MarketingExperiments.com Web Clinic Podcasts

Whether or not an email send is successful comes down to one primary factor: the messaging. While many companies strive to get audiences interested in products via email, nonprofits have the challenge of asking for donations via email — money spent towards an organization that does not directly benefit the donor. In this Web clinic replay, special guest Tim Kachuriak, Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer, NextAfter, shares his expertise from working with nonprofit organizations on email campaigns. Tim and the research team analyzed specific ways that you can generate interest in an email and strategies you can use to move forward with testing your way to successful campaigns, including an example test that lead to a 380% increase in revenue per email.

Staying relevant to your customers is key in developing a marketing strategy that really works. Many marketers attempt to remain relatable with seasonal campaigns, such as winter holiday campaigns or events like back-to-school. However, seasonal campaigns might not be the best fit, or might not be appropriately executed in all industries. In this Web clinic replay, the research team reveals strategies for striking a balance between clarity and seasonality and shares a test from one company that resulted in a 25% change in clickthrough rate.

Brand strategy has never been more important. The logos, colors and design of a website have the power to immediately orient customers and prospects when they land on your site. When used properly, design elements and aesthetic choices also act to reinforce the value proposition. However, it's important to understand that there must be a balance so that design elements do not become conversion obstacles. In this Web clinic replay, the research team will share strategies for testing your way into a balanced site as well as a test on branding that resulted in a 51% difference in conversions.

As marketers, we must ensure the elements on the page align with the specific thought processes of our prospective customers, empowering them to proceed rather than filling them with anxiety or confusion. The most essential element in the sales process is customer motivation. Unfortunately, it is also the hardest variable for us to influence. Understanding the thoughts of the highly-motivated customer is imperative so that we can then use that motivation to bring about a desirable outcome. In this Web clinic replay, the research team shares two key principles on understanding and harnessing customer motivation, gleaned from two tests. The team also shares four questions to ask when evaluating your own customers' behavior on your site.

Across all age ranges, U.S. adults said that they preferred companies to contact them via email as opposed to any other medium (according to a 2015 MarketingSherpa survey). However, that does not necessarily mean customers are anxiously awaiting your sends. With customers' inboxes being flooded daily with ads and newsletters, they carefully skim the subject lines, searching for easy emails to eliminate. In this Web clinic replay, the research team shares three observations on crafting effective subject lines gleaned from two tests, including an experiment which resulted in a 26% increase in clickthrough rate.

Eight out of 10 American Internet users regularly watch or download videos, according to a Pew Research Center Report (2013). Over the past five years, the ability to create and share content on smartphones has fueled the expansion of video. How do you determine the most effective way to incorporate video in your mobile strategy? In this Web clinic replay, the research team shares two key principles for leveraging the use of video to increase the performance of digital collateral, including a test where one company increased mobile conversion by over 50%.

For many organizations, site engagement is one of the most effective indicators of quantifiable conversion potential that is monitored by analytics. What if you could more effectively influence visitors' actions on your website? In this Web clinic replay, our research team will reveal three proven tactics that can boost engagement on your website as well as a case study demonstrating how one company tested navigation structures, resulting in a 35% increase in clickthrough rate increase.

At the crossroad in a customer's mind between "yes" and "no," elements on your page propel him toward his ultimate decision. However, are the pieces on your site leading your customer down a path that is favorable to you and your business? In this Web clinic replay, Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director and CEO, MECLABS Institute, explains which parts of websites impact a customer’s decision making strategy, and he also identifies components through audience-submitted pages during live optimization.

Determining the optimal price point of a subscription product is no easy task. Customers are inundated with subscription choices in the marketplace, making your asking price vital to your success. At the same time, marketers in subscription business models are under pressure to price products that deliver value and drive ROI. In this Web clinic replay, Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS Institute, will share three case studies demonstrating how each company increased subscription revenue through testing and optimization.

Designing the subscription path of your site is not a trivial matter. Often, minor elements are overlooked that stop a potential subscriber in their tracks and causes them to fall out of the sales funnel. However, with testing, planning and research, a subscription path can be optimized using a few key principles that transform the customer experience. In this Web clinic replay, the research team identifies transferable principles from a recent experiment that you can apply to your own subscription process to increase conversion.

How do you effectively market your product, service or company in 130 characters or less? Each word and character must work toward communicating value in a PPC ad, as these ads directly compete with those around them. But when just one word fails to resonate with the customer, PPC ads fail as a whole. How do you craft a PPC ad that a potential customer will click? In this Web clinic replay, the research team shares two key principles from several real-world examples that you can use to optimize your own PPC ads.

Producing content takes a lot of dedication, time and resources. Valuable content invites your audience to get to know your company and products in a more personal and in-depth way. But when marketers generate content with company logic, it often falls flat with the customer and the conversation ends before it even began. How do you produce content that your ideal customer actually wants to engage with? In this Web clinic replay, the research team gleaned three observations from a recent experiment that you can apply to content presentation on your site to increase lead generation.

Product pages are often the heart and soul of an ecommerce website. It’s where you showcase products and initiate a conversation with customers that guides them to convert. However, there are elements on your product pages that can potentially have a deep impact on customer behavior by quickly turning conversation into concern. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about three key principles you can use to identify and reduce customer anxiety.

"Going green" has become a prevalent part of marketing strategies abroad as marketers work to reach a new eco-conscious customer base with their products and services. However, do green marketing tactics really have an impact on customer purchases? Listen to this Web clinic replay to learn more about the measurable impact of green marketing on customer behavior.

Lead generation is a delicate balance between generating a high quantity of leads, but also high-quality leads. So how can we capture more leads across our Web forms without significantly reducing the quality of those leads? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about a recent experiment that revealed how some minor changes to form fields can increase response from your prospects.

Marketing with multiple products can be difficult. Even the most powerful products can be overshadowed by clutter of less impactful - and sometimes competing - products on a landing page. But what if there was a way to think about multi-product marketing that could maximize the impact of the whole? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about a recent experiment with an independent vitamin manufacturer that revealed how changing your approach to multi-product marketing can increase user engagement - and more importantly, conversion.

Form is not as important as substance, and discovering the right value proposition is the most effective lever marketers can pull when optimizing webpages. Considering the entire mental impact of each button, "ask" and element of friction when testing is critical for understanding the customer conversation and achieving positive results. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about a recent experiment that revealed how changes in strategy can garner significant, repeatable results - a 232% lift for one company alone.

Teleprospecting can require some sales departments to make a high volume of calls each day to convert leads. To do this with any consistency, those teams likely use a call script to help them stay consistent and focused throughout the constant dialing. But are these scripts really effective for moving prospects from conversation to conversion? Learn more about a recent experiment that revealed how some minor changes to call scripts can increase response from your prospects.

The call-to-action is one of the most vital elements in your marketing. Consequently, when you think for a moment about the current calls-to-action on your main offer pages, how can you be sure they are generating enough customer response? What if there were some slight modifications you could make to your CTA copy, placement, size and color to experience a significant increase in response? Watch this Web clinic replay for the results from a recent experiment where calls-to-action were put to the test.

Think for a second about the last time you needed to create a form on your site. Whether it was for a shopping cart or lead generation, it probably had a field where you asked customers to select one of multiple options. Most of us decide quickly between a radio or dropdown format as we’re creating forms, often leaving them as an afterthought of design. But what if choosing the right format for a single question in those forms meant seeing a conversion difference of 15%? Watch this Web clinic replay for the results from a recent experiment company that puts these form options to the test.

When given a choice for a column layout on your pages, what's really the best for marketing your products or services effectively? Is there an underlying theory for selecting a layout that will perform better than others? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn more about a recent experiment with a large technology company involving column layouts that you can use to aid your landing page optimization efforts.

Most usability and design experts would agree that responsive design is an ideal solution for rendering webpages across multiple devices as users transition between desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

While 2013 was a great year for featuring new discoveries to help you do your job better, the sheer volume of actionable takeaways and key principles can be overwhelming for marketers in the trenches struggling to keep pace. In this MarketingExperiments Web clinic, the MECLABS research team reviewed the top five discoveries of 2013 and how you can use those insights to aid your marketing efforts in the upcoming year ahead.

When you think of email campaigns today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the war for attention being waged in everyone’s inbox. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about two approaches you can use to increase customer interest in your subject lines.

Imagine one of your webpages for a moment. Is your copy communicating everything a customer needs to move to the next step in your sales process? What if you are losing business simply because customers don’t have enough information to make the decision to buy? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how one company captured 36% more total sales by adding a simple paragraph to its page.

The guiding principles of conversion optimization often call for sharpening the focus of your messaging to appeal to a single customer persona. But, how do those principles apply to elements of copy and design that serve multiple visitor types with different needs and interests? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about how design and copy changes "broke the rules" of optimization and led to a 331% increase in conversion.  

Category pages are a standard for websites offering multiple products, yet they often take a backseat in testing and optimization. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about how design changes to a series of category pages led to a 61.2% increase in product purchases.

When you think of email campaigns today, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the war for attention being waged in everyone's inbox. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about three key principles every marketer should know for crafting effective email messages.

Accordion-style checkouts, among other developing cart technologies, have become increasingly popular in e-commerce, especially from its use by top-grossing companies. But, does this style really perform better? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how accordion-style checkouts affect optimization.

Marketers are discovering A/B testing has become increasingly sophisticated. Even though software platforms can make testing easier, many marketers are left questioning how they should best approach the testing process.   Watch this Web clinic replay to hear some of the most common questions associated with online testing answered by members of the MECLABS research team.

Many marketers connect prospects with specific products or services using microsites. Yet, the process of designing microsites that communicate high levels of value to those customers remains a challenge.

Companies frequently use free trials as an incentive to draw customers closer to the final point of transaction. But, when the free trial is over and customers choose not to convert, marketers are often left wondering what went wrong. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about a recent experiment with a sports team management software service, which revealed how messaging surrounding a free trial impacts conversion.

Marketers often hear of the "power of brand," and organizations spend significant revenue on building brands. But, is this a truly effective approach for increasing conversion? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about a recent experiment with one of the largest print news sources in the United States, and how branding impacts the conversion process.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn about three high-performing website templates you can use to design landing pages for your next test.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn four key reasons why customers abandon shopping carts and how you can decrease cart abandonment and increase ROI.

Long Copy vs. Short Copy: How discovering the optimal length of a webpage produced a 220% increase in conversionWatch this Web clinic replay to learn three key principles on how copy length impacts conversion to aid your copywriting optimization efforts.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn three principles for revealing price in your sales process.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn a five-step process for using email to discover your value proposition.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn four surprising discoveries of how Web usability practices relate to optimization, which you can use to aid your testing efforts.

Watch this Web clinic replay to learn three key factors of PPC campaign optimization and how you can apply those principles to increase the probability of conversions on your landing pages.

Have you ever wondered what the impact of optional form fields are on lead flow? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how you can apply three key principles of form field optimization to your lead flow process.

What if there was a way to use every email campaign to learn more about your customers? Watch this special Web clinic replay, recorded live at MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2013 in Las Vegas, to learn how you can apply three of the most important discoveries from a decade of experimentation to your email marketing campaigns and build your customer theory.

How do you write the subject line, first sentence, body copy and call-to-action in an email? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how you can apply six email copywriting principles to your marketing campaigns.

Do you know the optimal time to send your next marketing email? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how you can apply five email timing factors to your marketing campaigns.

How can busy marketers effectively optimize their budgets to pursue the maximum ROI opportunities in the New Year? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn how you can apply the five most startling research discoveries from 2012 to your marketing campaigns.

Shopping cart optimization is one of the most effective ROI opportunities that exist on your website right now. Listen to this Web clinic replay to learn six last-minute changes you can make to your shopping cart to increase conversion before the holidays.

Website color design is often misused by marketers. Pages under perform when discordant color schemes become a distraction, and when opportunities to use color to guide customers to conversion are overlooked. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn five mistakes designers make with color and how you can avoid them.

We've all heard about the huge possible upside of content marketing - create valuable content through blogs, whitepapers, webinars, etc., and you can see your sales team flooded with more sales or leads than the organization can process. However, in practice, some marketers end up with content that does not effectively perform or produce an acceptable return. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn five steps that you can use to design and implement more effective content marketing strategies for your organization.

Generating more revenue from your pages and paths takes more than learning optimization theory. It requires you to apply that theory to your own particular situation. Watch this special live optimization Web clinic replay to learn valuable insights into how you can repair your leaking pages.

Anxiety is causing your website to leak revenue. And, until you can plug those leaks, any amount of traffic you drive there will have a negligible ROI. Watch this Web clinic replay to learn three techniques you can use to overcome anxiety in the minds of visitors to your website.

Your competitors are continually making your job as a marketer more difficult. They are constantly spying on you, uncovering your hidden marketing strategies, and beating you at your own games. And when they aren't doing that, they are executing their own plans for market domination. What is the hard-pressed marketer to do? Watch this Web clinic replay to learn six techniques that you can use to discover and express effective value propositions for highly competitive markets.