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

When you break down all of the challenges you face on a daily basis — from subject line writing, to landing page optimization, to graphic design — they all break down into the most basic, essential proto-challenge that faces all of marketing: How do I get access to the knowledge that will allow my campaigns to be successful?

On Wednesday’s free Web clinic, “What Your Customers Want: How to predict customer behavior for maximum ROI,” Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECABS, will share the principles we’ve discovered to help you answer this question.

But first, we wanted to hear what your peers had to say about predicting customer behavior …

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Jon Powell and I recently spoke on a Cisco webinar and were asked that ever-popular question — what is the average conversion rate?

Here’s the answer — 8.2%. You can stop reading the blog post right now.

In all seriousness, I wish I could give such a simple answer. However, the truth is much more complex. We’ll take a look at some average conversion rates in just a moment, but first let me suggest you use this data with caution. And here’s why …

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When I consulted with enterprise tech companies, I loved working with the Competitive Sales Office.

We humans just like being on a team, sometimes thrive on that “us against them” mentality. And, hey, if this year’s Presidential primaries have taught us anything, it’s that the simplest tactic to get a lift is to point out your opponent’s flaws (even if you have the same flaws yourself).

But let me rock your boat for just a moment, and suggest …

Maybe your competitors aren’t so bad after all

If they’ve been able to stay in business, they’ve probably been able to serve the needs of at least some customers. Which means — maybe, just maybe — some of your potential customers might be better served by your competitor’s product than by yours … at least for some purchase decisions.

For example, thank you for reading the MarketingExperiments blog, but if you’re looking for the latest social media news, let me refer you to one of our competitors — Mashable. We simply don’t cover social media news. We report on results … what really works.

To come around to this mindset, you first have to admit that your product is not a Fine -Something-That-All-People-Need. This can be exceedingly difficult. Who wants to feel like a traitor to the team?

But here’s the upside for your marketing: when you’re actually helping your customers find the best solution, they’ll believe you when you really are the best solution for their needs. Read how Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS, explained it in Transparent Marketing: How to earn the trust of a skeptical customer …

Admit your Weaknesses

The Postmodern Consumer is not looking for perfection. He is looking for honesty. He wants to build a relationship with someone or with some company that he can trust. Best-selling authors Jack Trout and Al Ries espouse this vital principle.

“Why does a dose of honesty work so well in the marketing process? First and foremost, candor is very disarming. Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best.”

When a company is humble enough to admit a weakness, they immediately distinguish themselves from the competition. It opens the door for a trust relationship.

The consumer is all too aware of the fact that we are not perfect. To pretend otherwise only serves to raise their suspicion. Tell them what you can’t do, and they’ll believe you when you tell them what you can do.

As Emily Dickinson said, “The truth must dazzle gradually. ”

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How can you get the greatest amount of return on the least amount of marketing investment?

We’ll share our own top discoveries about low-hanging marketing optimization fruit in our next free Web clinic on Wednesday – Minor Changes, Major Lifts: How headline and call-to-action optimization increased conversion 45% – but first we want to hear from you.

Share what you’ve learned in the comments section of this blog post. And here are a few insights from your peers …

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I know, I know. Your product is super fantastic. The best in the industry. Perhaps the best ever. In a word – infallible.

Except, well, I don’t know how to break this to you, it’s not. No product is perfect. And not every product is right for every person (while we’re at it, you’re really not that special and there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny).

The only challenge is, when you make your offer sound like it’s too good to be true, no one believes you and you’re only shooting yourself in the foot. Let’s look at an extreme example …

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In 2011, this blog produced 140 blog posts. Hopefully, you found some of those blog posts helpful in your day-to-day marketing work. If you did not, let us know in the comments and we’ll write 140 better ones next year.

Of course, as a marketer, you’re probably one of the busiest people alive and you probably missed a few, if not the majority of, posts this year.

So to catch you up, we sorted our posts by how valuable they were to you (as you and your peers communicated to us via the Twitter button) and created a roundup of the 11 most-tweeted posts in 2011.

Here they are in order of least popular to THE most popular MarketingExperiments blog post of 2011 (and potentially all time).

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