Optimize & Prophesize

Category: A/B & MVT Testing

  • The Sleeping Giant: Ad Factors in Conversion Rates & ROI

    If you’ve done multivariate tests across AdWords to a single landing page in order to optimize the ad you know a little known truth about conversion rate optimization from media that not many realize. The ad creative (alone) can have an enormous factor of influence on conversion rates. I’ve also seen results from multivariate tests…

  • Expert Guide to Multivariate Testing Success

    I’ve been doing MVT for three years across landing pages and websites with over 40 clients like Citibank, Disney, Esurance, H&R Block, Inuit, Microsoft and T-Mobile. As the Founder & former Chief Strategy Officer of OTTO Digital, the services division of the market-leading MVT tool, Offermatica (now Omniture Test&Target) I’ve authored many case studies on…

  • Multivariate Test Results: Confidence, Stability & Determining a Winner

    Getting your MVT tests designed, developing your creative and implementing code are all just precursors to getting your test live. However, once your tests are live success will be determined by how well you did all those things. At this point you are just monitoring results – so relax and kick your feet up…if only…

  • Speaking on Landing Page Optimization & Widget Ads

    I have a couple of upcoming speaking engagements on landing page optimization. If you’re going to be attending shoot me an email and let’s meet-up. MediaPost Search Insider Summit May 18th-21st Captiva Island, Fl SMX Advanced June 3rd,4th Seattle, WA Also, I’m very excited that I was just asked to speak at the WidgetWebExpo. I’ll…

  • Setting Up a Great Multivariate Test

    Part 5 in my MVT series will focus on the key considerations and decisions for setting up your multivariate test so that you get the most learning and best results possible. I’m not going to get too technical here since I am not a developer however I want to share what I feel will ensure…

  • Multivariate Element Test Variations

    Part 4 of my MVT testing series follows up element selection with element variation. Element variation is the most creative aspect to MVT. It requires a mix of marketing acumen, an understanding of creative and some jigsaw puzzle skills. Marketing: The marketing aspect to element variation presents itself in the themes that you create to…

  • MVT Element Selection – Strategy & Tactics

    In part 2 of this series we discussed the first part of multivariate test design — determining your test array — how many elements and how many variations of each you you should test. In parts 3 & 4 we will cover the rest of MVT test design, element selection and element variation. Successful testing…

  • Multivariate Testing – Test Design

    Part 2: Choosing a MVT Test Array Also see Part 1: Introduction to Factorial Designs The results of your tests are often pre-determined by your test designs. Good designs will provide measurable increases in performance and learning about what tested elements are most important in driving that lift. Good test designs will also provide learning…

  • Multivariate Testing Overview

    Part 1: Introduction to Factorial Designs I’m not sure how many parts this overview will be but since it seems MVT has finally “arrived” I’m starting at the beginning and hope to pound out a complete overview in the next month or two of every important factor to understanding and being successful with multivariate testing.…

  • The $130 Billion Dollar Landing Page

    Google is a fully digital company. Everything Google has done and is today revolves around the web. Google is also by every account one of the top 3 brands in the world. Until billboards this past year Google has never spent a dollar on advertising. No TV, no print, no radio, No banners, no search…

  • SMX West Afterthoughts

    I wasn’t sure what to expect with SMX West as this was the first large SMX event. I heard great things about at last summer’s SMX Advanced from clients and friends but there was short notice to fit this event into annual budgets of attendees and exhibitors. Now that it’s over I can say that…

  • RAMP is Born to Run

    Two and a half weeks. That’s all it’s been since I left to start my own company for the third time in the past decade. In that brief period I’ve signed four clients including leaders in Social Media, B2B Services, Politics and Auto. Every day is filled with talking to prospects, potential investors, potential employees,…

  • Top 10 Multivariate & A/B Testing Results from 2007

    This list compiles the most counterintuitive and therefore most interesting test results from multivariate and A/B (or split) tests I was involved in over the past year. I thought that this would be more valuable, a better read and more modest than just a rank list of tests that had the highest lift in conversion…

  • 2008 Forecast: The Year of Landing Pages

    If 2007 was the year that testing and targeting grew from a baby into a toddler, 2008 will be the year that this kid starts to walk. And like so much of leading edge digital marketing practices those first steps will take place in search, namely landing pages. Most industry experts agree that fewer than…

  • Webinar, Podcast & Speaking on Personalization, Targeting and Testing

    Over the next week I’ll be doing what seems like a quite a bit of evangelizing — hopefully it is more of a knowledge transfer than anything else. 3 Proven Approaches to Delivering Targeted Content – Webinar This is an Omniture webinar I had the pleasure of doing with Charlene Li of Forrester Research. Charlene…

  • Results from Facebook Ads

    On October 19th I launched my first Facebook ad campaign. The results reinforce a number of questions and concerns about the effectiveness of advertising in social media. Namely, using passive media tactics in an active media environment. Results Summary: Ok, that’s typical banner response. Here is the ad I ran. My target keywords were “advertising,”…

  • MarketingSherpa Landing Page Handbook

    MarketingSherpa’s second edition Landing Page Handbook was released last week. I’m very proud that Anne Holland thought so much of OTTO Digital/Offermatica and myself to include six case studies and some extensive quotes from yours truly. Personally, I’ve worked hard over the past few years to promote the value of landing page testing, targeting and…

  • Facebook Flyers Pro Taking Off

    Over the past month Facebook launched its Flyers Pro CPC (cost per click) advertising solution. This adds CPC advertising to Facebook’s existing Flyers Basic CPM solution, their Microsoft banner solution and sponsored deals. Whatever deal FB is about to announce tomorrow their valuation is sure to be helped by the very existence of Flyers Pro.…

  • Your Homepage Sucks – Use Landing Pages for Brand Keywords

    Recently we created and tested five different landing pages for brand specific keywords and ads. The winning page in this A/B/C/D/E test achieved a 148% increase in conversion rate. Taking the customer insights gleaned from the first test our follow-up multivariate was able to add an additional 15% lift in conversion rate and even more…

  • Testing Navigation on Landing Pages

    For many years now a best practice has seemed to be creating landing pages that do not have any form of navigation other than the call to action and maybe a learn more link. The fear of having navigation usually rests in the notion that clear paths off the landing page will lower conversion rates…