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There was an interesting blog post from SparkToro co-founder and CEO Rand Fishkin about marketing attribution that was floating around marketing Twitter last week. The gist can be summed in in the post’s opening few paragraphs:
You’ve heard the marketing analytics spiel before. It goes something like:
Marketing journeys are long, complicated, multi-channel paths. Tracking them is always imperfect, but if you employ an extensive, expensive, difficult-to-configure combination of tools, tracking systems, and deeply talented statistics professionals, you can build a high-quality, predictive attribution modeling structure that approximates reality with relatively minor gaps.
My counterpoint: don’t bother. Just trust your gut.
Rand makes a truly great point here—that marketing attribution is a hard thing to fully capture. I encourage you to read the entire post, but he’s right that we’ll never really be able to track the off-line touchpoints to the degree we want (without going full Minority Report), like personal conversations, secondary exposure to something (saw a friend wearing the shirt, for example), etc., without massive, massive investment.
And Rand is right to trust his guy—he’s made a hell of a career from trusting his gut. But as much as my receding hairline wishes I was Rand Fishkin, I’m unfortunately not. (My wife would also probably like it if I had his cooking skills, but alas…).
Why does it matter that I’m not Rand? Because I don’t have Rand’s gut. I haven’t built one of the most recognizable, more successful SEO companies in MOZ. I haven’t launched a second, highly successful company in SparkToro and handled all aspects of product and marketing. I’m not a sought after speaker in the digital marketing space.
This matters, because as much as I want to trust my 15 years in the industry, I know that I need to test and track to ensure we’re delivering the best outcomes for our clients, which leads to the reason you’re reading this (we’re tracking it with Hotjar, BTW)—we need to know what is driving the most conversions for our clients. How do we do that? A/B testing, of course!
In its most simple form, A/B testing (or even multivariate testing) allows us to test multiple elements of a given campaign to determine which is moving the needle for clients. You might think—we already have a great concept, why mess with it? Because each user we encounter is unique and may interpret a given element, like an ad or a landing page, differently. We’ll never be able to have 100% success in converting prospects to users/clients/customers, but understanding what resonates and what doesn’t in order to move an additional percentage over the finish line may make the difference between success and failure for our clients’ business goals.
So what can we consider testing? Unbounce has a great overview that, while specific to landing pages, can really be extrapolated to other mediums, too, like ads, social copy, etc. According to Unbounce, the major areas we can test may include:
Headlines: These are a great place to test copy that plays on users' motivations to see, for example, if saving an additional 5% is more important than free next day shipping. Both are benefits, but testing both we can start to learn what may prompt more purchases.
CTAs: While it may seem simple, calls to action (CTAs) can vary greatly in both copy, placement and design. Testing frequently allows us to discern which combinations and locations give us the best results rather than assuming a blanket “sign up today” will CYA for us.
Imagery: The first thing a user will see in anything—be it ads, a landing page, a website, an OOH billboard—is the image. Imagery is powerful and immediately creates emotional and visual connections with a given piece, so testing the imagery can help identify if customers respond more to a sunny-centric ad or a rainy day or one with an umbrella.
Forms: We all hate filling out forms, but testing the placement, the number of required fields and even how each word may give insights that can allow us to refine our prompt to users over time.
Copy: Last but certainly not least is the body copy. Our word wizards in the Studio have immense skill and can whip up a wide variety of copy to test a more aggressive tone, a more welcoming message, etc., to really find the optimal phrasing to nudge a user’s motivation to act over the edge.
So you’re probably thinking, hot damn, I need to go test something right now! Well slow down for just a second. You need to be intentional with your tests and make sure you’re reaching a statistical level of significance in those tests so don’t run away and start changing everything up. But have no fear—our incredibly talented team of paid media specialists and creative studio know just what levers to pull and when, so head on over to that side of the metaphorical office to consult with those brainiacs!