Finally, a free educational center for experience optimization

Here, at Dynamic Yield, we believe there shouldn’t be a premium placed on education. In our ever-evolving world, quality content and resources can be hard to come by, and even harder to surface on your own. We built XP² with you, our readers, in mind because we recognized our own shortcomings in our mission to educate and arm marketers with the tools and resources they need to be agile and adaptable. Now, with access to this one-of-a-kind hub for customer experience knowledge – one that will continue to grow and scale over the coming weeks, months, and years – we’re excited to see what great heights you’ll reach.

The work that went into this project was a complete team effort, requiring organizational buy-in, creative ideation like never before, dozens of development hours, and an overhaul of our content marketing strategy. None of this would have been possible without our oh-so-talented Marketing team for the muscle they each put into this undertaking, who I want to take time to individually thank:

• Yaniv Navot, our VP of Global Marketing, who oversaw this entire project from ideation to execution, truly championing this project until it crossed the finish line
• Erica Mahoney, who designed over 120 use cases for our Inspiration Library and supported dozens of more design tasks along the way
• Shana Pilewski and Leah Retta, our trusty content experts who contributed to, organized, and managed every article, lesson, and piece of written content that now lives in XP²
• Gabby de Araujo, the mastermind behind our Inspiration Library and our liaison between Dynamic Yield customers who have already shared their early praise for XP², validating our time and effort
• And the rest of our team: Jeff Yang, Elizabeth Spektor, Gabrielle Blinderman, and Michelle Dannenberg, who chipped in behind the scenes all along the way.

Ready to take a spin? Visit XP² today!

Visit XP²