How They Forced Me To Choose "Yes" and Like It

Crossroads by CarstenTolkmit @CC

GraphicDesignBlender came up with a sneaky way to push website visitors to choose “yes.”

I hopped from their excellent Design Blender newsletter to an article on the myriad benefits of featuring testimonials on your website.

When I landed at the article, a free offer popped up on the screen. The pop-up invited me to download a free ebook. I was in a hurry and started to click “no.” That's when I noticed the wording Design Blender had attached to my "yes/no" options:

___ Yes, please send me your free book on "How to Find Clients."

___ No,  I already have enough clients.

I didn’t particularly want the book, but I simply could not check a box that said, “I already have enough clients.”

Call it superstition, call if fear of tempting fate, call it gut reaction. I just couldn’t do it. I gave them my email address -- which was, of course, their purpose -- and downloaded the book.

Their spine-chilling “No” option was the only reason I caved.

Magic, huh? And an awesome way for copywriters to score.

p.s. The free download is actually pretty good.


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Now Is the Time to Try Barcodes + Mobile Because ...

According to eMarketer, the pairing of printed quick response (QR) barcodes and mobile marketing works.

Successful coding isn't difficult, says ad tracking firm Competitrack. Put mobile barcodes in attention-grabbing places and then give customers a clear link to content,  Once folks arrive, make sure content is easy-to read … and do consider video as a landing-page option.

The Trend Works Well in Retail, But Wait .. There's More
So far, mobile barcodes are attracting the most users in the retail (22%) and technology (13%) sectors, although Oppenheimer Funds -- an investment management firm -- has used more mobile barcodes than any other sector, with 85% of Oppenheimer's print ads featuring the small squigglies.

Buying and Entertainment Trends Add Up to New Barcode Possibilities
Even though Quick Response (QR) codes have yet to gain widespread consumer acceptance, by January this year, 50% of smartphone users had, indeed, scanned them, according to a Chadwick Martin Bailey study -- and even non-users recognize a QR when they see it.

As a marketer, remember, too, that mobile doesn't necessarily mean your user is "out and about." A March 2012 survey showed that close to half of all mobile entertainment gamers -- including both action/sports and puzzle gamers) -- play at home. 

It's time to think beyond retail shopping. More likely than not, your mobile user is at home, relaxed and ready to consider buying. The user could be watching television and still be on a smartphone or a tablet (check out this CMB research from February that confirms tablets and mobile devices are replacing traditional home entertainment).

Point is, when shown the code, savvy folks know the QR drill and will use it ... which is why smart marketers are offering the option.

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Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

How "Shaky, Shaky" Could Evolve to "Thought Leadership"

The CMO Council reports that marketers want an agency partner who can "do it all" -- mobile, social, multi-channel, web, search, CRM. Ouch!

Is this demand reasonable? It may not matter, since 58 percent of marketers say they aren't happy -- and disgruntled marketers lead to shaky vendor relationships. It happened suddenly last summer when quite a few big guys switched agencies. United Airlines. Monsanto. S.C. Johnson. Sprint.

Industry observers are taking note of the shake-ups. Some say the shift is away from traditional "advertising" to a marketing platform that emphasizes talking with -- not at -- customers . . . like Facebook, for example.

On Leap Day 2012, Facebook evolved from an advertising to a marketing platform. Central to the switch was Facebook's determination to ramp up engagement with current fans and back-off the push for new fans. Facebook is betting that a deeper focus on "storytelling" can turn content into a word-of-mouth recommendation. They call this switch to storytelling a "sponsored story."

Marketing Prof's February 29 "Marketing Smarts" podcast featuring Mike Levy explains the essential component of this storytelling. Levy says "thought leadership" naturally emerges from the unique experiences, insights, and abilities that set one company apart from another. "The stuff that fascinates you and that you found helpful and the stuff that helps you live your life...there is a population out there that will find the same things fascinating and the same things helpful."

A personal story brought this concept home to me: ifixit.com.

Because I work on a Mac, I discovered this company years ago and fell in love with their dedication to helping me "fix it myself." They posted videos and detailed instructions on how to get inside the Mac to add memory and do other self-maintenance. Ifixit paved this road to repair because the founder believed in it profoundly. A few years ago, they took the concept even bigger, stretching their beliefs to self-repair of anything and everything. Not only is ifixit's philosophy eco-friendly, it's empowering to those of us who are frustrated that simple repairs evoke migraine headaches. I really love ifixit and the people who founded and run it. That's how they've built their business: by being who they are and letting the marketplace "find them" … in short, by exercising "thought leadership."

Erika Napoletano agrees. "Popular is the last thing smart business people should want to be … By pursuing an unpopular path, you are actually narrowing down and refining your notion of the audience with whom you truly want to be popular after all."

Reflection, authenticity, storytelling, outreach: Shaken by the poisonous atmosphere of political advertising, will 2012 move our marketing toward thought leadership? I believe it will.

Why RADICAL Redesign Should Be the FIRST Step In Web Page Optimization

Yesterday afternoon, I tuned into a webinar sponsored by Marketing Experiments. Tagged Rapidly Maximizing Conversion: How one company quickly achieved a 53.9% lift with a radical redesign, the webinar was hosted by MECLABS Managing Director Flint McGlaughlin.

The basic message was this: When attempting to achieve a web page response lift, do not test individual components of the landing page. Rather, go for a radical redesign of the whole web page.

Why? Because testing one variable at a time is very very slow. For example, an average web page redesign experiment might test the headline, color, call to action, three dimensionality, video, copy, etc.

Instead, begin with a radical redesign and work backwards to achieve the necessary fast conversion improvement that marketers are looking for.

How do you know whether or not you need a radical redesign?

First, Evaluate your results to date to identify any of the following failures:

1. Your website is significantly under-performing.
2. You are experiencing unimpressive test results.
3. You have trouble getting a valid test.
4. The market you are appealing to has shifted in macro or micro directions.

Second, review your conversion index and customer profile analyses to determine specific structural [categorical] problems. [More about "categorical problems" in item #2, below].


The Six Key Principles

Based on a variety of independent theories -- decision theory and game theory, for example -- radical redesign urges marketers and web page designers to adopt six key principles.

1. Understand how to utilize radical redesigns to determine your optimum page "category."

a. A radical redesign is one in which the experimental approach is "categorically" different from the control.

b. Various perceived problems in the page design -- for example, weak headline, jumbled layout, ineffective call-to-action, a value proposition buried in links, poor thought sequence, poorly performing form field, too many or too few graphics, questionable perceived value, multiple steps to get to the buy process, etc. -- will all be changed and tested in one move.

c. From the point of radical improvement, then you can go back and look at individual variables.

2. Radical Redesign is aimed at determining our "best page" category. This is accomplished by taking into account structural elements inherent in a given communication archetype (for example, long copy vs. short copy, graphics heavy versus copy heavy, etc.)

Through radical redesign, you learn as soon as possible everything about how to get a lift. You are able to test such structural website attributes as image-heavy structure v. text heavy design; sales tone emphasis v. to academic tone; a 3-column layout v. a 1-column layout; structure that shifts from process value to product value, etc..

3. Use Radical Redesign to get to single-factor testing.

First, figure the structural communication categories [see#2 above], then move to such single-factor testing as an a/b split.

3. Hypothesize solutions.

• How might it work to simplify the multiple steps in the buy process?
• Suppose you eliminated as many cart steps as possible?
• What would be the effect of replacing a single call-to-action with radio buttons aimed at product selection?
• How might change copy to clarify and highlight the underlying value proposition.

4. Design alternative treatments.

Test as many treatments as your traffic will allow, then test the differential between the control and the treatments.

5. Analyze and interpret test results.
Look for enough actions and enough variants to allow for statistical significance and be sure to run tests full cycle. Don't assume anything too early in the testing cycle.

At this point, the learning begins. Now you must convert how much and how many into why and what can I learn about my customer? for example:
a. Is my customer's motivation sufficient to maintain momentum through longer cart processes?
b. Is the customer confused by multiple calls to action?
c. Is the customer ready to click the call-to-action button only when they have read and understood the value of the product?

6. Plan iterative tests.
a. Once you've tested into the correct category you can challenge the control enough to generate a significant difference. The objective now is to test the highest performing variables and increase channel specificity.

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Two Experts Recommend These Direct Mail Response Boosters

On November 1, DirectMarketingIQ hosted a Webinar featuring Patrick Fultz, DM Creative Group, LLC, and Michael Capuzzi, Copy Doodles.com. Fultz and Capuzzi cited their favorite direct mail response boosters. Here's a quick recap.

PATRICK FULTZ

Try variations of the envelope teaser:
• hand-written teasers;
• presenting the offer on the envelope;
• a novel approach to presenting the teaser;
• promising a gift inside;
• pointing out special features with handwritten arrows and notes.

Vary the size of windows in a window envelope to:
• show variable text elements on the outside;
• feature a product or sticky item (labels, etc.);
• show a premium or free gift through a window;
• create interest with specially shaped or odd-shaped windows.

Personalize with options like these:
• name and address, of course;
• variable images (in some cases, variable images have generated response rates of 40%);
• 1 to 1 marketing;
• tailored copy, offer, and images for individual relevance;
• handwritten personalization.

Consider a variety of options for the postage space:
• First class v. Standard;
• Indicia incorporating graphics;
• Live stamps;
• Meters with the company logo incorporated into the meter imprint.

Test changes in delivery format, including:
• Postcards (generally, these appear to be generating good returns now);
• Self-Mailers (these require testing, but can boost response and save on postage);
• In-line printed envelopes that offer additional personalization options;
• Three-dimensional mailers to create additional interest.

Test newer technologies:

• pURLS, which can drive response rates up significantly, but need to be tested;
• QR Codes, which are in wider use now, but should be used highlighted only when it makes sense to use them and always highlighted;
• Mail Tracking. For example, it’s now possible to structure and track Standard rate mail to hit a 3 to 5-day window, thus saving on First-Class postage.
• eMail follow-ups that are triggered by the direct mail drop;
• Sound-Light-Video blurs the line between digital and print media and can be very powerful for the right audience.

MICHAEL CAPUZZI

Adopt creative strategies to help shut out the noise of other marketing:

Make It Personal.
1. Personalize the "who," the copy, the message, the offer.
2. Make your direct mail look like it's coming from a friend.
3. Make your direct mail distinctive (for example, try a hand-crafted look).
4. Apply handwritten messages that pop-out and work as eye-magnets and envelope teasers.
5. Use cartoons and comics to generate interest.
6. Use sticky notes, rubber stamps, doodles, and hand-art on letters and envelopes.

Create Envelopes That Get Opened.
7. Window envelopes with handwritten fonts generate interest.
8. Print on both sides of the envelope so all real estate is used.
9. Use "Do Not Fold" messages to pique interest.
10. Test cool stamps or multiple stamps.

Create Postcards That Get Results and Campaigns That Get Attention.
11. pURLS are appropriate, but not all the time. Make sure the web landing page for a pURL is also highly personal!
12. Handwriting is a smart way to get eyeballs to focus on certain parts of an envelope or letter.
13. Photos of the sender on the envelope are worth considering.
14. Be creative with the mailer (for example, try a brown paper bag to deliver the message).
15. Create urgency with envelope teasers and notes that say "Last Chance," "Final Offer," "Act Now," etc.

So What’s Working in the Real World?
16. Addition of a red note on the envelope saying "Your Tickets Enclosed" bumped response from 1.1% to 8.7% response rate.
17. Addition of an item circled in red and addition of two hand writte words (free and Stop boosted response rate from zero to 3.3%.
18. Adding doodles boosted response to 5.9%.
19. The sender sent the same letter, but added handwritten notes "Act Now" and "Call Me," along with underlines and other handwritten marks drove response rate up.
20. A 28% boost in response came when one marketer added a few red handwritten notes, underlines, and doodles to the letter.

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How Forms and First Impressions Affect Conversion Rates on Your Website

The May 6 HubSpot Webinar, The Science of Lead Generation, featured Dan Zarrella. The part of the presentation that focused on Form Fields and Conversion rates produced the following info of interest to marketers.

• Ask for information that makes sense. For example, if you ask for a home address when registering for a webinar, people wonder “why?” Zarrella says the reluctance is less about privacy invasion than it is about a fear that sales people will hassle you later. Zarrella looked at conversation rates as related to the number of form fields required. “Yes, there is a very slight decline when the number of fields go up, generally, so I looked at how the number of text fields affected conversion. As the number of text fields goes up, you don’t see significant decline until you reach 15 text fields and up. But when I looked at the number of “select boxes,” as the number of those increased, conversation rate did show a sharp decline.”

Other findings included:
• “When you’re trying to decide about removing form fields, you need to be worried about the more complicated fields.”

• Asking for people’s age is a big no-no.

• When you ask for an address, conversion rate is lower, but ZIP information doesn’t significantly hurt conversion.

• Aversion to giving address, phone, and other information is less about privacy than it is about an aversion to being hassled by random cold calls.

• When you use the word “submit” as a button text, you get a much lower conversion rate than with alternate text choices. “The word ‘submit’ has a negative association for most B2B consumers. When I tested five other kinds of text on buttons instead, the most popular button text choices, in descending order of conversion, were ‘click here,’ ‘go,’ ‘submit,’ ‘download,’ and ‘register.’”

Also of interest were Dan’s general pointers on how visitors tend to evaluate a website.

• Design skill and professionalism are super important to the impression your website leaves with visitors, so give it your best.

• People who are interested in you after a website viewing, will also research you. They won’t just Google you, either. They will search third-party results for complaints or bad comments about you. Research yourself to see what might pop up.

• One of the ways people decide if your website is genuine is by looking for specificity. The more specific you can be about your business, the more people will trust you.

Hats off to Dan Zarrella and HubSpot for its great series of free Webinars.

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More Landing Page Testing Tips from WhichTestWon

Today’s webinar from WhichTestWon, focused listeners again on the testing of landing pages.

Note: With the advent of the ubiquitous QR code, landing pages will certainly take on greater significance than ever, so it pays to get this fundamental part of direct marketing right.

Here are some quick tips from presenters Anne Holland, publisher of WhichTestWon.com, and Anna Talerico, executive vice president of Ion Interactive.

1. Test the big picture stuff -- the landing page experience, the page layout, the offer, and the aesthetics.

2. What to test first -- Headline wording, distraction-removal, images, forms/check-outs, and buttons/response links.

3. Multivariate versus A/B Testing. A/B testing is about testing one element on a page against another element on the page, or one page against another. Multivariate testing is more about testing multiple elements on a single page. Multivariate testing isn’t “fancier,” but it’s more complex, so it does take longer to get significant results.

4. When you’re testing, it takes time to reach desired “confidence levels.” Many marketers want at least a 95% confidence level in order to run the winner forward, so it’s important to wait until the test has had at least two – preferably three -- weeks to run. Things can shift even at the highest level of confidence, so give the test time. No matter how eager you are to talk about the test, hold your results close to the chest until sufficient time has been invested. On the other hand, when there’s a big variance in one test result versus another, it’s okay to consider moving earlier to remove the poor player. Just be careful not to rush it.

5. What four outcomes matter to your CFO? More sales, more qualified leads, lower cost per lead, and higher revenues per cart -- that’s what your test results are working toward. Therefore, be careful about testing for testing’s sake and never lose sight of these four desired outcomes in testing.

6. The “thank you” page where folks land to pick-up their free giveaways should be used to influence what you are testing at the top of the experience. This is your first conversion for that person and should be the start of a great relationship. It's worth time to get your thank-you page right.

Q&A

What if you have to pull the plug on a never-ending test in which results remain unclear? This may be one time you need to use your good marketing intuition to make a choice. Which one of the options do you not want to work with any longer? Pull that one.

How do you test without code or IT help? Marketers have a choice of many testing tools that facilitate self-sufficient operation (Google, for example). WhichTestWon has a 5-minute video that instructs marketers how to get started in testing without IT help.

If I have dynamic pages, how do I test? Usually when you have dynamic/changing content on site, you can still test the shell of the page and the layout of the page.

Do I have to wait 21 days for email testing? No, email is a little different. On the other hand, you want to wait until you have sufficient data (for example, it takes time to measure cart abandonment or reaction to shifting banner ads).

How do I know if my results are statistically significant? This information will be part of the reports you’re getting. If this feature isn’t part of your reporting system, change systems.

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Which Parts of My Landing Page Should I Test?

With great new, easy-to-use technology like Marketo and Unbounce, marketers can easily execute a key feature of direct marketing: Testing.

But what exactly should marketers be testing about their landing pages? Marketing sherpa Anne Holland shared her wisdom today with webinar participants who checked in to learn about “Winning with Better Landing Pages: Top 5 Secrets to Lifting Conversions.” Here are some pointers from the session.

Buttons
Button visibility is a major factor in getting visitors to take action, so go to any necessary lengths in size, color, and position to make your “do this” buttons stand out. Simple, less complex landing pages tend to work best (though there are exceptions.. always exceptions), so try testing “distraction removal.” For example, one test Anne showed culled the copy, removed the navigation bar, and pared instructions down to a single, big orange button that said “Get Started.” The result? “Get Started” outperformed its more complicated counterpart by 1,363%. (Yes, one thousand three hundred sixty three percent).

Headlines
Headline testing is critical for B2B lead-generation landing pages. What seems obvious may be wrong, so marketers shouldn’t rely on their own “best practices” experience. Rather, run an A/B test on headline variations.

In particular, test the headline on your registration form. For example, which header do you think pulled best when featured on a registration form?

1. Risk Free
2. Create your own profile for free and unlimited access

Answer: The second.

Images
Marketers often turn the “pretty” part of landing pages over to graphic designers, with the notion that photos and images are simply “window dressing.” Not so. These, too, need to be tested. Should the image be male or female? Show people happy or neutral? Use avatars or real people? Show people or product photos? You can’t know until you test, since all of these (and other) differences affect response.

Forms
If you have a forms page, you need to test that, too. Marketers often defer to the IT or database folks about the information that must be on a form. That’s not a good idea, says Holland. “Marketers need to work with the database or IT department on the design of forms. Nothing should be assumed.” For example, should a form have "required fields” indicated or not? One such test showed a 31% lift in forms submitted when the “required fields” notation was left off.

Finally, if any of the following options -- “clear form,” “reset,” or “cancel” -- are offered any where near your form, get rid of them all. This is one thing you don’t need to test, says Holland, who notes that these options (often a hangover from database practices in the 90s) suppress results. “Strip them off,” she says.

Videos
Do videos on a landing page suppress or boost response? By now you know, “That depends.” In one case, a ‘form-only’ landing page out-pulled its ‘with-video’ counterpart by 190%. “Don’t just jump on anything because it’s the new thing,” says Holland. “Test.”

For lots more online examples of WHAT to test, check out the whichtestwon.com.

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If You Haven’t Tested Personalization, Why Not?

This morning, Target Marketing reported on Archive Director Paul Bobnak’s latest analysis of the expansive Who’s Mailing What archives.

Of significant interest to direct marketers is Bobnak’s finding that -- in the first six months of 2010 -- personalization of direct mail increased 19 percent over all of 2009. “Used in 35 percent of direct mail, it's more important than ever to help make mail relevant for the prospect,” Target noted.

I knew that. And you knew that. And my guess is that in the second half of 2010 even more direct marketers will confirm that. So what’s the hold up?

The first of Bobnak’s findings about direct mail trends in the first half of 2010 explains why personalization percentages aren’t even more dramatic: to wit, the finding that “Repeat mail, or controls, are up 12 percent in 2010 and now represent a full quarter of all direct mail. Reasons stretch from mailers being budget-conscious to staying with efforts that are clearly working.”

In other words, nervous mailers are entrenched in “what works” to the point they’re afraid to even test personalization. They’ve heard it works – they even believe it works – but, in this milieu of overworked staff and financially freaked CFO’s, personalized direct mail is an easy “test” to avoid.

Among the figures Bobnak uncovered, though, I'd wager that, among the 35% of “personalized” proponents you’ll find the direct marketers with the most successful results.

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In Today's Marketing, Breaking Up Is Not Only Easy, It’s Mandatory

A long-time friend owns Photo Tour Excusions, a small business in D.C. that guides tourists and local folk in taking professional-quality photos while touring area attractions. Naturally, my friend is looking for ways to market his business. I was surprised to learn that, even with a fledgling enterprise, Lyn had already approached Groupon to represent him. When he wasn’t accepted there (not yet big enough), he signed up with a similar fast-growing service, LivingSocial.

Why was I surprised? Because go-local, name-your-favorite-poison online enterprises like these didn’t even exist two years ago.* Today, they’re the darling of twenty-somethings and other hyper-local cognoscenti who wouldn’t dream of clipping coupons, reading classifieds, finding a hot spot on the radio, or perusing magazine ads or billboards (wait.. what’s a billboard?).

Today’s fresh consumers want to hear the pitch from some other horse’s mouth -- preferably, a horse they know but, if not, a viral horse like Yelp, LocalKicks, Daily Candy, etc. etc.

The point is ..
Marketers and consumers are experiencing a sudden and overwhelming fracture/splinter/explosion of new media that’s competing with – if not outright slaying – the Goliath venues that dominated marketing for so long. Change, of course, makes opportunity.

The revolution is here because …
The new methods work just like the old with one major difference: The new methods ferret out, accommodate, and speak to splinter groups. Contemporary marketing isn’t worth squat if it’s not segmented.

Even television is breaking up …
Michael Hirschorn’s paean to change in New York magazine covers the radical TV producers who are churning out shows with small, but highly devoted, groups of “fans” -- shows like Breaking Bad, Jersey Shore, and The Boondocks.

The networks aren't happy, of course, but Hirschorn says niche TV is gold to advertisers. “On basic cable, in most cases, you need only a million 18-to-49-year-old viewers to call your series a hit … And if your show is considered ‘high end,’ you can get by with an audience of even fewer, since in an ever-more-fractured marketplace, advertisers will pay to reach the kind of people who watch Colbert or Stewart.”

The REAL point is…
Market Segmentation. Duh. When you make your marketing plans for 2011, give some thought to your market segments. Think niche; think local, think fractured. Then think creatively about how to break up. It won’t hurt.

Note: Local is an important part of segmentation. Trendwatching (a must-read resource, by the way) talked about the importance of local in 2007 when it pitted global vs. local, saying: “… In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”

* Groupon, which grew out of an earlier effort called The Point, got going under its current name just last year. LivingSocial, started by a Facebook developer, got a $5 million venture-capital infusion in July 2008.

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Hapless Request from Newbie Magazine Fires Up A Storm of Vitrol

Angelia W., magazine publisher, surely had no clue what she was asking when she invited a group of freelance writers on LinkedIn's "Writers' Showcase" group to send articles to her recently re-launched women's magazine. Angelia was looking for "experienced writers," but was "currently unable to provide compensation." Correct. She wanted us to work for free.

The group administrator cut off the outrage at 13 comments, but the group made several points worth repeating.

Freelance writer, Arlie MacGregor, said, "Apparently, the magazine industry is different from the rest of the business world in that they expect employees to work for free and line the owner's pockets. If this were any other business 'just re-launching,' such as a restaurant, legal firm, gas station, retail store, etc., asking for free labour would be unthinkable (and covered on the local news no doubt)."

Writer/journalist/editor/visual artist Andrew Brooks added his two cents: "Arlie, I've often wondered why the mag industry is plagued with this 'no-pay' approach when it wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else. I think the problem might be that most people think anyone can write. After all, we all have to write at some point, even if it's just a grocery list or directions to a house. 'So how hard can it be??'"

Arlie took exception, saying, "We make it easy for them to offer 'exposure' for our hard work .. To the publishers out there who are 'just starting, launching, organizing, structuring, etc.' -- People die of exposure .. If you can't pay professional writers, prepare to get your hands dirty and do the work yourself. If that sounds like too much work, it's because it is work."

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Testing Will Test Us All

This morning, I got promotions from Silverpop and Marketing Experiments. Silverpop was inviting me to a webinar series “In Search of the Ideal Email Send Time.” Bottom line promise: Reach recipients on the precise day and precise time they’re likely to be checking email and increase e-marketing returns by 30 to 100 percent. Marketing Experiments has a webinar, too: “Optimizing Your E-commece Site” focuses on test strategies that will boost revenue 56%.

All this testing is a daunting responsibility for marketers used to simply uploading e-stuff “whenever,” but testing and adjusting always has set direct marketing apart from other forms of promotion. For years, we’ve paid production experts to help us execute and measure sophisticated direct mail tests. Now we need to do the same for email and e-commerce. Our skill-set requirements are changing rapidly and it’s a bit scary, but the chance to learn something new while doing better also comes with the evolving e-territory. E-victory!