MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments Optimization Summit 2013, May 20-23, in Boston, is rapidly approaching. For this blog post, we are featuring a video excerpt from one of last year’s presentations.
Speaking in this video clip is Tony Doty, Senior Research Manager, MECLABS, on involving IT when prioritizing the testing sequence in a testing and optimization program.
Tony talked about some key questions, such as:
- How long will it take to develop and set up each test?
- How difficult is the underlying technology? For example, is the webpage a custom development, or was it created with off-the-shelf content management software?
- Is the landing page stand-alone, or is it more deeply connected to the architecture of the website?
One point Tony makes is this – as a marketer conducting testing and optimization, you might have a part of the website you absolutely want to test. At the same, that part of the website might not be a page you can immediately impact.
Involving IT means creating an atmosphere of open communication inside the entire testing team, and understanding some tests are just too difficult to immediately jump into.
For example, for an external landing page, the development team could probably redirect a paid search campaign for testing.
At the same time, a page nestled deeper in the buying funnel that your website is walking prospects through could have too many website architecture connections and ties to the database to be easily tested.
Tony said the key is to balance the potential best optimization options against the time and difficultly element from an IT perspective. As in many interdepartmental challenges, Tony said communication with the IT department is a way to achieve that balance.
This video was taken from a presentation titled, “Where to Test, What to Test, What to Ask,” and also included MECLABS’ experts, Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content, and Adam Lapp, Associate Director of Optimization and Strategy.
I highly recommend taking the time to watch the entire session, where topics include:
- Learning where to test by identifying key steps and pages in the Marketing/Sales funnel
- Mapping the primary conversion path of prospects to prioritize testing sequence
- Estimating conversion impact of leaks in the funnel
- Detailed explanation of each element of the patented MarketingExperiments conversion heuristic, C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) – 2a
- Formulating a testing hypothesis and creating the research question to test
Related Resources:
Download the presentation slides from the entire session
CRM How-to: Tactics on Marketing/IT alignment, database strategy and integrating social media data
Form Field Optimization: 3 optimization opportunities from a real-world form field page
Homepage Optimization Applied: Get ideas for your next homepage test