MarketingExperiments Blog: Research-driven optimization, testing, and marketing ideas

Finding appeal for your PPC ads is never easy. But if you take the time to think like the searcher and then offer them what you truly believe they are looking for, you are one clear step closer to finding the key that unlocks the door to a significant increase in conversions for that segment.

Let’s see what the process of finding appeal might actually look like as I quickly apply it to one of our audience-submitted PPC ads from our previous Web clinic on PPC. Read more…

After being involved in our recent Web clinic on PPC ads, I feel it’s important to talk about one of the most misunderstood elements involved in effectively writing a PPC ad. This is the element of appeal. Let me take a step back for a moment. MarketingExperiments has done extensive research (here’s one example) about the elements of an effective value proposition in the hopes of creating a repeatable process that marketers can use to optimize their own value props. In an effort to help simplify this process, we have created a breakdown of what makes a value proposition truly forceful:

• Appeal – How much is this offer desired?
• Exclusivity – Is this offer available elsewhere?
• Credibility – How believable are your claims? Read more…

It’s the same problem, every time…

Someone new to online testing, excited to get started, eager to begin crunching numbers and reporting amazing results:

• They decide on a few things that they instinctively think will raise conversions
• They make all the changes on one page, maybe two
• Setup all sorts of tracking that they’re not sure what to do with
• And push the start button thinking that their one page will see a major increase

Rarely does a test actually perform the way we expect it to, though. We believe that one set of pages will completely outperform another, when the reality is that some performance is all over the place.

When the test is complete, what will you report upstream? That the test was a wash? Or did you learn something that will bring you closer to the key insights that will have an effect on your bottom line?

Most beginners run into a test without being able to tell you what they are really testing.

They typically say, “I’m testing to see if this page increases conversions!” The problem with this statement is that it doesn’t do anything for you if the page, well, doesn’t.

In addition, if it does raise conversion, you don’t really have the slightest idea why. Instead, you get a false sense of confidence about what works on your site and what doesn’t. Then you get yourself into much deeper trouble, making assumptions for other parts of the site or customer segments that end up costing you revenue in the long term. Read more…

In our July 21^st Web clinic, Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from the last 200 experiments distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples, Flint McGlaughlin and the MarketingExperiments team will spend a full 45 minutes optimizing audience submissions to help you identify changes you can make today, based on our research, to improve conversion.

Send us your pages for a chance at free optimization advice during that Web clinic, or right here on the blog. Thanks to Verizon for submitting this landing page for optimization.

Upon given Verizon’s landing page to optimize, I first had to think like the customer. Purchasing telecommunications isn’t something most people do every day, they just tend to set it and forget it. So journey back with me, if you will, to the last time I made this purchasing decision… Read more…

Experienced online marketers have heard this saying at one point or another: we just don’t have the resources to do what you’re asking. Maybe the resources aren’t there or maybe your project is last in line. Either way, somebody else is determining the destiny of your plans and your message just isn’t being heard.

So, many marketers scramble for decision makers’ attention. They’ll set up big meetings, put together big PowerPoints, big Gantt charts, and stay up all night practicing the perfect pitch – all to get a simple, disheartening response. There is a more effective way to get approval. Read more…