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

In today’s Web clinic, Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from 200+ experiments each year distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples, Flint McGlaughlin and the MarketingExperiments team will spend a full 40 minutes optimizing audience submissions to help you identify changes you can make today, based on our research, to improve conversion.

Thanks to BMC Software for submitting this landing page for optimization…

Most technology company names are three letters followed by an IT noun (software, systems, etc), so the name BMC Software probably sounds vaguely familiar. If you’re not familiar with them, they provide a solution called Business Service Management, which they describe as “A unified platform that simplifies, standardizes, and automates IT.”

The intended audience of this campaign is IT management and help desk managers. And the objective for the landing page is to get that audience to sign up for free trial of BMC Service Desk.

OK, now that we’ve got our introductions out of the way, let’s roll up our sleeves and dive right in to some heavy-duty optimizing. First off, I’d like to comment that BMC has done a great job with the email-to-landing page continuity. The imagery and messaging are carried through seamlessly, which helps the prospect identify that they are indeed in the right location when they click through from the email to the landing page.

[click to enlarge]

[click to enlarge]

Alright, let’s look at the free trial sign-up page. We’ll diagnose some problem areas and offer solutions for increasing free trial sign-ups.

When I am analyzing a landing page, I always start off by asking three questions:

• Where am I?
• What can I do here?
• Why should I do it?

When trying to answer these questions on the BMC landing page, the first two questions are pretty easy to answer.

• Where am I? – Like I mentioned earlier, with the consistent imagery you can easily identify that you’re in the right place if you were motivated enough to click on the call to action in the email.
• What can I do here? – It’s pretty apparent, I have to fill out the fields to sign up for a free trial… everyone should be able to answer that.
• Why should I do it? – This is where I encounter some difficulty. Let’s look into to this a little deeper…

Supporting the Value Proposition

Images often help to support the value proposition. In this case, while the main image connects with the email, it does not emphasize the value proposition. Since it takes up a lot of real estate, I’d recommend that BMC test an image that better supports the product benefits.

I do like the screenshot of the BMC dashboard. I think this could be a great supporting feature, although it’s kind of small and difficult to see the specific details of the dashboard. I’d recommend making the image larger or at least offer an option to enlarge.

I’m assuming that the “consolidation of information” is the key selling point, so let’s highlight that with a better image and supporting copy.

Terms and Conditions

In the scroll box below the form, you can see the terms and conditions (T&Cs). The T&Cs look daunting. There are six pages of information condensed into a small embedded scrolling box. You’re already linking to the document, embedding it is overkill.

Test adding event tracking to see how many people are scrolling vs. clicking the text link. In making visitors scroll through the T&Cs, my initial thought is “what are they trying to hide?” Since this is one of the last items on the page before making the commitment to hit “submit,” this could really be a roadblock in the process.

Headline/Page Content

There are no real differentiators in the headline. The “free trial” offer and “risk free” guarantee are great benefits, but why should I choose BMC over another solution? Test a comparison chart or a features matrix. This could be in place of or in addition to the right-column content.

If you’re testing it in addition to the right column, I’d recommend adding a “Why BMC Software” text link that prompts a DHTML pop-up. This is always a good practice when including supplementary content without overwhelming the user.

Related Resources

Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from 200+ experiments each year distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples

Web Page Optimization: In search of a value proposition as fast and reliable as Verizon FiOS

Landing Page Optimization: Regions Bank opts for the information underload strategy

General, Landing Page Optimization, Research Topics

In putting together our next Web clinic, we were interested in looking into just how many experiments we do around here. So I talked to Bob Kemper, our Director of Sciences, and it turns out we conduct about 200 experiments each year. Now I’m not the statistical wizard, but even I figured out that we’re running at almost one per business day.

So, needless to say, we’ve discovered a thing or two about Web page optimization and have crafted complex heuristics and entire courses to help disseminate that information. But we realize that while it is essential for marketers to obtain a thorough understanding of the Offer/Response-Optimization process and the testing-optimization cycle to improve their overall campaigns and advance their career, sometimes you just need a few basic ideas to gain a quick boost right now.

So in Wednesday’s free Web clinic, Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from the last 200 experiments distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples, Flint McGlaughlin (the Director of MECLABS Group) will share three simple principles we’ve discovered in our experimentation to help you get a big, quick lift on your Web pages, offer pages, landing pages, heck, maybe even your homepage.

Plus, we’ll be conducting a full 40 minutes of live optimization on audience-submitted pages, so be sure to send us pages you need help on when you register. While we can’t optimize every page we receive, we’ll try to get to as many as we can on the Web clinic and right here on the blog.

OK, enough about us, let’s focus on you. While we’ve certainly discovered a lot about online marketing, we’re always learning. So in this blog post, we turn to you, our fellow evidence-based marketers, to get a sense for what basic principles you follow when optimizing a Web page. On Wednesday, we’ll share our findings, but first let’s take a look at some optimization advice from your peers…

Landing page optimization should be practical and flexible

The foundation is testing and targeting the content, then dynamically rendering it based on keywords. A best-case scenario situation includes using geo-location and geo-targeting to further tailor content to the audience in real time.

These tools, which should be built into a single on-demand direct digital marketing software platform, provide marketers with valuable insights about their customers that allows them to create the most engaging, relevant landing page experience possible – all in real time.

– Casey Barto, public relations manager at Knotice

Why visitors don’t become customers

Visitors:

• Have a short attention span
• Get lost easily without a single clear direction
• Get distracted, even when given good directions
• Crave a “human element” in their online experience
• Want to read about themselves and their problems, rather than your company’s
• Don’t want to feel bullied into making a decision
• Want to develop their relationship with you at their own speed
• Need to know they can trust you
• See even small errors on your website as unprofessional
• Need to see a compelling reason to choose you vs. your competitor.

I find that when these issues are addressed, conversion rate almost always skyrockets.

A big part of adding a “human element” to a visitor’s online experience is simply ditching the corporate speak. This is sometimes the most difficult part to overcome for site owners and contributors. Naturally, they want to sound impressive.

Visitors/customers on the other hand, want to be spoken to in their own language; in a way that’s comfortable for them.

Just think what happens when someone approaches you in real life and immediately begins to boast and exaggerate or use unnatural language. Bad news re: “converting” that person into a trusted new friend.

Beyond that, it’s then time for a round of Google Website Optimizer to address all of the unpredictable aspects of conversion – color, element placement, images, etc.

I hope that’s somewhat helpful and contributes to your Web clinic. (I’m signing up – thanks!)

– Al, site optimization & AdWords expert at Leadinglobal

Make the information easy to read and find

Web pages may have the best technologies supporting them and have the best functionality, but without utilizing effective Web writing, viewers will be quickly bored and will soon hit back and go to another site.

For this reason I suggest:

• Online Marketing should not be treated like traditional marketing. The Internet is interactive, so online marketing content should be engaging and contribute to the conversation between customer and business, the conversation that is started from the customer’s question that led them to the business’s website.
• Internet content should also not be written in the traditional sense. When people go online they are always searching with a purpose. If a site does not quickly satisfy them with what they need they will quickly hit back and go to the next site. The solution is to write in clear Anglo-Saxon words, avoid using Latin words and abbreviations, and cut all the information down to its simplest form. When this is done, break it down further with headings.

– Shaun Gurmin, founder of Charge

Related Resources

Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from the last 200 experiments distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples

Web Page Optimization: In search of a value proposition as fast and reliable as Verizon FiOS

Landing Page Optimization: Regions Bank opts for the information underload strategy

Photo Attribution: jurvetson

Landing Page Optimization, Research Topics

In our July 21^st Web clinic, Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from 200+ experiments each year 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 Regions Bank for submitting this landing page for optimization…

I don’t know about you, but I have opened very few checking accounts in my lifetime. I probably co-signed for an account when I was twelve or thirteen. Then when I was eighteen, I thought it imperative to have my own account (sorry mom, I don’t need you for that kind of stuff anymore). And since then, I’ve switched bank accounts only one other time.

So that adds up to three in my entire lifetime. I would guess many people share a similar situation. I mean, who wants to go through the hassle of transferring money, updating online billing, and waiting around in a cramped and cold office behind a rather large desk while an account manager slowly pecks at their keyboard.

With that said, my anecdotal evidence indicates that opening a new bank account is a big decision. I mean, most people will buy more automobiles than open bank accounts in their lifetime. So when I am at the precipice of making that decision, I am going to need a little bit more information than five short bullet points and a weird graphic that I think spells the word “save.” (click image for larger version)

Don’t get me wrong, short and succinct landing pages can be very effective…for selling a free Facebook account. But for banking, I just need to understand a little bit better what I am getting myself into.

So, how can we improve this page? We will get to that in a second, but first I need to communicate one caveat. Every idea, suggestion, or recommendation that anyone provides (including myself), or that you read online, absolutely and positively needs to be tested. You will never know what really works unless you measure and compare different strategies.

And I would not recommend anyone make any dramatic business decisions without the confidence that data provides. Changes to your web page must be measureable or you are just flying blind out there and most likely leaking dollar, dollar bills y’all.

Exeunt Adam from stage right carrying his soapbox

Headline – Is it providing value?

When a visitor arrives to a page, you must immediately begin a conversation with them. The best place to initiate this conversation is with the headline. It should be the largest font on the page, near the top left of the page directly in the natural eye-path, and the first primary page element a visitor sees. Regions Bank gets this part right. Their headline is big, bright and immediately visible.

However, its meaning does not provide much, if any, value. Saving time and money for the future are sort of standard for banks right? The first impression Regions Bank makes to their visitors is that we offer the same value every other bank does. They are pitching their visitors a commodity. It’s like Exxon saying “Our Gasoline will Run Your Car!!!” Really? Wow, next time I need gas I’m going to hold out until I see an Exxon station.

Adam rolls his eyes sarcastically

The headline needs to tell me why I should get this bank account instead of any of the other ones out there. The Internet allows me to comparison shop within seconds. With the touch of a button, I can quickly see that BB&T is willing to give me $100 just to sign up. Hmm, I can save time with Regions or get a c-note from BB&T for basically the exact same offering. I wonder which I will choose.

Body copy – Are you differentiating?

After the headline, the area that communicates the most value is the body copy. This is your opportunity to differentiate. It’s your chance to tell me about the company, establish credibility, and clearly explain why I should entrust my hard-earned dollars with you.

What do I get instead? Five little, teeny-weeny bullet points that only make me say to myself, “That’s it?”

First of all, the name of the account is a little bit confusing. I’m not sure if “Green” is a reference to Regions Bank’s branded color or if this account is good for the environment. This is not made clear. If I dig a little deeper by going to the main website, I see that it’s a reference to both more money and the environment, neither of which is clear on the landing page.

Bullet points – Are your bullet points just empty shells or do they hit the target?

Below the account name, Regions Bank fires off several rounds of bullets before they’ve even taken aim at the customer. You can’t just list a few bullet points and expect that to sell somebody. You must lead them into the bullet points with a headline that piques their interest and an introductory paragraph that engages them with your offer. This is called “Sequence of Thought.”

Even if you effectively control your visitor’s thought sequence, holding their hand as you guide them through the page, you won’t have much luck firing empty shells. Look at these bullet points and let me know one that just makes you want to run kicking and screaming into a Regions Bank to open an account.

Adam stands there waiting for the audience to respond

You’re right, there is not one. A free personal savings review? I’ll take the $100 cash. Free online banking and online statements? Doesn’t everyone have that?

I’m not trying to bash this page too much, but rather just trying to get my point across that there is just not enough meaningful information to make me execute on such a big decision as opening a new bank account. The truth is that Regions Bank does have some great benefits that are specific to this account. Unfortunately they are not on the page. Looking at the main site, I would recommend using some of the following features in place of or in addition to the current bullet points:

• “Platinum Visa Check Card with rewards including gift cards, fine-quality merchandise, and travel”
• “Access to over 2,300 ATMs (this can be really important as visitors consider the $2.50 charge they will have to pay for each withdraw with a bank having fewer ATMs)”
• “Overdraft protection”
• “First order of checks printed on eco-friendly recycled paper”

Let’s assume this page effectively sells the visitor on the value of the LifeGreen account. Should this be the only value on the page? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely something I would recommend testing.

This test concept would broaden the focus of the page which is usually not a good practice for landing pages. However, I know that if I were to look for a new bank, I would not only consider the primary checking but also the home and auto loans, credit cards, and investment services. Many consumers are going to want to go to one place for all of these services, so it may be wise to provide just a little bit of information about them.

Supporting images – Are they adding value?

Last but not least, this page could definitely benefit from a better supporting image. You don’t only communicate value in copy, but also in logos, colors, tone, and images. Once you’ve tested your way into effective copy, I would recommend an image test. You need to find an image that not only supports your main content, but also has inherent meaning. Visitors should be able to look at an image and immediately perceive value. For example, Capital One has a graphic on their landing page that clearly explains the earnings you will get in a year by choosing to bank with them.

I hope this feedback gives you new test ideas on trying to communicate value. If you try any of them, be sure to let us know the results.

Related Resources

Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from 200+ experiments each year distilled into three basic principles – plus live-optimization examples

Clarity Trumps Persuasion: How changing the first seven seconds of user experience drove a 201% gain

The Five Best Ways to Optimize Email Response (Part 2): How to craft effective email messages that drive customers to action

Landing Page Optimization, Research Topics

Editor’s Note: The MarketingExperiments community is an interactive group with a great deal of questions and answers between marketers and their peers as well as with the MarketingExperiments staff. Occasionally we publish these interactions on the blog when we think there is a particularly good question that our readers can benefit from…

QUESTION:

Hi, I completed the MEC Email Certification course a while back. I misplaced the MEC optimization formula. I want to share it with some internal people.  Can you please send me the formula?

Thanks,

Karen
Customer Communications Manager
Cleveland, Ohio

ANSWER:

Ahhh, yes. You’re probably thinking about the “Optimization Sequence,” which applies to all channels.  See if this looks familiar…

MarketingExperiments Optimization Sequence:

… meaning that when approaching an optimization initiative, you should first optimize the product factors of your offer – ensure you have the best product available, for at least one significant, describable customer segment.

Only after doing that should you optimize the presentation factors of your offer – ensure you have the best, most compelling offer value proposition available, for at least one significant, identifiable customer segment.

You do this by applying the relevant conversion heuristic (e.g., for a landing page: C=4m+3v+2(i-f)-2a; for an email offer: eme= rv(of+ i) – (f + a) ).

Only once you have confirmed a reasonable level of optimality of both the product and presentation factors of your offer should you embark on optimizing the channel factors – driving as much profitable demand to your optimized conversion process as you can.

This is done by channel identification, selection and optimization, using techniques such as channel mapping, paid search optimization, SEO, affiliate blueprinting, etc.

All the best,

Bob Kemper
Director of Sciences
MECLABS Group, LLC

Related Resources

Optimizing Your Landing Pages

Email Optimization

Optimizing Offer Pages

Internet Marketing Strategy

Today on our web clinic – Technology Blind Spots: How human insight revealed a hidden (and almost missed) 31% gain – we will be releasing never before published research from our laboratory. And you know what we like to do with our audience when we have fresh research that they have never seen before…

That’s right; we like to turn them into guinea pigs.

We like to see if our blog readers, knowing the basic circumstance surrounding a recent test, can predict the outcome. How good is their online marketing radar? Can they spot a good webpage when they see one? How is marketing intuition performing these days?

But honestly, what really matters is the cheese they will be racing for today – one good-ole slice of free online certification course cheese with a little Twitter-love wine to wash it down.

Leave a comment below to enter and let the games begin.

The Experiment

The Research Partner we were working with provides online consumer brokerage services through a subscription-based model. This page, in particular, was aimed at visitors interested in signing up for the foreign exchange trading (FOREX) solutions.

The Control (click to zoom)

After analyzing the current landing page, we concluded that there were some significant factors contributing to confusion on this page. For one, there were  many competing graphical elements and objectives. In almost all cases, this type of layout negatively impacts conversion. We also believed that the value of this offer could be communicated with a little bit more oomph.

So we tested three designs against the control to address some of these issues.

Treatment 1 (click to zoom)

The first treatment is probably the closest to the control. However, there are some strategic changes.

First, we added a headline that better communicated the value of the offer. The copy also has been reorganized in a clearer, easier to read fashion.

And finally, we added a call-to-action button in the main section of copy.

Treatment 2 (click to zoom)

The next treatment used a more long copy approach than the control. It also incorporated a stronger headline and clearer copy layout similar to that of the first treatment.

It is important to note that some of the visual elements from the control have been removed from the bottom of the page. However, the left-hand column remained the same as the previous two designs.

Treatment 3 (click to zoom)

This version of the page is almost identical to treatment 2’s long copy layout.

The one big change for this version was that the elements in the left-hand column were changed into a simple navigation.

(Update) The Results

If you are reading this post now, the contest mentioned above is over. Congrats to @terryrydzynski, a marketer who’s intuition got him a free seat in one of our online certification courses. If I were you, I’d follow this brilliant guy’s twitter account.

Which one was the winner you ask? All of the treatments outperformed the control, but Treatment 3 had the highest conversion rate with a validated 31% increase over the control. Now the results were not too surprising if you read some of the reasoning behind our designs above. Treatment 3 significantly reduced the amount of friction over the control by removing the competing graphical elements and focusing the visitor on one objective.

So what can we learn from this experiment?

If there’s one thing that we can all take away from this case study, it is that many times we are trying to accomplish way too much with our pages, and if we could just simplify our message and make options clear for our visitors, we would potentially see an increase in response.

But this is just scratching the surface, if you would like more information about this case study and some of it’s implications, you can find a more detailed explanation in the replay of yesterday’s web clinic, which will be available next week. To be notified when the replay is available, feel free to sign up for free research updates from MarketingExperiments.

Analytics & Testing, Clinic Notes, Landing Page Optimization

Editor’s Note: Troy O’Bryan and his team at Response Capture drove a 258% conversion rate increase for their client through two rounds of testing and optimizing a landing page. Yet when I interviewed Troy to write his team’s success story, he made clear that they weren’t content with their achievement. They’re constantly considering optimization ideas for a new test.

So I crept into the lab, distracted Dr. Optimize (a.k.a. Adam Lapp) from his current experimentation, and convinced him to apply his complex genius to this page. Here’s what he had to say…

It’s great to hear a fellow marketer realize the power of testing. Congratulations Troy! Without testing, how will you ever know if your landing page or website is performing the best that it could?

Never stop testing

Let’s all take a lesson from Amazon.com. No matter how much money or market share Amazon creates, they have never stopped testing. They are constantly proving and disproving new ideas and concepts. I have no doubt they have eliminated thousands of page designs that did not work. But that’s indicative of a true testing culture.

If we compare the laboratories of our online marketing colleagues to that of scientists finding cures to common ailments, there are many similarities. How many concoctions do you think doctors will rule out before they find the cure to baldness? I’m sure that number will dwarf the number of landing pages the average marketer will rule out before they find the one that works the best.

That’s the number one optimization recommendation I can give to anyone…keep on testing. And I’m glad to see the team at Response Capture working (and succeeding) by following that creed.

What to test next

Of course, it’s one thing to know the importance of continuous testing. Sometimes, the biggest challenge is deciding what to test next. Let’s take a look at the successful landing page:

My advice is two-fold:

1. Test several more radical redesigns

Then when you think you have a design that can’t be beat by other new treatments…

2. Begin fine tuning (multivariate tests work really well for this)

Radical Test Ideas

The current page does a lot of things right, but there is still room for improvement. The first thing I would test would be the tone.

Currently the look and feel of the page can only be described as “slick.” You look at and say “Wow!” It’s dark and sleek. The bright blue pops out at you. And the overall feels is that this page has been designed by a professional design firm with a very high proficiency with Photoshop.

As great as it is, is this the best tone to go with? At MarketingExperiments, we’ve spoken about the concept that “Ugly converts.” That concept really doesn’t necessarily mean that ugly pages perform better than pretty pages. Rather, we want to remind you that strategy is more important than design.

So what different tones can Response Capture test? Here are a few ideas:

TEST IDEA #1: Simple, plain layout

This page does not have a complex objective – just enter your email to receive a free whitepaper. Assuming most visitors are very qualified (i.e. they know what a PDN is and are your ideal customer), you don’t really have to do much selling.

We see a common mistake across many industries where a landing page is composed of elements that just over-complicate the objective.

For example, if you only want to know if a newspaper is delivered in your area, then your landing page only needs a headline, ZIP Code field, and button. Bulky copy, testimonials, demos, videos, images, and other fancy page elements are just not necessary.

The Washington Post is an excellent example of a simple ZIP Code entry:

Compare this to the New York Post:

I just want to find out if you deliver to my area. I don’t need to know about the top columnist or the Page Six gossip section.

This applies for companies that provide free quotes for insurance or a similar service. A visitor just wants to enter a few pieces of information and see a number. Putting layers of clutter in their way just creates friction.

To summarize, I would test a page that has the following:

• A non-descript background
• Simple headline: “Download your free report on PDN Simulation”
• Sub-headline: “Tell us where to send the report”
• Email field
• Button

Just make it as simple as possible.

TEST IDEA #2: Report style

So if someone clicks through, we know we have their interest. They are ready to read about PDN Simulation (must be a page turner!). Then give them what they want right away.

Upon landing, visitors could see a page that looks like a report. Here’s one I found quickly from Google Research:

They clicked through with the expectation of seeing a report, and that’s what you have given them with this treatment. Get them engaged right away. Provide an abstract or first couple of paragraphs, then place a call to action to “download the full report.”

Just make sure that you clearly communicate that the whitepaper is free because this treatment strategy communicates much more value than the others. The report style has more of a high-brow, university type of tone – which isn’t always free. It may work or it may not, but the idea is to test.

Those two test ideas should give you a good start, but if you can think of more, test them and let us know how they work out.

Fine Tuning Ideas

Once you’ve found a primary strategy that works, then it’s time to fine tune. Nothing is off limits here. Let’s assume that the current design has stood the test of time…it has defeated several other radical redesigns you have thrown at it. What do you test?

1. Headline

• Test variations that quantify what’s in the report
• Create urgency (i.e. “available for a limited time” or “you have to know this now”)
• Think of several benefits from reading the report, then test each one in the headline
• Pull out several one-liners from the report that announce an exciting finding
• Test a few provocative questions

2. Rotate bullets and add new bullets

3. Choose three or four different images to test

• Other images of the report
• Photographs of people that may connect with the target audience
• Charts and graphs
• Other items related to PDN (I have to admit, I’m not your target customer so I’m not quite sure what they would be)

4. Button copy – it’s pretty good now, but you could definitely stumble upon something better

5. Color scheme

• Test several different background/font combinations
• Will a light background with dark font work better?

6. Placement of gift card incentive

• In the headline
• As one of the main bullets
• Before the button
• To the right of the button

Now we put this challenge in front of you, the MarketingExperiments community. Use the comments field to post your suggestions for this landing page, agree/disagree with this assessment by Dr. Optimize, and let the page owner know what you would do differently.

Landing Page Optimization, Practical Application, Research Topics