During our most recent Web clinic – “Converting PPC Traffic: How strategic keyword placement increased conversion by 144%” – we received questions from the audience that we didn’t have time to address during the presentation. So, let’s take a look at them now …
If you have a new product, you can’t make those kinds of claims – then what do you recommend we do? – RD
I believe RD’s question is in response to two discoveries we often teach.
One, specificity converts. “In marketing there should be no such thing as a general message,” said Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS. “The marketer communicates with an aim. This aim should dictate everything else we say. This aim should influence, even constrain, every word we say.”
Second, third-party credibility indicators can help you achieve that specificity. A nice example, from this blog post about homepage optimization, is “2 million success stories and counting,” with logos of satisfied customers.
This is a significant challenge for a new product. So, here are some ideas to get you thinking:
- If it is a new product from an established company, you can test third-party credibility indicators for other products your company creates.For example, when we launched Optimization Summit a few years ago, we used testimonials about other MECLABS events. If we did not have other MECLABS events, perhaps we would have used testimonials of other types of MECLABS comment, for example, a MarketingExperiments Web clinic. After all, if your company creates a similar product of high quality, it is a fair comparison the new product will be of high quality as well.
- If it is a new product from a new company, you can test third-party credibility indicators based on the experience of the company founders or employees.
For example, let’s say your product is software. “The team behind software X has produced 37 programs rated five-stars by CREDIBLE SOURCE HERE” might be a worthwhile message to test on your landing page.
Overall, these are short-term solutions. You want to put systems in place to garner third-party credibility indicators with as much specific information as possible. If you’re not sure where to begin, this MarketingSherpa case study about how a bathroom supply e-commerce site used a sweepstakes to encourage customers to submit product reviews might be helpful to you.
I see more conversion optimization based on lead generation and service sales. What about e-commerce? In this case, is a more generic landing page more suitable? If not, what would a good landing page look like for an e-commerce site? – Gareth, designer
As mentioned above, specific landing pages tend to work better than generic landing pages.
Not only is that true for the way in which you convey information, it’s also true for the focus of the landing page. In the case of this Web clinic, the topic was PPC optimization. Ensuring continuity and congruence from the PPC ad to the landing page tends to improve conversion.
So, if you have a PPC ad with a lot of clickthrough but low conversion, you should test tying in the offer on the landing page to the value promised in the PPC ad. For example, an ad for a keyword of “Florida gardening.” If that ad led to a landing page about Florida gardening books in particular, as opposed to gardening books in general, it will likely convert at a higher rate.
To get to the second part of the question, here are some e-commerce examples you might find helpful …
Landing Page Optimization: How The New York Times generated a 1,052% cumulative conversion gain
E-commerce: Checkout page test sells 36% more vacations
E-commerce Testing: Redesigned order page, shortened shopping cart drive 13.9% lift in conversion
Optimizing E-commerce Websites
Landing Page Mistakes: E-commerce sites treating new and returning visitors the same
And now, a few questions about our content in general. If you are not interested in MarketingExperiments content, feel free to stop reading here.
Lots of good points. Will the slides be available later? – Hayley, search engine marketing specialist
You can download the slides here, and watch the full video replay here.
Why the change from 60 minutes to 35 minutes? Did the Go to Meeting costs go up? – San, consultant
No, but the frequency of Web clinics have. They are now every other week. This gives us the opportunity to cover more topics. Plus, most marketers are strapped for time, so we try to give as much information in as short a time as possible.
Already in discussions for Research Partnership. Curious to know if Flint does on-site workshops? – Thomas, senior manager, database marketing
Here is more information about on-site training.
Related Resources:
Register for the next MarketingExperiments Web clinic, The Usability Myth: 4 surprising discoveries we made after testing the most common usability principles
Marketing Strategy: How to find answers to the most common marketing questions
Affiliate Marketing: E-commerce site generates 6% more conversions using promo code banner ads