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

On a recent Web clinic, Brian Smith, Marketing Analyst, FCH, submitted a PPC ad and landing page for live optimization.

Unfortunately, we do not have time to optimize every submission live on Web clinics, and did not get to this submission.

So, in today’s MarketingExperiments blog post, we’ll offer Brian some optimization suggestions from a peer review session with the MECLABS research team. Our goal is to provide some optimization suggestions from a real-world example you can use to aid your PPC ad and landing page optimization efforts.

But first, let’s get a little backstory on the testing Brian and his team have done prior to the Web clinic.

When I asked Brian about his previous testing efforts, he explained the team has focused their testing mostly on value proposition development and landing page optimization.

I also asked Brian about some of the goals for their PPC ads and landing pages, and Brian explained they share one common goal – lead generation.

“The goal of the PPC ad is to get people to the site,” Brian said, “and the goal of the landing page is to get people to call us or fill out the form.”

Here is the PPC ad copy Brian sent us:

Loan Modification Help

Looking to Get a Loan Modification

Call for a Free Consultation Today

Identify the elements in your marketing that influence conversion

When I asked Matthew Hertzman, Research Manager, MECLABS, for some optimization opportunities, he explained it’s important to first break the PPC ad copy and the landing page down into basic marketing elements using the MECLABS Conversion Sequence Heuristic.

The heuristic is a patented, repeatable methodology marketers can use to look at their offers to understand how they can be optimized to improve the chances of a conversion.

(Editor’s Note: Optimization ideas, by their very nature, point out areas that need improvement. We respect all the hard work Brian and his team have put into their marketing efforts so far. OK, now let’s take the gloves off and dive into some ideas … )

Optimization Idea #1: Test more PPC ad copy variations

Matthew noted the PPC ad could use a little work on reducing the elements of friction and anxiety. Here were a few of his suggestions:

• Try using a display URL in the PPC ad

“We’ve seen from testing that the added continuity from using display URLs generally increases clickthrough rates across multiple industries.”

• Try including a phone number in the PPC ad

“Including a phone number in the PPC ad copy might also relieve some anxiety,” Matthew explained. “But, if the goal is to get them to call or to fill out the form, why not test giving them a direct phone number to call in the PPC ad and use the form as a separate lead gen channel.”

Below is the landing page Brian submitted with the PPC ad:

So, when I asked Matthew for additional opportunities on the landing page with Brian’s goals in mind, here were some of his suggestions …

Read more…

One of the classic Web usability “best practices” is to put the call-to-action above the fold. I did a little research (thank you, Wikipedia) and  apparently, the term dates back to the mid-90s – practically the Paleozoic era of Web marketing.

So, is above the fold still a best practice in 2013? Let’s take a look at a recent discovery from our lab …

Background: Sierra Tucson is an addiction and mental health rehabilitation facility

Goal: Increase the total number of leads captured

Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions?

Approach: Multi-factor split test

CONTROL

The control was an average, short-form page template with a rotating banner. The call-to-action was above the fold on the right-hand side of the landing page.

After analyzing the control landing page, the MECLABS team identified a few possible areas for optimization:

• The page layout causes friction because elements of the value proposition are hidden within the navigation.
• The lack of value proposition on the page does not encourage users to contact the facility.

Based on this analysis, the team crafted the following hypothesis …

Hypothesis: If we increase the value proposition throughout the copy on the homepage and decrease friction with a long-form page layout, then users will be more likely to convert.

Read more…

In today’s Web clinic at 4:00 p.m. EDT – “How You Can Use Email to Discover the Essence of Your Value Proposition (in 5 Simple Steps)” – Austin McCraw, Senior Editorial Analyst, MECLABS, will use our research to help you discover an effective value proposition, and answer questions like:

• What do your customers find most appealing about your offer?
• … Is it the price?
• … Is it a specific feature?
• … Is it the broader brand association?

But first, we wanted to learn some value proposition insights from the MarketingExperiments community …

Value props consist of needs, wants and desires

The best value propositions consist of:

• The benefits my customer most NEEDS from the product/service (ex: the ability to make 500 copies per minute if we are talking about a printer machine)
• + the most parallel benefit my customer WANTS (ex: saving $400 on ink cartridges/per year)
• + the most DESIRE my customer has with products like mine (ex: colorful/professional reports)

– Ahmed Seddiq, Senior Operation Officer, Corporate Visa Services, Dnata, The Emirates Group

Value proposition testing

Really, the only way to answer this question is to test various configurations of value communication using multivariate testing and scientifically determine what resonates in terms of conversion.

– Jonathan Greene, Business Intelligence Analyst, MECLABS (parent company of MarketingExperiments)

Read more…

As part of any value proposition, you must have an “only” factor. This means you must differentiate yourself from your competitors in at least one way. The two “only” factors that most commonly come to mind are price and quality. Price, especially, is often at the forefront of every consumer’s mind.

However, in some industries, the top competitors all compete on similar to identical pricing. You know it, your competitors know it and the consumers will know it after a little research.

So, what do you do when your price matches the other leading companies in your market?

First, you must determine another area where you outshine the rest of the pack outside the price arena. If not, as Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS, says, “It’s likely that your value proposition is already going to be underperforming because it is not forceful enough.”

Second, you might consider hitting the price issue head on. Consumers compare prices – in this digital world, it’s a fact of life. With a few words in their browser search box, consumers can leave your website and find the prices of every competitor in your market.

Instead of letting them leave to find this information, you could present competitors’ prices right on your website. Some companies have already achieved success with this method of attack.

Progressive Insurance is a well-known example of this strategy. The company promotes its comparison shopping on its website, in its search marketing and in its television ads.

If you can’t see the benefits of providing competitors’ prices, let me share two specific advantages the MECLABS Optimization Team shared.

Benefit #1: Address a need in the buyer’s process

As part of any marketing strategy, you should know the steps your customers make in the buy process. Do they research companies, and then select a product from a selected company? Do they research products, determine the specific product they want, and then find the best deal on that product through price comparisons?

If it’s the latter, adding competitors’ prices to your site could be addressing a major need in your customer’s purchase cycle.

“Once they’re there, you’re answering all of their questions. You want to satisfy the perceived needs of the visitors to your site,” said Spencer Whiting, Senior Research Manager, MECLABS.

By providing a price comparison, you effectively solve one issue you know the customer will need addressed.  Spencer said when looking at analytics for many Research Partners’ websites, the number one link visitors click on is often pricing.

Addressing this need also cuts back on potential anxiety around cost. In any economy, but especially today’s, people want to know they are getting the best value for their money. Cost can be a major source of anxiety for many buyers, so addressing this need and correcting that anxiety can help propel the potential customer through to the next stage of the buy process.

Benefit #2: Optimize the thought sequence

Presenting competitors’ pricing offers a second benefit: optimizing the thought sequence. You don’t want your website visitors to conduct unsupervised thinking.

In fact, this is part of the foundation of the MECLABS Landing Page Optimization online course.

The importance of thought sequences is described by the MECLABS LPO Meta-theory: 

To optimize the thought sequence on your landing pages, you can make price part of the conversation. You want to steer the conversation toward a value exchange on your website.

“If you present competitor’s pricing on your site, you have much more control over the perceived cost and value of your product compared to others,” said Lauren Maki, Optimization Manager, MECLABS.

So by showing the similar pricing, you have established an equal perceived cost into the value exchange. As for the value of the product, as Lauren mentioned, you will want to refer back to that “only” factor you have included in your value proposition.

She went on to provide an example using cellular service carriers, “If you have a product for $100 and your competitor has a comparable product for $100, the cost/price is equal, so the visitor is left to decide which has the best value. This is where you want to have influence on the visitor’s perception. ‘Yes, they’re equal in price, but with [our product], you get the fastest and largest network – something you don’t get with the other brand. ”

Having communicated the answer to any questions about potentially better pricing the customer might have as well as providing evidence of a better value for that same perceived cost, you are preventing them from searching for the answer on their own – and off your site.

The below example is Omni Jacksonville Hotel’s listing on KAYAK. You can see how KAYAK, an online travel company, controls the thought sequence of its visitors.

By providing its pricing side by side with its competitors, KAYAK opens a conversation about pricing. Travel is an industry where consumers can easily find the best deals through a little Google research. So in opening the conversation right in the search results, KAYAK uses that opportunity to guide the conversation toward its value exchange.

As in the search result example above, when all the pricing is the same, what do you think the consumer will do? If the customer is simply looking for the best price because they already decided to stay at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, they’ll likely click on that eye-catching, orange call-to-action button, “Select.”

Read more…

Scott Stone, Advertising and E-Business Manager, Cisco-Eagle, submitted a form field page for live optimization on a recent Web clinic.

Unfortunately, we do not have time to optimize every submission live on Web clinics, and did not get to this submission.

So, we’ll offer some optimization suggestions in today’s MarketingExperiments blog post from Adam Lapp, Associate Director of Optimization and Strategy, MECLABS, to give Scott’s team specific suggestions while providing examples how these form field optimization principles can be applied in a real-life setting and hopefully spark some test ideas for your own forms.

Money isn’t the only cost

The page is an excellent example of one of the key principles featured in that Web clinic – “Do Optional Form Fields Help (or Hurt) Conversions?” – that explains cost doesn’t just exist where monetary transactions exist.

Any time you ask a prospect to give up something, there will be an associated cost.

So, before we get into Adam’s suggestions for addressing that cost, let’s take a look at the form field page Scott submitted.

Cisco-Eagle Top

Cisco-Eagle Bottom

Optimization suggestion #1: Don’t start a conversation with bullet points

Adam’s first suggestion introduces the importance of applying customer theory effectively.

“Quite frequently on the MarketingExperiments blog you will see recommendations for landing pages to use bullet points in order to make the content easier to read and scan. This is true. However, on this page the bullets are being fired off before the pistol’s hammer is even cocked.”

When I asked Adam for a little insight, he explained, “Part of the meta-theory behind offer-response optimization states that ‘people buy from people’ and this involves dialogue and a proper introduction.”

Adam further explained the impact offer-response has on conversion by using Burstein Automotive – a hypothetical car dealership owned by our Director of Editorial Content, Daniel Burstein.

Imagine you’re in Daniel’s car dealership and someone walks up to you holding a sign that reads:

• Good fuel mileage
• Leather seats
• Sun roof

“You’re probably not going to buy a car from them,” Adam declared. “How it happens in real life is a sales person introduces themselves and says, ‘Welcome to Burstein Automotive, How can I help you?’”

So before you fire the bullets, give some introduction copy telling customers they are in the right place and what they can expect to find.

“THEN, fire the bullets,” Adam said.

  Read more…

Recently, I went through a value proposition workshop for our upcoming Optimization Summit 2013 in Boston led by Adam Lapp, Associate Director of Optimization and Strategy, MECLABS.

The workshop produced a very simple, yet powerful spreadsheet I’m going to share with you today on the MarketingExperiments blog.

Simple, because it is essentially just a list of different elements or points of value of your products with a rating to determine how valuable they are.

Powerful, because … be honest. With all of the email sends, meetings and campaigns you run, how often do you really step back and try to categorize and rank the value of your products through your customers’ eyes?

So, download the MarketingExperiments Value Proposition Spreadsheet. Here are a few simple tips to get you started …

Get the key people in the same room

And brainstorm. But, this is a structured brainstorm. Start by simply listing all of the different points of value your product might have. Let’s take a car as an example:

• Best-in-class fuel efficiency
• High, but not top, safety rating
• Snazzy new design
• Unique sound system

Then, rate each of these elements of value on a scale of 1 to 5 for the following factors:

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

Based on this ranking, you will find elements likely to be more valuable to your audience, and elements somewhat less valuable to your audience.

Plus, using the spreadsheet, you now have a consistent way to communicate the levels of significance for different elements of value to everyone in your organization who is involved with that product.

  Read more…