On Thursday 18 2010, I attended an all day training on different aspects of online marketing from Marketing Experiments. We went over the various topics: landing page optimization; home page optimization; social marketing (the proper way to use it for your business); & strategic marketing. I felt a little lonely as I was one of few small business owners; others were marketing executives and personnel from various companies.
This eye opening experience was like no other seminar I have attended. I expected to receive some doos & don'ts, but this was much different. From the beginning we were told we would only be given different eyes to see with and not a guide about what to do. The following will include some highlights of the first day of the rest of my life as a marketer and business person.
Conversion Optimization Meta-Theory:
C=4m+3v=2(i-f)-2a
"C"=Probability of conversion
"m"=Motivation of user (when they will act)
"v"=Clarity of the value proposition (why they will act)
"i"=Incentive to take action
"f"=Friction elements (things that get in the way of the process)
"a"=Anxiety about entering information.
Lessons that make a winning campaign:
1. People don't buy from websites, people buy from people- In other words stop trying to create the perfect website that will bring in leads and sell for you while you sit back and watch the dough rack up. (see point two as a follow up)
2.You don't optimize websites; you optimize thought sequences- take a moment to think about this concept; this might be the most important part of your foundation as a marketer. (if your not scared off by now-perhaps your serious about getting better)
3. To optimize thought sequences, you must enter into a conversation with your reader/customer- If you have a ton of questions at this point the right things are happening in your brain.
4. You must guide the conversation toward a value exchange- giving your reader enough relevant content (value) in order for them to take what you are offering
Additionally important is how you think about your approach
The order in which you approach marketing is key take note of the below:
Opr=Optimize Product Factor-Ensure you have an effective value proposition before you try to express it to clients/readers/customers. This sound easy enough; but trust me it is hard if you have never thought about it. (What do you do better than you competition? Now express that in a line or two-why would they pick you over your competitor??)
Oprn=Optimize Presentation Factor-Ensure your landing page clearly expresses your value proposition before you spend money driving traffic to it.
Ocnn=Channel Factor-Only after you complete the first two steps you can drive as much traffic to your sites as you can.
Okay, now the optimal goal is to have every element of your page either state the value proposition or support the value proposition. In the marketing world this is called Congruence.
The other part to this equation is to make sure each step of the buy process either states or supports the value proposition. (basically a logical yet simple way for readers/customers to submit or buy your offering) Easier said than done! This is called Continuity.
Decrease Friction-Increase Conversions
On towards a topic you all will enjoy-Social Media
Do me a favor real quick.......Throw out all you thought you knew about how to properly market via social marketing. OPEN your mind for me
MarketingSherpa a sister organization of Marketing Experiments created a ROAD map as a general guideline.
R- is for Research-research your audience and competitors thoroughly
O- is for Objectives- Aim to achieve hard measurable and targeted objectives.
A- is for Actions- Create a social marketing strategy with a tactical plan of action. This is a very much over looked step--have a plan for your social marketing program. Just don't sign up and hope for the best.
D- is for Devices- Select platforms that fit the tactical plan and social architecture. (Social architecture will take some out of the box thinking, not many people have thought out and written down how each piece of their social marketing program works to drive traffic or gathers leads.)
There was a small piece on growing your opt-in lists.
Basically the long lasting debate is Rent vs In house
5 reasons why growing your own list is best:
1. You know who is on it
2. You know how they got there
3. You get a better response than if they came from a rent list
4. It is more cost effective
5. It is a sustainable asset for your firm
Here are ways to grow your opt-in list
1. Newsletter and alerts
2. Content offers
3. Social media prospecting
4. Co-registration
5. Contests
I know this information has gotten you think about things just a little differently.
Please feel free to visit Marketing Experiments website (www.marketingexperiments.com/subscribe). They have been researching for years and have really great results from their experiments. They are still optimizing for companies to this day; so this is not one of those "do as I say, not as I do" companies. They train some of the major marketing companies out there so that speaks to their expertise and results achieved.
