The Conversion Scientist

Happiness Means Different Things to Your Website Visitors

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:40 +0000

The Conversion Sciences Lab requires long hours of focused attention. Needless to say, we have to keep ourselves in shape to do good work. I keep my svelte shape in part by performing some physiological experiments on myself at Lifetime Fitness. The things I do would make me laugh if I was watching.

As part of Lifetime my membership, I am graced with the monthly magazine Experience L!fe. The March issue featured the article “A Plan for Happiness.”

Finally! A plan.

The plan for happiness begins with some convincing proof, citing a study by a PhD on some three-thousand people. Based on this research, the good doctor found that, “If you can prevent stress from happening by planning, you’re going to be much better off.” He offered three steps:

Make a List before you go to bed each night
Prioritize and tackle the first two or three things immediately
Break down big tasks into 15-minute chunks.

Now, if you are like me and some three-fourths of the population, you will find this list laughable. This kind of disciplined and controlled regimen works for one kind of person, but not for most of us.

Now imagine that your online business was paid based on the happiness achieved by its visitors. This one recipe would not be a very profitable, because it only appeals to one personality “mode.” Based on Myers-Briggs research, there are at least four major personality modes, or temperaments, and I discuss them in my most recent Search Engine Land column.

How would we write our happiness recipe to appeal to each of the four personality types and why do you care? First of all, you care because the job of your website is to make your visitors happy. That is when they buy from you.

The list provided by our eager PhD is ideal for the Competitive types, who are often found to be on a mission to improve their life. They are goal-oriented and disciplined.

However, our Spontaneous visitors live for impulse and action. Their plan for happiness might be:

Make a list if you go to bed. Make your list with an Etch-a-sketch or Lite-Brite to make it fun.
Prioritize. Then tackle the first two or three things that grab your interest in the morning.
Break down big tasks into “Squirrel!”

Humanists, on the other hand make decisions based relationships and how something makes them feel. Their stress relief formula might be:

Make a list before you go to bed of the people you wish were snuggling with you. Call them to talk.
Prioritize the first two or three things on someone else’s list. Tackle these for them.
Break down big tasks and have a task party with each of your friends getting one 15-minute chunk.

Finally, our Methodicals are going to be suspicious that three steps is sufficient to solve a problem like happiness. They need information, data and detail.

Make a list before you go to bed each night.
Do a gap analysis of this list against the previous night’s list. On weekends, include a trend analysis.
Prioritize the list, but do not tackle yet.
QA the prioritized list using the list prioritization guidelines.
Complete a task requirements document (TRD) for each.
Identify resources required and procure missing materials.
Execute.
Have 15-minute progress reviews to ensure there has been no task scope creep.

Do you identify with any of these? Tell us in the comments. Read more about them in Advanced Landing Page Techniques: Searcher Personas. They are the modes of persuasion that the Eisenberg brothers define in their book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? which I highly recommend.

How is your site making its case to the four kinds of visitors you have coming to your site?

I've written a tell-all with juicy details about how we get things done in the lab. Will you learn your own online formula for success? Get on the list for The Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Formulas of the Conversion Scientist to be published in June.

Want Attention? Appeal to the Egos of Experts with Quotes

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:54:39 +0000

I was directed by a Facebook notification to a quotation so important that it deserved its own graphic panel. Clearly, this was a quote that needed to be read. As I read I thought, “This guy and I think a lot alike. Who is this Plato of the conversion world?”

At the end was my name, and the quote had been taken from one of my recent blog posts on conversion and design. You could hear the air squealing into my already inflated head.

So infatuated was I with myself, that I immediately shared the – quotegraph? – with my entire network, and I’m writing a blog post about it. Who would have created such a honeypot for my ego? What entity would benefit from such bold action?

It was the very smart marketers at Unbounce. Their service provides easy ways to develop landing pages and to test different versions of those landing pages. Who spends their time recommending – nay demanding – that businesses use targeted landing pages to increase leads and sales? I do, as well as many other marketing experts, some of whom have already been targeted by Unbounce flattery.

If you’re reading this and this is your first introduction to the people at Unbounce, then tell us in the comments. That will be a testimonial to how effective this technique can be.

And it’s cheap.

I (and other experts) provide the content. All Unbounce had to do was lay the quote out all big and bold, and post it on Facebook. Very smart.

Will this also end up on my Pinterest page? Oh, yes.

Steal this idea for your industry.

I've written a tell-all with juicy details about how we get things done in the lab. Will you learn your own online formula for success? Get on the list for The Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Formulas of the Conversion Scientist to be published in June.

The Secret Behind the Success of the DollarShave Video

John Ekman — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:59:05 +0000

The Dollar Shave video went mega viral because it is “funny”, right?

But to understand why and how it is funny you need to break it down and analyze what motional strings it is playing. Only then will you truly understand its success.

Dollar Shave Club knows who they are marketing to… and who they aren’t

Michael is fed up. Who isn’t?

The major emotional theme of the video is “Fed up-ness”. At the heart of this Fed up-ness lies of course Dollarshave’s value proposition to customers who are fed up with paying for overpriced razor blades. But there’s more.

The whole body language of CEO Michael Dubin says “I’m fed up”. He just can’t sit or stand still, he needs to move, he’s on a mission. He’s fed up with political correctness as he proclaims that the blades are F***ing great. He’s fed up with over-paid tennis players. I think he’s even fed up with being fed up.

This goes right into the core of the American peoples’ feelings. Not only are they fed up with the Razor blade monopoly, they’re fed up with Washington, they’re fed up with no jobs. They’re also fed up with being fed up.

Michael takes matters into his own hands

By doing so he becomes an agent for the aspirations of Gillette-enslaved Americans. When they buy blades from Dollarshave, they’re not customers, they’re proactive change agents who can create change and fortune by their own actions. Together with Michael they enact their shared American dream.

Remember the payoff in the video?

“Isn’t it about time?”

It’s not a product or service statement. Actually not even a statement. It’s just about how you feel when you’re fed up and want to take matters into your own hands. Like Michael.

Michael is one of us, not one of them

Look at Michael’s office. It’s a mess. You’ll find similar offices all over the country. Except of course at Madison Avenue. It’s as far from that as you can possibly get. In any case Michael seems to spend most of his time in the warehouse.

Michael would not pay an agency tons of cash to make this video. If you know a little bit about video production you can see it’s professionally made. Still it’s created to preserve an amateurish look and feel. That’s not by coincidence.

And Michael obviously can’t play tennis.

Michael is American

Ok, the flag at the end is obvious, but when you think of it the American theme runs right through the video.

There’s an homage to the ancestors (Grandpa with Polio). The evil villain is a foreigner (a Swiss tennis player). There’s a reference to the Vanderbilts.

It might not be as obvious to you as it is to me (I’m Swedish), but it’s there for sure.

Michael talks to….. Yeah, Michaels

Michael is a former marketing exec. Does he need to save dollars on his shaving in order to be able to keep the kids in school? I don’t think so. He just thinks it’s about time.

So when crafting the video for the launch campaign Michael needed to decide what people he should appeal to. – “What is the persona of my early adopter?”, is the question he must have been asking himself.

And I think the answer is – “People like myself!”. People who think the Swiss Army knife approach of Gillette is starting to look ridiculous. People who don’t need to save on their shaving. People who just have this feeling that something should change. Not for rational money-saving reasons, but for emotional reasons.

Others will come later. Who really need to save on their shaving. Who wants more proof of the quality of the blades. Then we’ll see other campaigns designed for them. But for now Michaels want to wake up thousand of Michaels around the country.

Michael creates an Experience

I listened to Jared Spool at Conversion Conference SF a couple of months ago. He said that every innovation goes through three phases; Technology, Features and Experience, being the final one.

Gillette is clearly about Features, with their vibrating handle, flashlight, 10 blades and backscratcher (according to Michael). They’re trying to sell us a Shaving Experience which is an Experience around the use of the product.

Michael, on the other hand, spends exactly 5 seconds to talk about the features of the products in the 94 seconds video. Dollarshave creates an Experience around how we see ourselves as individuals and how we want to live our lives. This is infinitely stronger.

We react much stronger to messages about our identity than our actions. I guess Michael knows this.

So if and when you decide to buy those blades you’re not just shaving – You’re participating in a collective experience designed to enforce your self-image as a strong and active American who thinks “It’s about time”.

John Ekman is the Chief Conversionista of Conversionista! He is regarded as a Swedish authority on Conversion Rate Optimization. According to John, a Conversionista is someone deeply and crazily passionate about improving Conversion Rates. You can find more inspiring posts on John’s own blog on Conversion Rate Optimization. (Swedes will find John’s tutorials on konvertering and konverteringsgrad highly useful). Follow John on Twitter @conversionista

14 Inspiring Email Subject Line Hacks from the SXSW Catalog

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:25:41 +0000

The process of naming SXSW panels is part of the process of getting them accepted. The fine folks at SXSW seem to prefer interesting, surprising panel titles. Of course, they may be swayed by the votes that cleverly-named panels get at the start of the selection process. Thirty percent of the decision to choose a panel comes from the number of votes garnered.

An unexpected title might just help get votes.

So, each year, I do a study of the SXSW panel names, looking for inspiration and common themes that I can use in my own email subject lines. This year, I present examples of panel titles that use the following hacks:

Things That Don’t Fit Together: Non-Sequiturs

Our brains are wired to discard the familiar faster than a bear can spell Constantinople. It is the unexpected that gets the attention of our conscious and prepares us for action. These titles demonstrate the use of twists to pull readers out of their inbox apathy.

Lists of Three

There is something memorable, readable, and easy-to-count about lists of three. This method is especially successful when the third item is overly specific or doesn’t fit. See “Things that Don’t Fit Together” above.

Shock and Awe

Boring subject lines make me want to poke needles into my eyes! Sometimes it makes sense to hit readers over the head with something that is just plain shocking. Sometimes.

Rhymes and Alliteration

Sensual subject lines supplement the bottom line. Alliteration is the repeated use of consonants. Rhymes grab your readers like a musical phrase. Don’t be afraid to add a little poetry to your prose.

Create a Common Enemy

You may find your reader united behind you by identifying a common enemy – like the delete key.

Insult Someone

Don’t be a wimp. When all else fails drop the political correctness and tell the reader what you really think.

Lead With a Number

Four session titles that use numbers. When we offer the reader a specific number of things, they know they are going to get a manageable set of tips or tricks that is easy to scan and digest.

Make Up Words

If you find yourself with subjectlinitis, tossing a memebomb or two may be your best hope. New words can turn a deletophile into a reader.

Pop Culture References

If you know your audience, you slip them some “Funky Cold Medina” in the form of a pop-culture reference. For your geeks, “Star Trek” or “Star Wars” will do. For the younger generation, something from the “Harry Potter” series might make a connection. Music is usually a sure bet. Can you name the sources of the following references?

Metaphors and Similes

Similes are like can openers for the mind. Metaphors are the batteries in the flashlight of your email. The technical term for this style of messaging is “transubstantiation,” using the characteristics of one thing to add meaning to another in the eyes of the reader.

Target an Audience

Right-handed marketers, take note! Targeting your audience can significantly increase the relevance to two groups of people: those to whom you are speaking, and those who feel left out by the fact that you aren’t speaking to them (you left-handers felt a twinge of anger at being left out, didn’t you?).

This approach takes guts, as you are consciously ignoring part of your audience in the hope of truly engaging another.

Sex Sells

Even the “oldest profession in the world” required some persuasive messaging. Your reader may see sex as the most base or most exalted activity humans can engage in. This is the risk and the reward for bawdy banter in your email subject lines.

Big Promises

If you’ve got the goods, big promises will make you rich in as little as three days. Big promises make the reader ask, “So, how can you do that?” even if they are skeptical. Of course, if you can’t deliver on the promise with sufficient proof in your email, all is lost – including your credibility.

Add an “i”

New This Year, turn your subject line into an iLine! All it takes is one little vowel.

I give you over 100 examples of each of these in my ClickZ column 14 Email Subject Line Hacks. I promise you’ll be amused and inspired.

The final touches are being put on my new book The Customer Creation Equation. Will you help me decide on a cover design?

“My favorite part of the design is the money.”

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:27:50 +0000

Website design is only great if it’s making you money. It’s not about the colors, the shapes, the sliders and flashy bits, though that’s the fun part many businesses sadly get hung up on. People don’t come to your site for entertainment or art—unless you sell art.

Photo Credit: Giovanni Orlando via Compfight

They come to you for a solution.

The purpose of your website is to help them find you, connect with you and pay you money to solve their problems. That’s conversion. That’s why you built the site in the first place. Your site’s main job is to make this very easy for them to do. So the best design isn’t the one that makes your company look cool and edgy and sophisticated. It’s the design that supports conversion, has room for good copy and powerful calls to action that make people click the big orange button. Want to know more?

Read more in my column on Search Engine Land

Web Forms, Product Page Testing and Shocking Web Graphics: For Further Study

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:43:52 +0000

These are the stories that caught the eye of The Conversion Scientist last week. If you are a curious marketer looking to learn more about conversion, please subscribe my weekly recommended reading list, For Further Study.

For more, sign up to get a copy of my up-coming book: The Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Formulas of the Conversion Scientist. You’ll also get a free 40 minute video on your Conversion Formula.

Are You Saying “No” When You Could Be Saying “Yes” in Your Web Forms? | UX Magazine

Feb 29, 2012 11:27 pm

If all problems are opportunities, then error messages and error pages are generally missed opportunities. Marketing should be policing the errors reported on their website, messages that are usually written by a techie in IT. John Ekman give us five steps toward writing error messages that say “Yes!” instead of making the visitor feel like an idiot.

Tags: forms web error

read more

The Product Page 2012: 7 Must-Test Elements

Feb 27, 2012 08:22 am

@TheGrok says “Test your product headline to be benefit oriented as opposed to just product name.” I hadn’t considered that. Good lists always tell you something you hadn’t thought of and Bryan has such a list for Online Stores and Publication sites who feature their offerings on Product Pages. Product pages are the money pages on your site, and are one of the first places to look for optimization opportunities.

Tags: product pages testing split e-commerce online store

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The Shocking Truth About How Web Graphics Affect Conversions

Feb 27, 2012 01:14 am

@KISSMetrics – David Ogilvy is experiencing something of a renaissance these days as his experience and research in offline marketing are proving true in online marketing. And we need him. Images are an abused medium on the Web, and this article points out mistakes that you are probably making.
There are some real nuggets here, such as “Captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself” Ask your designer what research he has for his decisions.
This is an important article, and you should read it before you blindly follow the advice of lazy designers.

Tags: design images photography stock

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Designing from Inside the User’s Head-Conversion Conference [INFOGRAPH]

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:00:29 +0000

Sandra Niehaus and Sara Sturtevant of Closed Loop Marketing offer three methods for getting inside your visitor’s heads to design an online experience that persuades and converts.

Get Real

Look at the Big Picture

Triangulate and Iterate

I captured this instagraph at Conversion Conference West 2012.

FULL SIZE

BJ Fogg on Understanding Behaviors at Conversion Conference

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:06:31 +0000

BJ Fogg is a Psychologist, Innovator and Director, Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab. He gave an inspirational and interactive keynote presentation at Conversion Conference West 2012 using props instead of slides. His props included a magician’s robe, and a kayak paddle as a wand.

Clearly, he knows something about how to communicate. Part of his presentation involved the audience teaching his B=MAT behavioral model to not one, but two others. You’ll find that model in this instagraph that I captured in real time.

FULL SIZE VERSION

Writing Killer Conversion Copy with Joanna Wiebe of CopyHackers.com [Audio]

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:59:14 +0000

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my Conversion Conference presentation entitled Creating Killer Conversion Copy: Emails, Landing Pages, PPC Ads and More. I asked Joanna Wiebe of CopyHackers.com to give me her opinion on writing copy that converts. She clearly has an opinion. I thought Scott Stratten was the epitome of a Canadian Diva. Then I met Joanna. (She’ll be mortified that I wrote that.)

[39:10]

Download | Subscribe

We cover a lot of ground in the podcast.

A well-thought-out definition of copy.

Is copy images? Is the Pinterest home page copy?

Can anyone write copy?

Does a copywriter for the Web have to understand design? How about analytics?

How can I choose a copywriter that is going to increase conversions?

What is Joanna’s process for creating copy that tests well over and over? Get $100 off of the Conversion Conference West 2012 in San Francisco, March 5-6.

For more on social media strategy, sign up to get a copy of my up-coming book: The Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Formulas of the Conversion Scientist. You’ll also get a free 40 minute video on your Conversion Formula.

The Lovely Big Red Button

Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:57:39 +0000

Courtesy http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Ambrozjo

Today, let’s rejoice in a persuasive gift that brightens any landing page, and has started so many new relationships between a visitor and a business.

Ode to the Big Red Button

It is a gift both wise and sage
The big red button on my page
It calls, it beckons without retort
“Join,” “Add to cart,” “Get that free report”

Yes, I think a link is fine
So blue and bright and underlined…

Read the rest…