ion interactive : LiveBall Client Blog

4 Reasons for Social White Papers

ion interactive — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:29:25 GMT

I recently posted a blog about our new offering: white paper socialization. After thinking about the possibilities more, I came up with 4 benefits of social white papers. (White paper socialization is the process of adding social and interactive features to white papers).

Social white papers present the following benefits:

The ability to measure engagement within a white paper. With our LiveBall platform, we are able to tag & measure the exact social button that a reader clicks on, and therefore analyze the level of engagement within a white paper.
The ability for companies to engage with readers way beyond the conversion. When respondents download a white paper, they often do not read it for a few days (or weeks!). White paper socialization actively engages respondents with others like-minded individuals and the company way after requesting the white paper.
The opportunity for readers to network with other individuals. Networking with other individuals interested in the same topic is an incentive for people to request and download a white paper. Once Facebook Connect & Google Friend Connect are released, we will be able to further improve this incentive.
The opportunity for readers to network with the white paper author. White paper authors are knowledgeable & esteemed thought-leaders. The chance to connect and discuss the white paper with the author is another incentive for readers to convert and/or download the white paper.

-Megan Leap

Segmentation, subsegmentation, conversion—what does it all mean?

ion interactive — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:08:57 GMT

LiveBall has plenty of useful gauges and reporting tools, but what do they all really mean? We've defined three of the most common terms that correspond with the ever-practical respondent funnel.

Segmentation: Segmentation shows the % of unique respondents that click through to the second page of your landing experience. Or, if you initially tag a respondent, it will show the % of respondents tagged.

Subsegmentation: Subsegmentation is the % of unique respondents that click through to the third page of your landing experience. Or, it will show the % of respondents tagged a second time.

Note: The only way to show segmentation and subsegmentation is to tag the respondent as taking an action.

Conversion: Conversion rate is the % of unique respondents who have taken the conversion action or "converted." This number is seen at the very bottom or your funnel.

-Jessica Frobel

DIY URLS in LiveBall

ion interactive — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:51:00 GMT

LiveBall allows you to create unique URLS that drive your post-click marketing from search, banner, email and direct mail advertising. So what's the difference?

Friendly URLs vs. Automatic URLs Friendly
Friendly URLs are easier to work with (when placing them in your search ads, or elsewhere), so it is primarily a convenience factor. Friendly URLs are also more aesthetically pleasing when using in places where users will see them, such as in print.

The Automatic URL is created automatically by the LiveBall system.

Friendly URLs and automatic addresses both go to the same place. Notice the difference in the example, it looks a lot cleaner than the automatic address, however, your respondents can still reach your landing experience from both.

Have additional questions or want to learn more? Send me an email!

- Michelle Richardson
Account Manager
mrichardson@ioninteractive.com

White Paper Socialization — With LiveBall

ion interactive — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:27:41 GMT

Exciting news everyone!

We recently began to dive into "white paper socialization", which, of course, is made easy with LiveBall. Our newly enhanced social white papers include discuss & ask-a-questions, and those buttons lead to social landing pages created in LiveBall, where readers can network with other readers, discuss hot topics in the white paper, and also post a question for the white paper author.

Breaking ground. As usual.

Social white papers allow marketers to:

1) Measure reader's active engagement within a white paper. With buttons placed throughout the white paper, marketers can determine which topics are most engaging, interesting, and/or confusing. And obviously, if a reader makes it all the way to page 15 — you've done a good job.

2) Connect with leads way after the conversion. Many people who download white papers don't even open them until 3 weeks after the fact. Well, social white papers actively engage prospects and leads with your offering way after the conversion. And at their convenience.

Want to see an example? Call me at 561-394-9484 x 201 and I'll email you a copy.

-Megan Leap

Be there or be square!

ion interactive — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:25:35 GMT

Just a reminder to join us for our newest customer webinar—"Advance Your Landing Pages with LiveBall's Advanced Rules" on June 26th.

Whether you're a new LiveBall client, or are already a post-click rock star, you'll learn simple ways to take your landing experiences to the next level. From scoring respondents to keyword content substitution and everything in between, this will be a jam-packed hour with live demonstrations of how to implement Advanced Rules on your LiveBall pages.

Don't miss out! Our client-only webinar customer starts at 1 PM EST on June 26th.

Register Now

-Jessica Frobel

So you wanna increase conversions? Join Landing Pages 2.0.

ion interactive — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:03:52 GMT

Landing Pages 2.0 is alive and flourishing here at ion. Each day, we and our clients come up with new, exciting ways to improve user experiences and increase conversions.

The features of Landing Pages 2.0 are exciting, often-obvious, and now more than ever, super fun to implement and practice.

Here is a short list of my 3 favorite principles, best practices, and features of Landing Pages 2.0.

1. Social interaction. Just today I finished creating our first "socialized" landing pages. They will debut in our Post-Click Marketing Newsletter next week, and allow respondents to actively participate within our online marketing campaigns. Social media meets landing pages. Powerful. New. Awesome.
2. Flash. There's nothing more impressive than a beautifully-executed Flash design. And when you want to convert respondents, it's important to impress (and engage them). Flash does just that.
3. User-directed segmentation. Post-click segmentation increases relevancy and helps deliver the best user experience possible, and it's the most important Landing Pages 2.0 best practice to follow.

What's your favorite feature of Landing Pages 2.0?

-Megan Leap

Did you know?

ion interactive — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:07:00 GMT

Did you know that any variable that is passed into your LiveBall pages via query string is automatically collected in the database? It is! And, you can add this information to your data export too!

1. Create a "hidden field" in data collection with the variable name
2. Add the field to your export

Need help? Contact your Account Manager for a step-by-step walk through.

-Jessica Frobel

2 Reasons You Should Optimize Your Landing Pages for Mobile Devices - NOW

ion interactive — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:36:28 GMT

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that mobile advertising is booming and slated to grow rapidly within the next 5 years. But even more exciting here at ion is the expected growth of mobile internet advertising.

Here are 2 BIG reasons why you should consider optimizing your landing pages for mobile devices.

1. Eric Schmidt says to. Well, kind of. According to Google CEO Schmidt, "The next big wave in advertising is the mobile internet". Mobile internet ads have the ability to be more targeted than regular ads — and that means the value of an ad, and subsequent landing page, will go up. Deep links won't cut it on the mobile web — sorry guys.

2. The iPhone 3G will be released in July, and it's going to be more affordable than ever. Which means there's going to be more users browsing the web while on their iPhone. While standing in line at Starbucks. While waiting at the airport. Wherever users are, they're going to have an even shorter attention span than when they're on the regular web — which means the landing pages they land on need to immediately be readable ... and attention-grabbing. Otherwise, you'll lose them to the spunky Barista calling out their Triple Venti Decaf Soy Latte.

If you're a client and want to get started using our iPhone optimized frameworks, contact your Account Manager. And if you're new to LiveBall and are considering our landing page solution, call us at 1-866-466-4332 x 205 to learn more.

-Megan Leap

Keep It Sweet & Simple: 3 Ideas for A/B Testing

ion interactive — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:17:42 GMT

The KISS principle states that "complexity should be avoided—simplicity is a goal in itself." Oftentimes, a testing approach that seems obvious is the fastest and easiest way to get the results you are looking for. Whether you are an experienced LiveBaller, or just getting started with post-click marketing, you can drive conversions with strategic A/B testing. The ideas below are just the beginning!

Conversion Path vs. "Control"
Create a holistic landing "experience" and test it against your current landing page or deep link. It's the fastest way to find out what works, and what doesn't! Then, take the winner and create iterative versions, continually testing and improving your conversion rates.

Landing Page vs. Conversion Path
Try testing a one-page landing page against a multi-page path that segments and targets specific audiences. To get the most accurate testing, you'll want to use the same messaging, design and form on both tests.

Audience Segmentation vs. Product Segmentation
Test segmentation choices that are open and participatory. One pretty straightforward approach is to test audience segmentation against product segmentation. Since respondents are self-identifying, you can learn how they differentiate themselves through their own eyes. You'll find the answers to the following questions...

Who are your respondents?
What do they want?
Which message segments and converts the highest?

Interested in setting up a control test or need some additional suggestions for segmentation? Shoot me an email—we'll get you in the hands one of our many post-click experts.

-Jessica Frobel
jfrobel@ioninteractive.com

5 Ways to Improve Your Landing Pages with LiveBall's Advanced Rules

ion interactive — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:55:03 GMT

Advanced rules are conditional statements that let you add business logic to your landing pages. Depending on who a respondent is, or what behavioral actions they take, you can customize their landing experience and/or how they are handed-off to your sales and marketing team.

Here are 5 ways to improve your landing pages with LiveBall's advanced rules.

1. Change the experience for returning users who haven't converted
Who wants to see the same landing page twice? Respondents who haven't converted obviously don't. With LiveBall's advanced rules, marketers can send respondents to a different landing page if they've already landed on the page previously. If they haven't converted, you can find out why, and deliver them a new experience.

For example, if they land on landing page A, don't convert, and then return again, LiveBall can sense this, and send the respondent to a different experience. You'll up your chances of converting them, and also gain valuable, real-time insight into what works and what doesn't.

2. Qualify your respondents
If you're focused on lead generation, LiveBall's advanced rules can automatically qualify respondents based on actions and segmentation choices they make in a landing experience. Once they convert, your sales team can focus on the best leads — and not only will you close more business, your team will love you for it.

3. Show a different landing experience based on country or language
One of our clients offers a subscription service, and they have slightly different subscriptions and pricing models in different countries. If a respondent from Spain clicks on an ad, they'll automatically be re-directed to the landing page targeted for Spain, and so on.

4. Send respondents on mobile devices to optimized experiences
LiveBall's advanced rules can sense if a respondent is on a mobile device, such as an iPhone, and then send that respondent to an iPhone optimized experience instead. The less zooming and scrolling they have to do, the more likely they'll be to convert.

5. Insert keywords onto landing pages
If you're generating clicks with paid search, LiveBall's advanced rules can insert keywords that people search for onto your landing pages. Keyword insertion is an easy way to improve the relevance of your landing pages, and ultimately, increase your conversion rates.

I'm just tipping the iceberg here, and once you start using LiveBall yourself, you'll figure out ways to improve your landing pages — ways that we couldn't even imagine ourselves.

-Megan Leap