Free Video Spokespeople Testing – Will it will work for you?

I recently wrote a blog post on Search Engine Watch about Using Video Spokespeople to Increase Landing Page Conversions.

Innovative Media has shown some very promising examples of how substantial conversion increases have helped their clients (such as Napster, Service Magic, and Rhapsody).

But the question remains – will it work for you?

The answer also remains – test it.

Unfortunately up till now testing has been a complicated and expensive proposition:

• Find an actor
• Write the script
• Shoot with pro video equipment against a green screen background
• Produce the video background
• Prepare it for web display with a “player” wrapper
• Pay for the video hosting and display during the test

What if  testing the video spokespeople was easy and free?

Of course you would test!

Through our partnership with Innovative Media’s InnovateAds division, we have made this a reality.

If you sign up for one of SiteTuner’s improvement-guaranteed full-service tests we will test a video spokesperson for FREE!

Yes that’s right – absolutely no strings attached – it is all included in our test. Innovate Ads will script, create, and host the ad for the duration of the test.

If the the presence of the video spokesperson ends up as part of the winning landing page in our test, we will even run a follow-up head-to-head test to determine exactly how much it contributes to conversion improvement.

After the test is over, it is completely up to you whether you want to have the video spokesperson continue to appear on your site. If you do, you simply pay the low per-view fee that you had previously agreed to.

Want to see if you qualify for this service? Contact us.

Case Study – 81% conversion improvement by lowering “barriers”

Our client Stratfor is a leading provider of independent analysis and forecasting on strategic geopolitical trends and events worldwide including, military, political stability, terrorism, and economic topics.

Their homepage is published in an online-newspaper type of format with the latest developments and stories:

When a non-member clicks on a story summary to get additional details they were taken to a so-called “barrier” page where they were asked for their email address in exchange for access to the article of interest.

The email capture is an important part of Stratfor’s marketing strategy and allows them to start an ongoing communication with the prospective subscriber. So the “barrier” had to stay. Working within this constraint, we developed a test strategy to at least lower the barrier. We changed supporting information, the page title, call-to-action format, and a number of other factors on the page.

By using our advanced TuningEngine we were able to examine over 100,000 alternative page designs and find the one that performed the best. The winning challenger (see below) had an 81% higher conversion rate than the original page, while still accomplishing the marketing objective of retaining the email capture.

Read the detailed case study.

Landing Page Testing Nirvana – OnDialog/SiteTuners

I am often asked – “why isn’t everyone doing landing page optimization and testing?”

Considering the potential for huge profit increases, what is holding people back?

Problems with 1st generation landing page testing

There are two major issues that stand in the way of widespread landing page optimization:

• How to prepare your landing pages for testing and “instrument” your test
• How to collect, analyze, and interpret the data to find the best performing page

Up till now these have been difficult and painful problems. Programmers, webmasters, and I.T. staff had to get involved to make sure that your landing page testing code did not “break” the current page. This slowed down the testing process, and made testing cycles longer because they became tied to code-rolls and software release cycles on your website. Testing initiatives spearheaded by marketing staff were not usually at the top of the priority list for the I.T. department.

Even if you could instrument, QA, and prepare your pages for the test, you still had to figure out how to collect and analyze the data.  Many testing approaches require you to understand the complexities of inflexible test designs involving fractional  factorial testing arrays (see the whitepaper The Truth About Taguchi to learn more about the drawback of traditional landing page testing math).

They also forced you to examine complicated statistical reports and and make judgment calls about which page versions in your test were the best. You had to  “watch the pot boil” instead of working on other higher-value-added activities. Without a strong background in math it was easy to get led astray and not find the best performing page in your test.  Sure, you might have found a better performing version than your original, but you were almost guaranteed to leave money on the table.

The bottom line with the old approach was typically the following:

• Long preparations for each test
• A lot of painful work instrumenting the test pages
• JavaScript code added to your test pages
• Involvement and coordination with I.T. staff
• Restrictive and arbitrary test designs
• Long data collection periods
• Complicated test monitoring
• Time spent collecting data on suboptimal “known losers”
• Not finding the best page out of the tested alternatives

There has got to be a better way…

A breakthrough 2nd generation testing approach

If you are an online marketer, what would your landing page testing nirvana look like?

I bet it would have all of the following characteristics:

• Fully controlled by the marketer (no outside involvement)
• Simple visual page design and preview (no coding or page tagging)
• Clean test pages with no JavaScript artifacts added to your pages
• Tests ready to collect data in a matter of minutes
• Unrestricted test designs (flexibility to throw in as many good ideas as you have)
• Ability to run much larger tests and find the best answer with a lot less data collected
• Adaptive display of pages that quickly cuts out known under-performers
• Automatic “one button” data collection and analysis (no oversight required)

Luckily such a system is not just a fantasy mirage – you can start using it today.

SiteTuners has licensed its unique TuningEngine technology to OnDialog.com to create a unique and compelling value proposition landing page optimization (read the press release).

OnDialog is a leader in landing page creation and management software. It’s SaaS (software as a service) web based solution has the following powerful features:

• Ability to create flexible page templates (that enforce your visual and layout guidelines)
• Easy visual creation of page content (including forms)
• Publishing of pages to multiple personalized URLs (ideal for affiliate and PPC programs
• Creation of personalized and segmented  page content based on business rules
• Integration with leading CRM systems including SalesForce, NetSuite, and SugarCRM
• Connections to payment gateways for e-commerce transactions
• Support for multiple page flows and microsites

SiteTuners unique TuningEngine technology has been fully integrated with OnDialog and offers many advantages over traditional tools:

• Much larger test sizes with higher data rates (1000 times larger that standard parametric MVT)
• Considers context and variable interactions (how well all variable on the page work together)
• Adaptive – zeroes in on the best performers and eliminates “dogs” early
• Fully automated – provides the results of a simple head-to-head between best “challenger” page and the original

OnDialog has a full range of cost-effective offerings for any business size:

• Free – Try the software for free
• SMB – For small businesses
• Pro – For interactive agencies with multiple clients, and mid size businesses
• Enterprise – For larger interactive agencies, affiliate networks, or enterprise clients

If you are interested in participating in the Beta program for the Pro or Enterpise versions of the Ondialog powered by SiteTuners solution, please contact OnDialog.

Conversion optimization guarantees success in 2009!

Few things in internet marketing come with a money back guarantee – with the exception of SiteTuners optimization testing!

Our full service testing service includes a performance guarantee. If we cannot increase your existing conversion rate by 5% or more, the test fees are either prorated or free.

Are your landing pages or website a great candidate for conversion optimization? If so, perhaps we should explore how SiteTuners flat fee, full service, guaranteed testing services could help ensure a great 2009. Please let us know if you would like a detailed information package or a call from SiteTuners to help better understand your options.

Search Engine Strategies NYC Prequel – March 23-27, 2009

Hard to believe another year has gone by since the last SES NYC. This terrific show is an action packed gathering of thousands of top online marketing professionals.

It seems like landing page optimization has finally arrived from and center on the SES agenda – my week will be very busy:

• Monday March 23rd  1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Landing Page Testing Crash Course (1/2 day workshop)

I will lead a half day intensive workshop during the SEM training day that precedes the conference.  Several morning workshops are also available.

• Tuesday March 24th 11:45 am – 12:45 pm – Landing Page Testing & Tuning

Join my friend and moderator Sage Lewis for my solo session on landing page optimization.

• Tuesday March 24th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Free Book Signing

Join me at the Google booth on the exhibit floor and get a free signed copy of my Landing Page Optimization book courtesy of our friends at Google Website Optimizer (GWO). Hang out at the booth and learn how you can start using this terrific free tool for A/B Split Testing or Multivariate Testing. Also, the free books are for full conference pass holders only (single day is okay) – but due to the limited supply and large demand we will be unable to give books to Expo-Hall-only pass holders. Better get in line first if you want one…

• Tuesday March 24th 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm – Extreme Makeover: Conversion Edition

Join moderator Christine Churchill, Bryan Eisenberg, Ethan Giffin, and myself for this entertaining 360-degree view inside of landing page testing. We will do in depth critiques of websites and show how they can be improved. After the conference we will actually test our ideas in a head-to-head landing page test and see if they improve performance. Guaranteed to be a great time!

• Tuesday March 24th 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – OnDialog.com Networking Cocktail Reception

Join us in the exhibit hall for free drinks and a nice way to wind down the day. Preview the new OnDialog landing page creation and management solution (powered by our SiteTuners TuningEngine). This groundbreaking system lets you visually design a landing page test and deploy it with the push of a button – no I.T. involvement or page tagging needed!

• Wednesday  March 25th 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Your Baby Is Ugly – Landing Page Mini-Critiques

Join me in the exhibit hall (booth # 1122) to see websites and landing pages dissected live. You can simply watch or volunteer your site – I promise you will learn a lot either way. This session is open to Expo-Pass -only holders in addition to full conference attendees.

• Thursday March 26th 2:15 pm – 3:30 pm – Google Website Optimizer: Radically Improve your Conversion Rate!

Moderator Bryan Eisenberg will lead a lively discussion with Trevor Claiborne, Kayden Kelly, and me about the best way to leverage Google’s excellent free landing page testing tool.

Hope to see you all there!

Keeping up with Tim Ash – I am now on Twitter

Guy Kawasaki finally convinced me that getting on Twitter actually makes business sense.

I know I am late to the party – but I am a little slow at times… 

In any case, I wanted to share my current contact information with anyone who wants to reach me or stay up on my activities.

Work (PST)     (619) 223-8020
Skype             tim_ash1
Twitter            twitter.com/tim_ash
LinkedIn         www.linkedin.com/in/timash
Facebook        www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Ash/711922881

Company               SiteTuners.com
Blog                       Blog.SiteTuners.com
Book                      LandingPageOptimizationBook.com
Column                  SearchEngineWatch.com
Free Resources      LandingPageDirectory.com

ERA eRetailer Summit, Miami – Recap

On March 2nd, 2009 I spoke and held a free book signing (courtesy of Google Website Optimizer) at the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) eRetailer Summit in at the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel on the waterfront in downtown Miami. The show focuses on direct response TV (infomercials), which these days means that the traffic is primarily being directed to the Web. So the success or failure of each product largely depends on the conversion rate of the landing page.

I got to meet infomercial superstar Billy Mays!

See the photo album.

The Decision-Making Funnel, Stage 1: Awareness

It is critical to smoothly take website visitors through their decision-making process to maximize conversions.

The so-called “sales funnel” can be broken down into four steps captured by the acronym AIDA:

• Awareness
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

In a recent column on Search Engine Watch, I examine the first stage of the decision making process – awareness (read the article).

Podcast of Tim Ash with Jim Kukral

I recently had an interview with online marketing evangelist Jim Kukral.

Listen to the podcast here.

Tim Ash Podcast on DishyMix

I was recently interviewed by Susan Bratton of DishyMix fame. She is a dynamic and very personable lady who genuinely enjoys what she does. Her show has featured many of my heroes, mentors, friends, and colleagues in the past including Jim Sterne, Kevin Ryan, Andy Beal, Seth Godin, Steve Wozniak, and Danny Sullivan.

We had a fun and far ranging discussion about landing page optimization and a number of personal topics that I usually do not get to air out in public in my professional role.

You can listen to the podcast and get a full written transcript here:

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/232-dishymix/episodes/27094-tim-ash-sitetuners-landing-page