I know, corny title but it’s true - if you are wondering about the effectiveness of a particular strategy, test, test, test. One of my mentors who sells memory foam mattress products is infamous for this - he’s always testing, trying, evaluating, and then re-testing to see what gets the best response over time.

Over the past few years I’ve worked with hundreds of clients in a variety of industries. Surprisingly, all of them want to see results and make sales I’ve learned through my own testing that there are certain things that work consistently; other things may work great for my industry or what I’m doing, but they may not get the same response for a client doing a teleseminar on getting free advertising on the radio or whatever other ideas you might have.

I recently found a cool post while twittering. It is titled “Do Buttons Get Clicked More Than Text Links? A Case Study” by Justin Premick. It talks all about testing in regards to an email campaign. Justin and his partner Marc wanted to determine

…how to increase clickthroughs on the emails we send to our blog subscribers.

One of the ideas that came up was to replace the text links that we had been using to drive people to the blog with a “button.”

Previous testing on the website had shown that in many cases, buttons make better calls to action than text links do. We thought the same might hold true for email. (italics and bold added for emphasis)

So, Marc created a button-shaped image with the words “Read More” stamped on it:

We then created A/B split tests for our Blog Broadcasts, inserted this image into one version as the call to action (to read the full post on our blog) and continued to use text links in the other version as we had before.

The emails were otherwise identical — we kept subject lines, sending dates/times and templates the same for each version.

They had a question, they thought about things they’d done in the past that had worked, and they began the test.

I like that they pointed out the A/B testing: this is one of the only ways to really tell for sure which of two ideas is going to work best. Otherwise too many factors may contribute to the outcome. Like they said, besides the text link and button, “the emails were otherwise identical”.

They go on to talk about initial results:

As we expected, the button grabbed readers’ attention and incented them to click through, much better than the text link did…At this point, about 2 weeks into our test, it was tempting to say, “The button clearly draws more attention and clicks than text links. Let’s just start using buttons and move on to another test.”

Did they stop there? Nope!

We ultimately ran the button-versus-text split test about 40 times, over the course of several months.

For a while, the button continued to beat the text links — but we noticed that it wasn’t doing so by as large a margin as it first had.

While over our first five tests, the button beat the text by over 33%, after 20 tests it was only winning by an average of 17.29%, and the text version was beginning to hold its own in the win column.

With each new split test, the text asserted itself as the better call to action.

By the time we ended our experiment, text links were consistently outperforming our button, winning nearly two-thirds of the time, by double-digit margins as high as nearly 35%.

What can we learn from this? How does this apply to YOUR website? How do YOU plan to implement this testing case study?

To sum it up best, let’s read on to see what conclusion they came up with:

What works today may not work tomorrow.

Had we stopped our testing after one broadcast, or even one or two weeks, we would have concluded that buttons were better than text links.

It’s important to continually test your email campaigns to make sure that you know what works, rather than assuming you know what works.

Finally, one last point I feel obligated to make:

 

What works for someone else may not work for you.

The text links won out in our split test, but that doesn’t mean a button can’t be an effective call to action for you.

Again, don’t just take our word for it. Find out for yourself through your own testing.

Running an effective business, both on and offline, takes analysis like this if you plan to see the long term results you want to see. I am currently doing a test right now with a client email campaign and will let you all know the results in the upcoming weeks.

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Advertising is defined as: “to announce or praise (a product, service, etc.) in some public medium of communication in order to induce people to buy or use it; to give information to the public about; announce publicly in a newspaper, on radio or television, etc.; to call attention to, in a boastful or ostentatious manner.” (source)

Advertising, both on and offline, can have tremendous effects on the people it reaches. As I’ve watched TV lately and seen report after report about the horrific events that happened at Virginia Tech, it makes me wonder “What is going on with the media?” Are they immortilizing this methodical killer? Do they not realize that they are doing exactly what Cho Seung-Hui wanted them to do when he put together the viscious confessional video footage to seal his fate? He wanted the fame, the recognition, the lime-light. He needed the attention; he sought after it. As the media tries to “break it down” and focus on the killer more than the victims, they are “advertising” his act as a way to get tons of “ad space” all over TV, Online and Offline. Have you ever thought that the media may be challenging sick people like Cho Seung-Hui to out do this thoughtless act. Saying things like “more chilling revelations about the gunman”, “the largest masacre in US history”… it makes me question, “Is all the recognition, analysis, and coverage that the media is giving Cho Seung-Hui giving others ideas, encouraging them to do similar things to get attention and recognition from their peers?”

Cho himself refers to the Columbine killers in his last recorded rantings.  “Outsiders” like this are convinced that they are victims, that they are not responsible for their own actions, and they see these mass murderers as heroes of their cause. Cho even had the audacity to compare himself to Jesus Christ, dying a martyr for the weak and afflicted. When other outsiders see the attention, recognition, even credit he is receiving, might they not be compelled to imitate his actions?

We love numbers - they help us keep score. Right after the incident happened, the media couldn’t wait to tell us all that this was the biggest mass murder in history. Someone out there is probably saying, “I could do better than that…I could be the worst in history…I could be famous…they could make movies about me…I could be the ‘heizman trophy winner’ of murders…” Could these be the thoughts going through future killers’ minds?

So, the main question is this: “Is the media exploiting a tragedy and advertising for their gain?” Do they really think they are providing a valuable service to all of us? Do they really think that by analyzing all the data, talking about it over and over, doing complete one hour reports on it - is this really helping the general public become nicer to one another? As Glenn Beck said perfectly, “Media coverage has hardened us…it’s always about the next big story”.

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Interesting question, isn’t it? Many soda manufacturers promote the fact that this soda has 0 calories. So what? Does that mean people that drink 0 calorie colas are going to be ok? Studies show otherwise:

As we can see, advertising can not always be what it seems. I found a product review of Cola vs. Diet Cola that sums it up nicely:

Artificial is accused of being worse for you than natural. Guilty as charged. Although regular soda has more calories and carbohydrates, diet soda contains more caffeine and because it contains aspartame it can sometimes trigger seizures, dizziness, migraines, and other negative effects. A good alternative to both is water. If you can, try to limit sodas to special occasions.

Like the song says by the Wiggles, “Drink, Drink, Drink Water…it’s so good for you!”

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This is a question that’s been going through my head for the last few days as I prepare to send over 5,000 emails for Highlight Sports, a partner with www.ClogOn.com. I’ve found some information that may help, but I’d like your feedback too. Here’s what I found (from Bob Leduc’s article Five Selling Tips to Increase Your Sales):

• Promote One Thing at a Time: the article I read said this, but what do you all think? We are currently marketing customized DVDs and professional photography for a National Cheerleading Competition. In my first email reminder, I want to remind clients about the multiple offers; however, this contradicts this idea of “Promoting One Thing at a Time”. Would it be better to send out different emails promoting the different offers and have clients order things individually or just order everything all at once? To me it’s all about convenience shopping, isn’t it?
• Promote Your Biggest Benefit: this can also mean “promote what differentiates you from the competition”. Product differentiation is what separtes the best companies from the mediocre ones: they understand their strenghts and focus on them (see post about Positive Power). My question here would be, “What is the best way to promote your biggest benefit in an email?” Maybe repeating the benefit multiple times, stating it at the beginning, middle, and end (keyword repetition). Creating links to the big benefit in your email can also help - links that take clients right to the checkout page for a particular product or service. How do you “promote your biggest benefit”?
• Personalize Your Ad Approach: no one wants to talk to a robot. Some times I get the feeling that emails I get from businesses are way too formal and “professional”. The truth is, if I feel they have my best interest in mind and aren’t just trying to “sell me”, I’m generally more prone to buy. What are ways you all have “personalized your ad approach”?
• Focus on Specifics: this sounds easy - but is it? Focus is a complex idea. If I focus too much, I may be leaving some sales on the table. If I don’t focus enough, I’m running around in circles and not getting anything really productive done. I think what he means by “focus on the specifics” is that we should not deal in general terms, but in specific benefits (ie. For a limited time you will get a completely customized DVD with up to 10 routines for absolutely FREE, no strings attached. vs Get your DVD with cheer rountines for Free.) To me, the first sentence promo is more specific, What do you all think?
• Develop an Emotionally Charged Ad: energy, positivity, emotion: all keywords for success in sales. If your email is dull, formal, and stale, you probably aren’t going to make sales. What are ways to get clients excited without sounding to “salesy”?

I’m open for suggestions, comments, and feedback…

Addition:
Here is a recent email campaign I just sent today. I’m reading for some criticism (positive or negative)! If you’re one of my clients, you can see that I used TABLES but they don’t look that skewed in the real email!

Congratulations! You were just part of a great event - the UCA West Coast Nationals in Hollywood, California. Highlight Sports is in the process right now of creating your COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZED DVDs and Professional photographs. We will be shipping them to your coach or studio in 6-8 weeks. We will also be sending a Customer Questionnaire shortly after shipment to get your advice, feedback, and suggestions - we always want to improve! We wanted to remind you that March 30th, 2007 is the final day for the special pricing on Completely Customized DVDs, Action Shots and Still Photography. Remind your friends and team members to go to www.HighlightSports.com and get up to 10 routines of their choice on their own COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZED DVD before it’s too late! (These products will still be available later but prices will increase.) Here are the details: Now through March 30th, 2007: Completely Customized DVD - Up to 10 routines of your choice - DVD is Free + $7 shipping/handling* - Shipped directly to your house within 2-4 weeks* - Duplicate copies for Grandparents, Friends, etc. - Only $5 per additional copy - Includes name of your choice on the Actual DVD and Menu Action Photography - Wide variety of action photographs taken at the Kodak Theater - Action Photographs are Free + $7 shipping/handling per sheet - Choose multiple sheet layouts - Pictures can be placed on “Cool Stuff” too! - A perfect way to preserve your cheerleading memories Still Photography - Team pictures taken prior to performance at the Kodak Theater - Still Photographs are only $12 per sheet - Choose multiple sheet layouts - Pictures can be placed on “Cool Stuff” too! - A perfect way to preserve your cheerleading memories *DVD can also be shipped to your coach within 8-10 weeks completely Free Remind your friends and team members about this awesome deal before it’s too late! Sincerely, Nate Moller Marketing Director www.HighlightSports.com nate@highlightsports.com Brought to you in part by Capezio Dancewear, ClogOn.com, NuSkin, and Catch the Spirit.

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Some of my clients really like dogs. Thought they would get a kick out of this (I know my little boy Caleb thinks it’s funny!):

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