If only marketing were more like tires.
I recently discovered that the tires on my Nissan LEAF were recalled, not the specific tires on my car, just that tire model. And it turns out, only the tires manufactured between February 5th and February 18th in a specific plant of that model were included in the recall.
That is impressive. In general, tires are manufactured with such repeatable high quality, that defects can be pinpointed to just a 13-day span among years and years of tire production.
Marketing is not nearly as consistent.
One way to improve the consistency of your marketing is with a repeatable methodology. And if you’re a repeat reader of MarketingExperiments, I’m sure you’re familiar with the MECLABS Institute Conversion Sequence heuristic which can bring structure, clarity and a repeatable framework to any marketing conversion goal you have (MECLABS is the parent research organization of MarketingExperiments).
This is more than just a tool you can use on landing pages. In fact, people around MECLABS have discussed using it to get their children to eat healthy. I’ve used it on college recruiting trips to help students understand elements to consider when choosing a first job.
Since its introduction more than a decade ago, we’ve written and talked about the heuristic a lot on MarketingExperiments. But others have as well. So let’s take a look at some advice from around the web suggesting ways to increase conversion — whatever your conversion goal may be — with this repeatable methodology:
How to create winning ad copy using a scientific approach by Microsoft’s Purna Virji on Search Engine Watch
“The folks at MECLABS came up with a conversion formula that can be a framework for ad copy creation.”
Six ways to improve value and trust for your brand’s website by Tamar Weinberg on ClickZ
“Having a quality value proposition is vital for a website. Researchers at MarketingExperiments concluded that value proposition is key to your conversion rate. Using its ‘conversion heuristic,’ they found that value proposition was second in importance, just behind a consumer’s motivation when visiting your website.”
3 free AdWords testing tools to adopt today by AdHawk’s Todd Saunders on Search Engine Land
“Each text ad should convey enough information to your audience before you pay for a click. What information is ‘enough?’ Try out this formula from MECLABS Institute.”
5-Step Guide to Optimizing Landing Pages by Magdalena Georgieva on HubSpot
“While we keep advising marketers to test with their specific audiences, there are actually a few best practices you should take into consideration. In fact, the folks at MECLABS came up with a formula to create top-performing landing pages.”
6 Ways to Use Clarity to Improve Your Conversion Rate by Shanelle Mullin on ConversionXL
“Similarly, Marketing Experiments created this conversion formula, which puts a focus [on] clarity as well …”
Why You Need to Know Heuristics for Conversion Optimization by Jeremy Smith of Jeremy Said
“One of the most popular conversion optimization heuristics is an equation. MarketingExperiments calls it a sequence. You could call it a shortcut. It summarizes the main factors in the conversion process.”
Conversion Optimization Overview – Applying a Conversion Heuristic to SMB Marketing by Marketing 360
“The conversion heuristic developed by MECLABS Institute is interesting. By definition, a heuristic is a problem-solving approach which concedes that an optimal, logical, and certainly exact solution isn’t possible. Heuristics use guesstimates; measurements are often rule of thumb.”
Conversion Rate Optimization: Three Strategies by Nathan Hill of NextAfter
“This heuristic, created by MECLABS, assigns relative weight to the variables at play in the conversion decision.”
How conversion heuristics apply to email marketing content by Shireen Qudosi of Benchmark Email
“The best way to understand the formula though isn’t by the ‘C’ for conversion — it’s at the opposite end; 2a is where the formula starts and the ‘a’ stands for anxiety.”
Real Estate Lead Generation by Travis Thom
“We used this formula to create our newest line of high converting Real Estate single property sites.”
An Introduction to Referral Marketing Landing Page Optimization by Jeff Epstein of Ambassador Software
“Each landing page should be targeted to a specific segment of your customer base, meaning there’s no exact science to a perfect landing page optimization. But our statistician friends over at MECLABS have come pretty close. They’ve developed a formula for creating an optimized landing page for any marketing campaign.”
Anatomy of a Conversion Optimization Formula by Diego Praderi of Tavano Team
“If you’re not a mathematician, don’t freak out, as this is not a problem you solve in the traditional sense. It’s a heuristic problem, meaning it’s a more concrete way to look at an abstract concept, such as the way we make decisions.”
Landing Page Optimization Conversion Index by Kim Mateus on Mequoda
“As with all marketing functions, landing page optimization is a constant work in progress. We don’t learn until we test and test again and sometimes it’s useful to have a mathematical formula assisting an otherwise creative process.”
A “formula” for landing page optimization by Dave Chaffey on Smart Insights
“To think through the fundamentals of what makes a successful landing page I think this formula developed by Flint McGlaughlin and team at Marketing Experiments is great. We use it in the latest update to our Guide to Landing Page Optimisation to set the scene. We really like the way it simplifies the whole interplay between what the landing page needs to achieve for the business and what the visitor is seeking.”
Optimizing Landing Pages to Match Customer Motivation by Linda Bustos on GetElastic
“Today I want to look at motivation from a different angle. I want you to choose a landing page that is top priority for you to optimize. For example, your most profitable product with the highest abandonment rate. I want to get you thinking about which customer motivations are most likely to match your business, your products, your typical customer and your landing page presentation.”
Related Resources
And of course, we’ve written about the Conversion Sequence heuristic as well …
Marketing Management: Can you create a marketing factory?
Mobile Ad Campaign Optimization: 6 tactics from a high-performing marketer to increase conversion
How to Consistently Increase Conversion
Heuristic Cheat Sheet: 10 methods for improving your marketing
And we even have an entire course that teaches the Conversion Sequence heuristic …
There is a lot of info on this post. Thanks!