Marketing is becoming the new R&D
Google’s Chief Economist Hal Varian coined the phrase “marketing is the new finance”.
Varian foresaw great advances in ways to satisfy people’s needs, better matches between buyers and sellers, and a more robust advertising environment due to the availability of vast quantifies of rich, real-time, highly available “big data.” His predictions today ring truer than ever.
Now, the information-rich environment enabled by the net is transforming marketing into something more. Specifically, marketing is becoming the new research and development (R&D).
Marketers now have immediate access to consumer behaviors and reactions across multiple channels and media. This empowers them to take a leadership role in determining consumer preferences, meeting customer needs, and helping match supply with demand. In other words, driving the business.
Three keys to maximizing mobile conversions
With smartphone penetration rates surging around the world, it's no surprise that more and more companies are deciding that their mobile strategies need to the development of a web experience specifically for mobiles.
Developing a mobile website can be an important first step in capitalizing on the mobile opportunity, but simply launching a mobile website obviously isn't enough. As with websites in general, most businesses want their mobile websites to drive action or, in other words, convert.
How to get value from MVT: tips from five companies
To coincide with the recent release of Econsultancy’s Multivariate Testing Buyer’s Guide, we’ve been talking to some companies about best practice and useful advice for those thinking about investing in this area and looking for an MVT vendor. Below, we've included tips from client-side practitioners at Belron, the FT, Lovehoney, Telegraph and Tesco.
Focus on conversion rate optimization drives MVT market
Econsultancy has today published its first Multivariate Testing (MVT) Buyer's Guide to reflect the growing interest in testing technology and conversion rate optimization. Below is an outline of the main trends in this market, which are covered in much more detail in the report.
Eight lessons from Gawker's redesign atrocity
Gawker's recent launch of a new design may prove to be one of the worst redesign launches in the history of the internet. It not only sparked an outcry from users, but let to a massive drop in traffic for one of the internet's most popular publishers.
In the face of what can only be described as an online publisher's worst nightmare, Nick Denton, the outspoken head of Gawker, has been unusually silent. Until now.
In an email he sent to staff, he admits that "the transition was definitely more bruising for readers and our own staff than it needed to be" and discusses what is being done to rectify the situation.
A/B testing: five informative case studies
A/B testing is an incredibly useful tool for designers, developers, managers and executives. Sadly, despite the benefits, it’s often underused.
The news for those who shun A/B testing is particularly bad: it can facilitate dramatic improvements in numerous KPIs, including conversions and sales, as evidenced in the following five case studies.
The importance of testing signup and payment forms
When it comes to conversions, the devil is in the details. And even the smallest details can have a significant impact on conversions.
Unfortunately, many web-based businesses don't sweat the details, and their conversions suffer as a result. But the experience of one web startup highlights just how meaningful paying attention can be.
A/B testing comes to the masses with WordPress plugin
Multivariate testing is one of the most powerful tools available to online publishers. But many of them don't use it for various reasons, from lack of knowledge about multivariate testing to lack of simple testing solutions.
At a weekend hackathon event, a couple of developers decided to change that by building a Headline Split Tester WordPress plugin that gives WordPress publishers the ability to set up A/B testing of their post headlines.
What your mother never taught you about Multivariate Testing
Multivariate tests, whilst marvellous things, are becoming "quick and dirty". The ease of deployment, WYSIWYG variant creation, and on-demand "live" results means that these supposedly scientific tests are being created, executed and reported on in a fashion at odds with their scientific underpinnings.
In this post, I'll try to go through what makes MVT a scientific methodology, the pitfalls of quick testing, and how to get the best out of your tests.
Why testing online should not be optional
This week I'm writing for the SME audience on Econsultancy, a sweet homage to the much debated yet scarcely implemented topic of website testing, something which should be an integral part of your strategy, the testing plan being the culmination of analysis of web data and voice-of-customer.
If you are not yet testing and are spending money on marketing/advertising, then read this post and do something about it. Testing is not the preserve of major brands with big budgets, it’s the mental gap you need to cross not the financial one.
