Measure Early and Measure Deep - Extend Your Conversion Funnels

It's a couple of month's old but today I came across an interesting infographic from Infectious Media which highlights the importance of "viewability" of an online advertisement.  

The headline: 54% of all digital advertising is not seen.

The key message is that optimising the placement of your ads will deliver a better result.  Much like focusing on the deliverability of emails will help optimise an email campaign.

In a conversion funnel, you need to address all of the main points.

1. How many people arrive at the entry point (search, navigation, subscriber list)
2.  How many people see the message (deliverability, viewability)
3. How many people click on the call to action (click through rate)

Except it's not that simple.  Ultimately what matters is if a customer pays.or transacts.  Either in this web session or a future one.  Either online, on the phone or in store.

A conversion funnel is not complete until the transaction of money in can be traced back to the spend of money to acquire the customer.

This is never easy to do because the customer may have seen many different messages along the way and might be transacting on the 3rd or 4th visit.  This is where attribution modelling comes in, a geeky sport in it's own right.

What you can focus on with some simplicity is putting tracking in as early and as deep into the funnel as you can.

Early: viewability is a good example

Deep:  Instead of measuring clicks from the ad, measure purchases as well.  Or sign ups.  Or downloads.  If you are taking the user offline to a phone call, measure phone calls.  Even better, measure phone calls answered.  Even better, measure phone calls answered where the call time is more than a time threshold. If you want to know how to do that, let me know.

Your conversion funnel is more accurate the earlier and deeper you measure.

How not to ask for a phone number

A real life lesson in simple usability improvements that can improve conversion rates.

My wife and I love the movies, so to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend we'll be going to our local cinema to see "The Kings Speech".  I've heard it's very good.

I booked online with at the cineworld.co.uk site (@cineworld) and only just managed to book thanks to a rather horrible usability hurdle.  Here follows what I wrote to them using the contact pages after the experience.

Dear Cineworld

"...I wanted to share with you a usability problem I had with the payment pages.  If my experience is anything to go by it will be seriously hampering your conversion rates and if you fix it should improve your bottom line immediately...


It's to do with the validation of the mobile phone number.


I initially put in my number as follows;
077XXXXXXXX


The error message told me to add the country code. So I did;
+4477XXXXXXXX


The error message told me to only use digits.  So I did;
004477XXXXXXXX


Then the was another error message.  Can't remember exactly what it said.  To get through the validation process I needed to actually type;
4477XXXXXXXX


4 attempts!
From someone who works building websites for a living and has done so for the last 11 years!


It's quite possibly the worst validation experience I've ever  had.


Suggestions;
1. If you want to capture the data in that format tell them so in the form up front 
2. Alternatively have a drop down of country codes to select from with UK as default.  Then ask people to enter their number as normal in the field and get your programmers to remove the first zero and any spaces.


In essence - you're making it way too complicated.


Hope you find this useful..."

What's happened here?

I've seen this happen many times.

The developer says, "In order to send SMS confirmation messages, my system needs clean and correct numbers.  I need the country code, then the mobile number in the following format; [XXYYYYYYYYYY] (where X is the country code, no zeroes, no symbols and Y is the number, no spaces, no zero up front)".

The developer does not say, "How do people usually type in their mobile numbers?  How can I help them enter it in a way that is obvious for them and still helps me get the data in the format I need"

Don't blame the developer though.  The producer / product manager should be on top of this during the design process and the interaction designer should instruct the developer.

Cineworld, to be fair have built a pretty intuitive website and it's very easy to find and select a movie to book.

Funnily enough, Cineworld did populate the form with a suggestion format in the field.  I didn't see it, the light grey was so light it didn't register.  Then, when I got it wrong, I didn't have obvious instructions on what the format should have been.

The only way top really test this is to watch real people using it.  People with nothing to do with the design process. Learn from idiots like me, tweak the form, then measure the results.  How many more visitors converted into bookings did I make as a result of that change? Sounds obvious.

Be your own customer.

Don't Be Mediocre, Be A Generalist

Here's a problem. Most e-commerce websites suck. They're average, sub-optimal.

They suck. If they were high street shops you'd see what I mean. Some would not be signposted. My mother would not be able to find anything she wanted in the store, let alone figure out how to pay. They might not even be found if you called directory enquiries. Lighting would be poor, there would be no space to park and you'd be unsure if you were being served by rip-off merchants or a legitimate business.

Sure, there are some great websites out there. A few. However, because web customers are in many ways "invisible" to the businesses that are trying to serve them, site managers running these sites get away with mediocrity.

Small businesses or large businesses, the problem is the same.

In small businesses you need an all rounder running your web business: he or she needs to be able to do a bit of everything and do it really well to be effective. These all-rounders are few and far between. So - good websites for small businesses are few and far between.

In a large web business, you end up with different "specialists" taking on different roles. You get the design team, the merchandising team, the online marketing team, the tech team, the product planning team, the analytics team, etc. They are all brilliant at what they do. Brilliant.

Just why does the site that you end up with suck if they are brilliant? The really great websites are the ones where the teams do "joined up thinking". The site design team know something about SEO. The analytics team knows something about PPC. The product planning team understand affiliate marketing. If they all understand the basic principles behind all of the main disciplines, you'll do fine. If not you can end up with mediocrity. Division of labour brings pockets of excellence and general mediocrity.

The solution to me is clear: every person involved in delivering the website and running it should be familiar with the basics of how all the main disciplines work.

I will give somple examples of what are these "key disciplines" that are needed to overcome mediocrity and suggest 5 tips on how to acquire those skills. I don't for a moment suggest that anyone can be an "expert" in all of these areas. What I am suggesting is that everyone in an ecommerce business that can affect the business results needs to be a "generalist" and be fluent in the basic principles.

This is true whether you are a one-person site manager doing everything or whether you are a specialist in a big company.

Consider ecommerce websites to be like high street shops. If you are running a traditional "bricks and mortar" business, you need to do three things...

1. Attract customers
2. Persuade them to buy when they come through the door. (And ideally, maximise this so that they
buy more than they would normally have done).
3. Encourage them to come back to shop again and become a regular "repeat customer".

Quite simply, running a website / web service is all about customer acquisition, conversion and retention.

Acquisition

Retail is all about selling the right product to the right person at the right time. So to get this right, there's some preparation needed in terms of customer insight / research, developing a brand, building a proposition, product planning & strategy, business case modelling. Then once you have a product you need a communications plan, (including, but not excluding online PR). On a technical side, you need to understand search engine optimisation (3 core pillars; site structure, content and reputation), search engine marketing (paid search), affiliate marketing, social media optimisation, RSS, blogs, ad serving.

Conversion

Here, the most important discipline is user-centred design, also information architecture, followed closely by merchandising techniques and understanding effective calls to action. Think about good error handling, optimising shopping "funnels", accessibility, compelling copy writing, tactical promotions and you might just have scratched the surface.

Retention

Plenty to learn about here too, from email marketing to direct mail (CRM), use of confirmation emails, special offers, customer database management and that's just scratching the surface.

And more...

Underpinning all of the above is a good understanding of web analytics (for traffic sources, keyword analysis, conversion tracking - and a whole lot more).

And to get stuff done, to make it all happen they also need to understand a little about technical things like technical architecture, software development methodologies, project management techniques, be a great tester.

To add some real flavour to the mix, key principles of many academic disciplines come in useful, economics, sociology and psychology.

And to be effective in business generally, you need to know about HR issues for the countries in which you operate, be a great manager, have good negotiation skills, know a little bit about contract law.

If you find someone who does all of the above well and them let them loose on your website - now you're talking! Also, point them my way, I'd love to meet them!


So - if you're just starting out...

5 tips to become a great E-commerce "generalist"

1. Work with great people

We learn so much from working with other people. Put yourself with the best you can find and learn from them. Soak it up.

2. Apply yourself

This industry is only about 10 years old. Most of the so called experts became experts by just applying themselves and learning from their mistakes. You can too.

3. Attend training

If you can, go on specialist training courses. There are few places such as e-consultancy.com where you can get a kick start

4. Read, read and read

You can never read enough. Some of my favourite books are listed here if you need ideas.

5. Have a go

For me this is the most important advice of all. Have a go! I didn't know anything about setting up RSS feeds until I had to do one for this blog. Figure it out, and just try.


One day, most websites will be great. Until then, if you are a "generalist", go make some money!

"The General"

Copywriting Using Personality Types

One of the most useful tips on copywriting I've seen in recent years was from "Call To Action" by Bryan Eisenberg and Jerrfey Eisenberg (2005, Wizard Academy Press).

They start from the assumption that when you sell a product or service, different buyers need different information depending on their personality.

The Eisenbergs describe 4 personality types. I am really going to oversimplify this, but in essence the different personality types are best reached through different communications.

The Competitive. This person wants accomplishment. Goal oriented folks, who want to know why your product will solve their problem.

The Spontaneous. This type of person likes the personal touch, hates cold hard facts. They like to know why your service/product is the right fit for their need. This person wants acceptance. The approach best used with these types is to provide assurances, guarantees, an emphasis on personal service.

The Humanistic. Creative types who enjoy helping others and socialising. They want to know who else has used your service to solve their problems. They value testimonials, reviews and the knowledge that others have already used your product successfully.

The Methodical. These types like accuracy. Facts. Figure, statistics, methodology. They like logical information displayed in detail.

The Eisenbergs give an example of one paragraph that addresses all 4 types in 3 sentences.

"Our approach is personalised to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted"

Here's the same sentence with the personality types that are addressed highlighted...

"[Our approach is personalised to meet your objectives]*2. The [bottom line]*1 is that [your results are guaranteed]*1. Explore our [methodology]*4 to discover how [thousands of clients just like you have been delighted]*3"

1 = Competitive
2 = Spontaneous
3 = Humanistic
4 = Methodical


I thought I would give this a go myself.

I found this copy about Hummus Bros, one of my favourite lunch spots in Soho.

"Hummus Bros is about feeding you homemade hummus with mouth watering toppings, scooped off your own individual bowl with warm pitta bread, and accompanied by refreshing salads and juices. We focus on taste, value for money, freshness and simplicity. We are proud to be the only place in the UK to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus."


So, here's my attempt to re-write it using the personality type approach...

"Tasty, great value for money, fresh and simple. There's a reason why the Soho locals fill our seats every lunchtime. Take homemade hummus and add your choice of a range of hot or cold healthy toppings to create your personal feast. Add brown or white pitta bread (hot or cold, small or large) and accompany with a refreshing salad or juice and enjoy with friends. We guarantee you will leave you feeling nourished and satisfied and will want to come back for more. We are proud to be the only place in the UK to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus."

Here's where the personality types are addressed:

"Tasty, great value for money, fresh and simple. [There's a reason why the Soho locals fill our seats every lunchtime]*3. Take homemade hummus and add your choice of a range of hot or cold healthy toppings to [create your personal feast]*2. Add [brown or white pitta bread (hot or cold, small or large)]*4 and accompany with a refreshing salad or juice and [enjoy with friends]*3. [We guarantee you will leave feeling nourished and satisfied]*1 and will want to come back for more. We are proud to be the [only place in the UK]*1 to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus".

1 = Competitive
2 = Spontaneous
3 = Humanistic
4 = Methodical

What do you think? Does it work better? Comments welcome.

I would imagine that better copy should lead to better conversion.

Web 2.1 - Reviews From People Like Me

The surge in user generated content, and specifically "user reviews" has been the backbone of many sites such as Tripadvisor and Amazon.

Why are user reviews so important? How do they need to evolve?

The importance of user reviews centres around the power of peer approval. Put simply, if other people rate something, it must be good - right? This concept is one of the 7 key methods of influence discussed by Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence".
(See my essential reading post for further information).

Peer approval has been a mainstay of marketing techniques since time began. However, it doesn't work for everyone. Some buyers couldn't give a monkeys about what other folks think. Jupiter Research found however that about 50% of users found them helpful.
(See Greg Howlett' summary at Marketing Pilgrim: Five More Important Facts About User Reviews in E-tail).

The other 50%? At the point of purchase on the web, other methods of influence are also in play. These are discussed by Bryan Eisenberg in "Call to Action". One example would be the person who is persuaded by the emotional longing created by enticing copy and lovely pictures. "Imagine yourself here / doing this / owning this" - this does it for them. Some others are influenced by the technical ctiteria of the product. In the case of a computer this might be the hard drive capacity, screen resolution, memory etc. In the case of a hotel maybe it would be the detail on the amenties, location and facilities. For others however, the price really really matters.

The important thing to realise therefore is that for a truly compelling product offering needs to relate to and pursuade on all of these fronts. You need good copy (inspirational, not just factual), great photos, lots of facts & specifications, and you also certainly need user reviews. User reviews therefore are an important part of the equation, but they're not the be all and end all.

Let's not forget though how powerful they are. They give a certain transparency to the product which gives the buyer a level of confidence that they would not get otherwise. They provide unique content (good for SEO). They give users a sense that the retailer has a wide and satisfied customer base. They also show a range of opinions.

User opinions do need to evolve though. We are only now at a very basic level of using them effectively. What does the future look like?

Let's take the example of purchasing a day trip, say a tour of New York City. It might include visits to several key sites and have a tour guide. The website would include perhaps user reviews of customers who have previously been on the trip.

Let's take 3 different prospects:
- John and Mary from Los Angeles, in the early seventies
- The Schmidt family from Berlin, with 3 children aged 2, 3 and 5
- Trixie and Noah, a young couple from London, backpacking around the world

Do these people have different needs? Of course. Would they rate their experience based on different measures? Definitely.

Consider each of the parties against each of these criteria...

The pace of the tour

The accent of the tour guide

The comfort of the transport

The cultural commentary

Highchairs and baby-changing facilities

The amount of commentary at each stop

The range of attractions

What could have been a wonderful tour for John and Mary could be a nightmare for Trixie and Noah. What could have been a fun experience for Trixie and Noah could have been hard work for the Schmidt parents. On every level each customer would view their experience with different rating scales on different criteria.

User reviews need to evolve to enable customers to filter reviews so that they can see reviews just from "people like me".

This is particularly important in the case of experiences. Experiences include things like destinations, hotels, restaurants, theatre, travel and other services. The use of a tangible product (e.g. hairdryer, camera) is less affected by personal preferences. With experiences, preferences do count. Peer reviews can actually be misleading rather than assisting.

The challenge in filtering peer review for experience-type products is three fold:
1. Identify the customer as they arrive on-site
2. Gathering customer profile information to store against the review
3. Filtering the display of reviews so that they match a customer

Imagine how powerful this could be.
- I want summer holiday recommendations, but only from vegetarians travelling with children under 2
- I want restaurant reviews, but only from business users
- I want ski resort reviews, but only from people that enjoy skiing off-piste

If you can deliver this content at the right time, you can provide real relevancy. It does however require some clever customer segmentation and profiling to get right.

Retailing is often cited as providing the right deal to the right person at the right time. I would argue that for online retailing of services, it also involves giving the right information to the right person for the right product.

That means giving the customer reviews "from people like me".

This is where the future of user generated content lies. It's a massive challenge and I look forward to seeing who can get it right and how they do it.

It would be web 2.1.