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

“Many tradeshows have experienced a decline in attendance and exhibitors in recent years. In addition to companies cutting back on their tradeshow attendance due to financial reasons, many attendees are also scaling back their tradeshow participation, due to travel costs and time away from the office. Virtual events eliminate some of these issues.”

The above quote is from Chris Chariton, Vice President of Supplier Marketing & Marketing Services at GlobalSpec – the engineering search engine. To help you incorporate virtual events into your marketing mix, we conducted a virtual interview with Chris…

Let’s start with the obvious question – what is a virtual tradeshow and how is it different than a webinar?

Chris Chariton: Virtual tradeshows go beyond a webinar or webcast, as they include elements of both an educational conference and a tradeshow. A typical webinar lasts between 30 and 60 minutes, and is usually focused on a single topic.

On the other hand, virtual tradeshows encompass a “conference” portion featuring many different educational sessions with a variety of speakers, as well as a “tradeshow” component including exhibitor booths, live chat and networking.

The platform for virtual tradeshows is much more comprehensive, the interactive capabilities are greater, and they offer additional multimedia opportunities, including video.

In what situations should marketers use a traditional event? When should they choose a virtual event?

CC: Two reasons why marketers use in-person events are the opportunity to be face-to-face with an existing or potential customer, and the opportunity for someone to see your products “in action.” Virtual events also provide this interactive ability for one-on-one discussions.

Additionally, the economic, time and resource benefits of virtual tradeshows and online events are too big not to experience. They can serve as a complement, a supplement or a replacement to in-person events, as they offer lead generation, branding and networking opportunities – much more conveniently, and without travel, hotel and entertainment costs.

However, you will want to evaluate each individual event for itself, determining the quality of the audience, the “fit” with your company, its products and services, and other factors.

How should we approach a virtual event differently than we would approach a traditional event?

CC: We recommend that you approach a virtual event in a similar manner that you would approach a traditional event. Having a successful presence requires effort, so you want to be sure that you have a solid project plan in place.

You also want to create a content strategy that ensures that you are outfitting your virtual booth with the content that is most relevant and valuable to attendees, and that positions you as a thought leader.

Much like a traditional tradeshow, you want to interact with all of your virtual booth visitors as well. Know who the subject matter experts are, in case you need to pass the person off for a technical discussion. And understand the content of the collateral that you have on hand, so you can offer them the appropriate materials.

Maximizing results is key. After exhibiting at a virtual event, you want to follow up on opportunities – like you would for a traditional tradeshow, or any other marketing initiative for that matter.

And while there are many similarities between virtual events and traditional events, there are some differences – without travel costs and time away from the office being a factor, you can implement a cross-departmental team to staff your virtual booth and participate in online chats, especially during high traffic times. So in addition to the traditional sales and marketing folks who typically staff your in-person booths, you can also invite engineers and other subject matter experts to attend.

How do you incorporate social media into virtual events?

CC: We use a variety of social media channels – including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – to promote our events, both prior to the event to encourage registration, and during the event to attract and engage attendees. For each event, we have a dedicated social media strategy designed to drive interest and registrations, as well as attendance.

How do you determine the value of participating in a virtual event?

CC: To maximize your virtual event investment, select one that will help you effectively achieve your marketing goals. Before participating in a virtual event, there are a number of important criteria to consider.

First, understand the audience for the event – both the quantity and the quality to expect, including the titles and industries of the attendees.

Next, ask yourself if the topic is relevant to your target market, and a good fit for your business. Inquire how these events are being promoted, both pre- and post-event. And understand the support you will receive as an exhibitor. Will you have a dedicated client services manager assisting you? Is the technology platform secure? All of these will help you ensure you are making the right decision.

Like an in-person tradeshow, virtual events can position your company as a thought leader, and deliver branding, exposure and qualified sales leads.

You can hear Chris discuss virtual events at Frost & Sullivan’s GIL (Growth, Innovation, and Leadership) 2010: Silicon Valley in San Jose. Chris will be presenting “Building Brand Exposure, Generating Leads with Virtual Events” on September 15^th during the “BtoB Marketing: Best Practices” breakout session.

Our own Brian Carroll (CEO of InTouch , our sister company) will also be presenting in that session – “Playbook for Marketing and Sales Alignment: How to Collaborate to Optimize Lead Generation Programs.” If you’re interested in attending, you can visit Brian’s blog for a discount code.

Related Resources

Why Your Web Site Isn’t Enough

Internet Marketing Research: A behind-the scenes look at MarketingExperiments Web clinics

B2B Marketing: Playbook for sales and marketing alignment

Events

So when Daniel Burstein proposed this oh-so-witty blog debate about Foursquare, the first question I asked him was, “What’s in your pants?” Sure enough he whips out his keys and there is a flimsy plastic reward keychain (complete with barcode) for Native Sun, an organic foods market here in Jacksonville.

Carrying around a Native Sun loyalty card while questioning the wisdom of Foursquare is a prime example of how the duality of man is witnessed through marketing. “Your idea is stupid, while mine is smart (yet they are both the same).”

It’s good to be the mayor

Foursquare allows marketers to conduct loyalty programs without having to rely on customers carrying around yet another piece of pocket flare with a bar code. In fact, it’s the easiest, most customer-responsive way to have a loyalty program.

A good analogy would be a comparison between a pay-per-click (PPC) ad and a TV commercial. A PPC ad gives you continuous, real-time metrics that can be changed to react to new information on the fly. A TV commercial is a great chance to go grab a beer before getting back to the Jaguars game.

In the same vein, with Foursquare you can change your promotions in real time. Perhaps you decide your #1 fan (your “mayor”) gets some free food. You can change that overnight to giving a reward for every five times a customer visits your restaurant…or even giving a dollar off for every check in.

Also, how many plastic pieces of junk will Dan carry on his keychain to be rewarded for his loyalty? Since Native Sun was the only card on there, I’m guessing not many.

But man doth not live by (even organic) bread alone. With my iPhone, I check in anywhere using Foursquare and am rewarded for my loyalty. Thus a deeper set of marketers can have a relationship with me than just the local organic grocer Dan carries in his pocket.

So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice

Using Foursquare at retailers just scratches the surface. Unlike Dan’s synthetic keychain, when I say I can check-in anywhere using Foursquare, I really do mean anywhere – no bar code scanner required. This is where the possibilities really start to open up. No longer are loyalty programs only easy to pull off for retailers with inventory management systems.

Say you’re a golf course. All you have to do is sign up with Foursquare, and then you can give your mayor a free drink at the 19^th hole. Even better – how about a parking space right at the front of the country club? This is another benefit of Foursquare, your customers fight for bragging rights.

Let your fingers do the walking

If you’re a local marketer, hopefully I’ve got you salivating already. Now here’s the biggest benefit I see – local search. If I’m hungry, I just whip out my iPhone and Foursquare tells me what deals are near me. Hey, a dollar off at Starbucks. Ooh, free chips and salsa at Chili’s.

This is a local marketers’ dream come true. I remember when running a TV ad for pizza around dinnertime was considered targeted. Foursquare blows the rabbit ears off of that strategy. You are able to target people near your location who are interested in your product. This was unthinkable just a few years ago!

Now go and learn

Of course, Foursquare is just starting and there’s a lot to learn. I wish we were at the point where we could give you test results. However, we are currently testing with Foursquare and hope to have results to share in the near future.

Oh, and Dan, perhaps you can get Native Sun to fix that pothole for you with some organic gravel. This mayor is out to lunch (and getting some free chips and salsa while I’m out.)

Daniel shared his opinion of Foursquare on Monday. You’ve just read what I thought. Now we want to hear what you have to say. Let us know how you use Foursquare or Groupon for marketing, if you think they have any value, or if you have a better local social media technique. We’ll publish the best answers right here on the blog in a future post.

Related Resources

Local Social Media Marketing: Obama is not the mayor of the White House

Antisocial Media: Social media marketing success does not lie in you

Social Media Marketing Human Factor: Finding the right person for the job

Marketing Insights

I recently found out that Andy Mott is the Mayor of MarketingExperiments. Which got me thinking…who rules the roost at other austere workplaces according to Foursquare?

Well, it turns out that Rob R. is the so-called Mayor of the White House. Rob who? I don’t know, but clearly not Barack O. So, if the Leader of the Free World can’t even be in charge of his own house, how valuable of a technology is this really?

I don’t care where you are

After I found out about his Mayordom, I also learned that Andy is the Mayor of a local Dunkin’ Donuts and Chili’s. But what do I really learn from this other than that Andy could be making healthier choices in life than scarfing down Boston Kreme donuts and Baby Back Ribs?

After all, when he checks in somewhere, all I really see is “I’m at BLANK.” So how social is FourSquare really?

The true power of social media is not that it allows people to be a shill to their friends (Andy ate a donut, and then two of his friends ate a donut, and then four of their friends ate a donut…). Social media, broken down to is essence, is essentially Transparent Marketing microcast to a highly niche audience – people who care what you have to say.

And the quickest way to turn those people off to caring what their friends and associates have to say is to shill.

Even in a tweet, I learn something about what someone thought of something – the bare minimum essential for communication to actually take place. They liked it. They didn’t like it. They ate too much. Something. Not just, “I’m at BLANK.”

Beyond that, once the novelty of campaigning against Mayor McCheese wears off, what value is there going to be to the FourSquarers? Essentially, all I’m learning is that someone can be enticed by the potential for a free cup of coffee and a virtual Girl Scout badge to let his friends track him on an odyssey through the strip malls of America.

Get your Groupon

Now, don’t get me wrong, I agree that the convergence of Local + Mobile + Social Media = The Next Google. And since the current Google hasn’t mastered this equation (Buzz is about as likely to generate any buzz as non-alcoholic beer), the field is wide open to upstarts. To me, the let’s-use-incentivized-social-media-to-get-people-into-B&M-stores horse to bet on is Groupon. For one, there is clear appeal to users. Huuuuuuge discounts (the prices are insane). And two, people ACTUALLY SAY SOMETHING about the product or service. Sure, there’s some discussion on Foursquare…

But on Groupon, people are actually putting their money where their mouth is, and making a buying decision, so the information for those interested in making a local purchase (which is, after all, what both Foursquare and Groupon are really about), is much more valuable – a true marketplace of ideas…

Tips for location-based social media marketing So if you have a local company or a national brand with bricks and mortar locations, what should you do? Until we release more detailed research into social media marketing, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Transparency – Something both these services get right is that they are clearly, openly, and honestly promoting local businesses. That’s a huge plus considering all the unethical, black hat social media “powerful promoters” currently flooding the digital airwaves with what is essentially spam.
   

  But Groupon gets my vote for that extra layer of transparency. As you can see from the comment above, people debate if these deals are really worth it, and that provides much more value to a local consumer than just knowing your buddy likes to grab a beer at the local pub.

   

  While your company may not be on Foursquare or Groupon yet, keep the value of transparency in mind on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs as well. If you are promoting a product, service, or non-profit, be clear in your intentions. And encourage your followers and customers to be clear as well, if you incent social media action with a contest, discount, or freebie.

   
• Actual content – Social media is, after all, a form of content marketing. And as the name suggests, content marketing requires actual content.
   

  Groupon does a better job than Foursquare of actually producing content that a local customer would be interested in. Even if I don’t purchase a discount through a Groupon, it’s interesting to get people’s feedback on that product or service.

   

  But content can help you in another way as well. Both of these services, especially Groupon, rely on incentives to grab attention and drive traffic. And that’s a great way to begin your local social media promotions…especially in a down economy. But if that incentive is the only value you offer potential customers, you’re going to kill your margins.

   

  Content marketing, through social media or any other media, does an excellent job of building an audience for your offering while strengthening your brand and showing the real value you provide. But to get to that step, you must first provide real, valuable, genuine, authentic content that is valuable to your audience in its own right. In this arena, both Groupon and Foursquare fall short.

   
• Actual decisions – If you’re a local business or a national brand with B&M locations, here’s the real value of Groupon over Foursquare. Groupon drives actual purchase decisions. Users get a discount, they debate the merit of your product or service, but you’re likely getting significant net new traffic to focus on what you have to offer.
   

  The difference is akin to the gap between surveys and real-world testing. With a survey, you’re asking people what they might like to buy. With Foursquare, the conversation (if you can call it that) essentially revolves around places people have been and may go.

   

  Groupon, like real-world resting, is focused on actual conversions. The buying process itself. As such, it provides content and value that is aligned with your goals, which is likely not traffic and badges but rather – real purchases.

Unless some major changes are made, in two years FourSquare will largely be remembered as a lame game you play at recess when you can’t find a football.

Oh, and Andy, if you really are the Mayor of MarketingExperiments, when are you going to fix the pothole in front of my office?

Join us on Wednesday when Andy hopefully answers that question while telling you the value he’s discovered in Foursquare from working with some of our enterprise-level Research Partners…

Related Resources

Social Media Measurement: Are you getting value out of Twitter and its peers?

Facebook Case Study: From 517 to 33,000 fans in two weeks (plus media coverage)

Social Media Marketing in Four Steps

Marketing Insights

We’ve written some posts recently about how the customer should be in charge of your marketing (and really perhaps everything you do as a company). And hopefully along the way we’ve provided some helpful advice on how to listen to your customers and provide them real value (which will ultimately lead to greater success for your company).

But…there’s a line. Let’s just say, “the customer is often right.” To help you find that line, let’s take a MarketingExperiments look at…

When not to listen to your customers

While writing these customer-oriented posts, I started thinking about Apple and Steve Jobs. After all, their customers said they wanted a tablet computer, but instead Apple gave them an iThingy.

Then Scotty Monty of Ford commented on a recent post about the whole anti-crowdsourcing idea dating back to a famous quote by Henry, “If I asked my customers what they wanted, I would have made a faster horse.”

So, how do you create iPad-and-Model-T-level marketing and avoid producing an Edsel? I think it comes down to a simple (but not easy) three-step process…

STEP #1: Listen (broadly)

“I want a horn here, here, and here. You can never find a horn when you’re mad. And they should all play ‘La Cucaracha.’” – Homer Simpson, designing a car as a an “everyman” customer consultant

When I was young, there were endless commercials for a toy called Spy Tech that supposedly let you eavesdrop on conversations while hiding behind a bush. To a kid, it seemed liked the most impressive piece of technology that could be molded out of plastic.

Today, in the future, you have Spy Tech as well (only now it’s called social media). You don’t have to rely on phone calls coming into a complaint line to judge your marketing. You can listen to pseudo-real conversations taking place (virtually) all over the world. Social media isn’t just a megaphone, it’s also a great phone tap.

In fact, the first piece of advice Chris Brogan gives about Twitter is not to come up with a really cool handle or shout about your latest accomplishments/content/offers in 140 characters or less, it’s to (shhhhhh) – listen. Search Twitter. Join competitors’ groups (on LinkedIn) and fan pages (on Facebook). Follow industry-specific hashtags. Ask questions on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Of course, it’s not all just social media. Really, you’re just looking to download as much info into your cranium from your current and potential customers. So ask yourself how else you can tap into their valuable knowledge? A few other ideas:

• Conduct surveys and focus groups – Don’t make decisions based solely on these (more on that in Step #3), but a tight set of well-worded questions with a clear end goal of helping the customer can provide valuable info.
• Call them – Or email. Heck, even send a letter. But tone is important. As MarketingExperiments Research Analyst Corey Trent says, “Ask in a very personal, human fashion to avoid the ‘system-generated message’ feel.”
• Tap into institutional knowledge – You may not talk to customers every day, but likely someone, somewhere in your organization does. Whether their title is sales executive, customer service rep, flight attendant, or maid, they have unique insights than can help. Of course, take that info with a grain of salt, since it comes through a filter.

Step #2: (stop and) Think

“THINK.” – Thomas Watson

Steve Jobs wants you to think different. Thomas Watson just wants you to flat out think. Either way, your job as a customer-focused marketer is to take the (sometimes contradictory) clay and mold it into the Mona Lisa of marketing campaigns (which is further complicated by the fact that the Mona Lisa isn’t made out of clay).

So step back from everything you’ve been hearing from your customers. Clear your head. Go to a library. Read the classics. Play with the kids. Walk the dog. Pull a Ferris Bueller.

You need to inject some of you into your marketing campaigns. My point being, don’t overly rely on your customers insights, because I’m sure you have essential ideas of your own. Only you understand your marketing goals, your margin, your corporate structure, the internal politics, and how to mix these all together with your customers’ desires to hit just the right note.

By considering then stepping away from everything your customers say they want, you have the chance to come up with a (pseudo) original way to meet all these demands with a marketing campaign that surpasses your goals and makes you proud and perhaps famous…

To remix a famous quote, “There are no original marketing ideas, just ideas the judges at the One Club haven’t seen yet.”

Step #3: Test (and measure)

“Gentlemen, we got 20 calls about the David Hyde-Pierce incident. And as you know, one call equals a billion people, which means 20 billion people were offended by this. Needless to say, something must be done.” – FCC Suit on Family Guy

It’s one thing for your customers to say they want something in a focus group or phone call. It’s quite another for them to actually reach for the wallet and make a purchase.

You need to run real-world, real-time randomized tests to see how your customers actually react to your use of their ideas. The folks in Washington call this a trial balloon.

If you follow a scientific methodology, testing gives you a chance to gain true knowledge into how well your campaign will actually work. If you just listen to customer opinion, you run the risk of releasing a “faster horse,” because, as MarketingExperiments Senior Manager of Research and Strategy, Boris Grinkot, says “You have to be conscious of skewed sampling. People that are upset are the loudest. People that are the loudest may or may not speak for many others.”

Boris mentioned a subtle change in the shopping cart process for a Research Partner that increased conversion. Excellent, right? Well, there was one caveat. They got some kickback about this change creating a “customer-service nightmare.” However, upon digging deeper Boris learned that it was just one upset customer making a big stink on the phone to a manager.

Now, that one upset person can represent many, many more upset people…or not. By designing a series of tests and tracking the right metrics to measure success, you have a full understanding if your spiffy new marketing ideas are moving the needle, which can also help when the manager who just got off the phone with the enraged customer comes barreling down to your office.

In fairness, you need to take into account long-term indicators. If it was just one (or a small handful) of customers, you’re probably OK. But even an entire upset customer base doesn’t necessarily show attrition immediately in the conversion rate. So it really loops back up to Step #1: Listen. If that many people are upset, it will likely show up in other places as well.

So listen…think…test…repeat.

If you’re new to testing and optimization, we have an entire research website and training courses to help you test your ideas.

If you’re an experienced researcher, check out a few test ideas in the Related Resources section that you may not have considered…

Related Resources

Domain/Product Name Testing: Our testing demonstrated that choosing product, service, or domain names based on what you “like” can cost you dearly

What to test (and how) to increase your ROI today

What Else Can I Test…On My E-commerce Or Lead Generation Website?

Marketing Insights

B2C e-commerce is probably the road most traveled in landing page optimization. With shopping cart processes becoming increasingly standardized, e-tailers have learned on their own and from each other, creating better and better shopping experiences. Top names like Amazon.com and Ebay certainly waste no time in their testing and optimization work (or so I hear).

However, in B2C, there is a special segment of sites that sell…nothing. That is, they sell an idea, a feeling, an emotion. These are typically charitable or other non-profit organizations that solicit donations for a cause.

Selling air

When you sell a physical product, the value is largely encapsulated in the features and benefits that the product will deliver. Before I get death threats from branding experts, I certainly do acknowledge that there is more to the product than its physical and functional attributes—but it’s sure easier to explain on a Web page what an air conditioner will do for you, as opposed to what the Clean Air Act will.

When non-profits ask for a contribution, being able to delineate correctly the value exchange in the mind of the website visitor will make a huge difference in their ability to attract donors. In this post, I am looking at how Sierra Club approaches this issue.

Click image to enlarge

At first glance, the page that our friends at Sierra Club initially provided for our Live Optimization Web clinic looks fairly plain—much like many other donation pages I have seen in the past. Here is some quick math: in the space between the header and the footer, (to be gracious) about 10% of the content is dedicated to what Sierra Club does, 20% to the gift incentive that the donor will receive, and the balance to the payment information form.

This layout is typical, and contains an inherent contradiction: the minimal information about the organization and a single-page long payment form would be ideal for highly-motivated visitors, who are ready to donate; in contrast, heavy emphasis on the incentive suggests that visitors to this page are yet to make their decision.

Incentive overkill

I am going to make an explicit assumption that people that want to help the Sierra Club are not doing it because of the free backpack (what on Earth is a rucksack?!). People who are shopping for backpacks probably want to see several different styles, different brands, and few will buy without having touched one (e.g., in a store).

They don’t go to Sierra Club for their backpack (or even rucksack) shopping. It’s a nice gift, but in the framework of value exchange occurring on this page, it is incorrectly positioned as the most prominent part of the offer. It is the single most distinguishable image on the page. The “loudest” message on this page is: free backpack.

However, I am not saying to kill the incentive! Since this item is probably not available in stores, it might be a great way to show off being a donor. As such, this may truly be the right incentive—one that directly connects with the same motivation as the core offer: people that would be willing to support Sierra Club financially may also want to help support its brand and thus influence others to provide financial support.

Value Exchange, Part 1: What will I get?

Sierra Club offers something very special to its donors. It’s the satisfaction of knowing that their hard-earned cash is going to help plant more trees, clean up an oil spill, protect wild places, and so on.

Importantly, Sierra Club does this on a lean operational budget—a hot button topic, especially for large, experienced donors. There is an attempt to communicate the immense number of things that Sierra Club does in two sentences of the intro paragraph. However, this is simply not clear enough to lead to an exchange.

The objective in conveying value is to paint a complete picture in the mind of the visitor of the value to be received—in this case, experienced as a thought and/or a feeling. As I stated above, without a physical product, this is challenging (hence the crutch of using a physical incentive), but not impossible.

Ironically, the clearest expression of value is stated at the very bottom of the page (I noticed it only after examining the page in fine detail), after the visitor, presumably, has filled out the form—in other words, it doesn’t help to get the visitor to that point: “Your gift will help support our efforts to protect our wildlands and wildlife, keep our air and water free from pollution, stem global warming, and promote a clean energy future.”

This page needs to tell the visitor succinctly, but clearly all the things that Sierra Club does, and how well it does it. More importantly, this page needs to relate what Sierra Club does with the donations being requested below. A headline like “Last year, 2,394 donors just like you contributed over $350,000 that was used to [fill in the blank]” can get that conversation started.

Making a reference to “other people just like you” has been shown to be effective not only in online offers—Robert Cialdini conducted an experiment on reuse of towels in hotels. In his experiment, referencing “other visitors that stay in room 125” (I’m paraphrasing) in the card that asks to consider reusing towels—as opposed to leaving them on the floor to be replaced—to save water and energy, dramatically reduced the hotel’s laundry bill.

Value Exchange, Part 2: What do I give in exchange?

The form itself is simple enough, but there is room to make it appear even simpler. The pre-selected radio button is already a plus. In past experiments, we have seen that suggesting a choice is more likely to prompt action—even if the visitor ends up choosing a different option.

The “Don’t send me the free gift” option is just a little confusing the way it’s laid out. This is not a critical issue, but making it clear that text belongs to an item by indenting it can go a long way to making this long form easier to read.

More importantly, even within the form, we must never forget that a value exchange is in progress. If we are asking for a physical address, it’s an opportunity to remind the visitor about the value he/she will get by entering the information.

Both the gift and the magazine need an address, so a value-focused subhead like “Where do we send your gift and magazine subscription” both make the form more relevant and reinforce value to be received. Likewise, organizing all the fields into sub-sections will make the form look less lengthy and more manageable, reducing psychological friction that online forms necessarily create.

The form button is an often overlooked opportunity to reinforce value. Simply “next” communicates little. It implies a negative: that the work of donating is not finished—there’s more to do. Instead, it needs to communicate something positive, related directly to what we are asking the visitor to do (click).

Thus, “Start My Sierra Club Membership” can make a succinct value statement (since “Use my membership dues to protect our wildlands and wildlife, keep our air and water free from pollution, stem global warming, and promote a clean energy future” just can’t fit on a button).

Finally, in asking for value (form completion), we can make the process to feel like less value is being surrendered by increasing the credibility of the request. In the case of Sierra Club, adding testimonials from fellow donors can create a clear connection in the mind of the visitor between the request and the ultimate outcome: between the payment and what the contribution does for the person contributing.

Going back to Cialdini’s research, this is similar to the “social proof” mechanism that he had uncovered. Enforcing the social aspect, letting the donors upload their photos, or better yet, the photos of natural wonders they’re hoping to protect (or both!) may on the one hand reinforce the value being implied in the offer, and on the other hand provide invaluable material that can be used by Sierra Club to demonstrate social proof.

Other innovative ways of saying “other people like you are doing it” is to let visitors sign in with their Facebook® credentials. Building a simple Facebook application that would post something like “Jane Smith is now a member of the Sierra Club” with a link to a special landing page would let Sierra Club leverage the network effect with no additional marketing efforts. Likewise, implementing the “Like” button should be effortless.

More test ideas

Here are a few other tests that Sierra Club may want to try:

• Depending on traffic quality, perhaps try test a two-step process—The first page could focus entirely on communicating the value of being a member/supporting Sierra Club. Since there is a dollar cost, mention something like “for as little as $15 your first year” to minimize price anxiety. The second page could focus on the incentive and payment page.
• Obviously, test different membership levels (probably already did that)—Both with one- and two-step processes. In the two-step process, it may be easier to list higher membership levels.
• Video testimonials—Expressing an idea or a feeling is certainly easier through video than through text.

Related Resources

Live Optimization: What we’ve learned from the last 200 experiments distilled into three principles

Web Page Optimization: Consider this post the help desk for free trial landing pages

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

Landing Page Optimization, Research Topics

Boris Grinkot and I have debated this content vs. technology topic on the blog in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, and in Part 3 we’re going to take a look at what your peers had to say.

But first let me say – of course there is no one right answer to the above question. This is simply a thought experiment.

By going through the process of trying to answer the question, we clarify in our own minds (and hopefully yours as well) the complex interplay between technology and content in your marketing campaigns. Which is more important? In truth, there is a sort of quantum entanglement between the two. So perhaps we can think of this question as Schrödinger’s content.

With that said, here are the answers that we think are the cat’s meow…

Digging for gold

Content needs technology to deliver it. I see it as a two-sided coin. Some folks are going to manufacture the coin and some folks are going to dig the gold.

– Katherine Andes, Web Content Developer at Andes & Associates

The message is the message

I’m on the side of content and strongly believe that McLuhan was wrong – the message is the message.

Form can only enhance a message, not replace it. I sit and watch TV and after every ad, I find myself saying, “that’s a bad advertisement.” Consumers are not children – we really do know the difference between talked at and with. Talk with us, and we’ll respond. Talk at us and before you’re done, we’ve already left the room or muted you.

– Erica Friedman, Social Media Optimizer at ALC Publishing

I’d like to ask Stephen Sondheim if he is a “melody person” or a “lyrics person”

I think that the technology versus content debate is a false dichotomy. It’s not about balance, but about harmony. It’s about the dance. Technology and content either work together to create impact and meaning or they work against each other to create noise and step on each other’s toes.

When they work together, it’s because technology’s impact, without content, lacks meaning, so it has figured out how to make the content accessible and approachable; it’s because the content has figured out that meaning can’t live as successfully in a vacuum as when it leverages the visual and physiological assists of its environment.

When they work against each other, it’s because they’re competing. They distract from each other, they try to outshout each other, they try to be the star of the show instead of the team they were meant to be. When they work against each other, they fail.

The needle and the thread shouldn’t be arguing about which of them is more essential to the art and science of sewing on a button; they should be working together to sew on the damned button. The thread and needle are means to an end. So, to the question of which is more important, the needle or the thread, I would submit that the answer is: the button. For “button,” substitute “communication.”

Thus ends the philosophical portion of my program. I’ll just add three pieces of practical information.

(1) Research at Harvard’s Mind, Brain, Behavior Initiative suggests that most of our decisions are completely irrational and unconscious – and that much of the time we’ve made a decision before we even start consciously thinking about it. What that means is that we make our decisions and then retrofit our rationale into the decision so that it will make sense to us. When we’re trying to understand something, we may be completely unaware of how content + technology are affecting us.

(2) Jakob Nielsen has lots of data about how technology affects comprehension. When you put something on a computer screen, comprehension is automatically reduced by 25%. And we know that people don’t read websites; they scan. This says to me that technology and content must work really hard together to support the communication strategy. Technology giveth and it taketh away. (Interestingly, it’s not as hard to read on the Kindle as it is on a web page. Perhaps that’s because the Kindle’s page layout replicates a book’s layout — no fancy schmancy bells and whistles, a single page with content, no scrolling.)

(3) Whether people lean more heavily upon technological or content assists to garner meaning depends largely, I think, upon their generational cohort. In 1964 we got Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan; in 1999 we got The Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine, Christopher Lock, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger.

– Vicky Jones, Principal at Victoria Jones Strategic Marketing Communications

Content…the world is content, without content it’s just a ball of rock floating in space

The book and the newspaper in the 1700s were no less a technological marvel in their day, than an iPad is today. For that matter, the tribal story teller was a technology of sorts. He had to speak well, be amusing, animated.

One of the things I do is compose Spanish Jazz. You might as well ask me which guitar makes the best music… the answer is none. My skill makes the music, the composition, the technique, mood and tone. I can compose equally well on an expensive or inexpensive guitar. Are some guitars better than others? Sure. But I know of no guitar that can play better music than the musician wielding it.

Content… your life and all its meaning is content.

Give me good content…written on the back of a coaster if need be…and I’ll find you someone who will read it and love it.

– Steven Grindlay, Strategic Marketing Maven at Xross The Line Marketing and Advertising

Content. Content. Content.

We still have copies of all the work we have produced during the past ten years and our clients are still using much of it. Good content retains its value.

During that same decade I have literally thrown away tens of thousands of pounds of computer equipment which has done its job, become obsolete and been written off. Investing in good technology is a worthy aim in the short-term, but it has no lasting value.

– Tom Mountford, Senior Editor at The JMS Group

Related Resources

Debate Team (Part 1): Does the future of media companies, ad agencies, and content marketers lie in technology or content?

Debate Team (Part 2): Does the future of media companies, ad agencies, and content marketers lie in technology or content?

Search Marketing: Tips on mastering the latest innovations in this mature category

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