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Casual Articles - Notes for Newbies - Part Fourteen - Testing
Around the world's coffee machines, talk about the culture of an organisation and its impact on performance wastes thousands of hours a day. We talk about the results that would be possible if the culture were just right; we complain where we see issues of organisational culture impacting performance.Talking is one thing; what’s rare, however, is real recognition of the fact that great leaders explicitly manage the culture of their organisation. They understand that results are not only linked to culture, results are the expression of an organisation's culture.Results are the Expression of CultureResults are tangible, measurable, and objective. Results in business always include profit and cash
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income,
In part one of this article I will define the differences between making decisions as a victim or as an accountable leader. In part two of this article I will define what it takes to act as an accountable executive leader and offer some solutions operating from the accountable stance. Operating from an accountable standpoint offers obvious advantages to any organization. In the past I've had conversations with leaders about accountability and leadership. Most often, they bemoan the lack of accountability in their organizations saying such things as "people don't take ownership" or "they don't act as if it is their project" yet they often don't know what to do differently. Many leaders need their people to be accountable yet they don't kno
Today we want to talk about testing. Testing is the process you use to try to figure out which headline or which price is the best for a product you are selling.
Testing
Testing is a messy process at best (I’ll explain why in a bit of detail below). It is open-ended in that you can test forever and never really come to the end. The big players in direct marketing, indeed in all marketing, test all the time. The really big players are those who have turned testing into an art form.
When you test you simply, for example, produce the same sales letter with two different headlines. You run one for perhaps one week and the other for the same length of time, then compare results. Which one produced the greater number of sales or the greater profits (it’s a bit more complicated, as we shall see below, but we have to start somewhere)?
Here are some things the gurus test:
- Headlines
- wording and phrasing
- fonts – type faces
- font colours
- quotation marks
- alignment – left-centre-right
- justification
- Images
- number of images
- choices of subjects
- captions
- locations vis-?-vis text
- Body of text
- wording and phrasing
- fonts
- font colours
- alignment
- justification
- paragraph structures
- paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
- breaks between paragraphs
- punctuation
- questions
- Sub-headlines
- number and location
- wording and phrasing
- fonts - type faces
- font colours
- quotation marks
- alignment
- justification
- Background and borders
- colours
- images
- thicknesses and styles of borders
- with or without borders
- Testimonials
- numbers of testimonials
- locations
- backgrounds and borders
- Signature and signature colour
- Postscripts
- numbers of postscripts
- subjects
- Bonus offers
- numbers of bonus offers
- pricing
- time limits for extra bonuses
- Product price
- price
- locations of price within body of letter
- time limits for discounts
- number of times price is stated
- Opportunities to order
- location of order buttons or links
- wording – ‘Reserve yours NOW!’ or ‘To book your DVD set click here NOW!’ for example
- numbers of order buttons
- Cover letters – style and content
- ‘Lift letters’ – style and content
- Order envelopes - Freepost or stamped
- Colour and texture of sales letter paper
We could probably add at least this number to our list, but this will do for now. My point is that every bit of the appearance, tone and content of sales letters and web pages is tested continually by the pros in direct marketing.
And probably the most fascinating aspect of testing is that much of it is not obvious. Why is it that a blue signature results in more sales than a black signature? Why is it that a headline with quotation marks around it pulls better than one without? Why is it that a sales letter with a PS, PPS and PPPS tests better than one with only a PS and PPS?
Here is a big and very important problem with testing. If testing is going to give you any useful information at all, you can only test one thing at a time. If you change the font and the colour of your headline, and your sales increase by 5%, which change was responsible? You don’t know. You must be careful to change only one thing at a time.
Even then, you still have questions to ask. Suppose you run the same classified ad for several weeks with no changes. Some people in the business will tell you sales will increase over time simply because more readers will respond to your ad having seen it several times. So, you decide to change your headline after it has been running for three weeks and sales increase by 7% in the fourth week. Is the new headline responsible or that the ad has been seen for four weeks?
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income, r
Many companies allocate a portion of their marketing budgets to support non-profit organizations. This activity, which has become known as Cause Marketing, provides abundant benefits for both the funding companies and the causes being served. Cause Marketing—i.e., “Doing well while doing good”—adds a socially responsible component to a company’s marketing plan and can enhance brand image and reputation by accelerating corporate awareness within desirable market segments.Cause Marketing is fundamentally about believing—in what is good and what is possible. It enables a corporation to make meaningful statements concerning social responsibility, ethics and the public interest. There are hundreds of worthy social issues—e.g., the envir
- alignment – left-centre-right
- justification
- Images
- number of images
- choices of subjects
- captions
- locations vis-?-vis text
- Body of text
- wording and phrasing
- fonts
- font colours
- alignment
- justification
- paragraph structures
- paragraph sizes - numbers of lines
- breaks between paragraphs
- punctuation
- questions
- Sub-headlines
- number and location
- wording and phrasing
- fonts - type faces
- font colours
- quotation marks
- alignment
- justification
- Background and borders
- colours
- images
- thicknesses and styles of borders
- with or without borders
- Testimonials
- numbers of testimonials
- locations
- backgrounds and borders
- Signature and signature colour
- Postscripts
- numbers of postscripts
- subjects
- Bonus offers
- numbers of bonus offers
- pricing
- time limits for extra bonuses
- Product price
- price
- locations of price within body of letter
- time limits for discounts
- number of times price is stated
- Opportunities to order
- location of order buttons or links
- wording – ‘Reserve yours NOW!’ or ‘To book your DVD set click here NOW!’ for example
- numbers of order buttons
- Cover letters – style and content
- ‘Lift letters’ – style and content
- Order envelopes - Freepost or stamped
- Colour and texture of sales letter paper
We could probably add at least this number to our list, but this will do for now. My point is that every bit of the appearance, tone and content of sales letters and web pages is tested continually by the pros in direct marketing.
And probably the most fascinating aspect of testing is that much of it is not obvious. Why is it that a blue signature results in more sales than a black signature? Why is it that a headline with quotation marks around it pulls better than one without? Why is it that a sales letter with a PS, PPS and PPPS tests better than one with only a PS and PPS?
Here is a big and very important problem with testing. If testing is going to give you any useful information at all, you can only test one thing at a time. If you change the font and the colour of your headline, and your sales increase by 5%, which change was responsible? You don’t know. You must be careful to change only one thing at a time.
Even then, you still have questions to ask. Suppose you run the same classified ad for several weeks with no changes. Some people in the business will tell you sales will increase over time simply because more readers will respond to your ad having seen it several times. So, you decide to change your headline after it has been running for three weeks and sales increase by 7% in the fourth week. Is the new headline responsible or that the ad has been seen for four weeks?
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income,
Listen to me very closely young entrepreneur; I will only say this once: choose the red pill and you wakeup in the morning inside your nice mansion with a so-so business that you’re proud of, but you know it could’ve been better but you don’t really care about changing the world like you once did… OR take the blue pill and wakeup in the morning with a head full of magnificent ideas that can lead to the changing of the world by producing something never before seen…wakeup with the energy, passion, and ambition to make something unfathomable, something mind-blowing.Which pill would you take? The pill that leads to instant wealth with a so-so/decent business or the pill that can potentially unlock new doors for mankind through innovat
- with or without borders
- Testimonials
- numbers of testimonials
- locations
- backgrounds and borders
- Signature and signature colour
- Postscripts
- numbers of postscripts
- subjects
- Bonus offers
- numbers of bonus offers
- pricing
- time limits for extra bonuses
- Product price
- price
- locations of price within body of letter
- time limits for discounts
- number of times price is stated
- Opportunities to order
- location of order buttons or links
- wording – ‘Reserve yours NOW!’ or ‘To book your DVD set click here NOW!’ for example
- numbers of order buttons
- Cover letters – style and content
- ‘Lift letters’ – style and content
- Order envelopes - Freepost or stamped
- Colour and texture of sales letter paper
We could probably add at least this number to our list, but this will do for now. My point is that every bit of the appearance, tone and content of sales letters and web pages is tested continually by the pros in direct marketing.
And probably the most fascinating aspect of testing is that much of it is not obvious. Why is it that a blue signature results in more sales than a black signature? Why is it that a headline with quotation marks around it pulls better than one without? Why is it that a sales letter with a PS, PPS and PPPS tests better than one with only a PS and PPS?
Here is a big and very important problem with testing. If testing is going to give you any useful information at all, you can only test one thing at a time. If you change the font and the colour of your headline, and your sales increase by 5%, which change was responsible? You don’t know. You must be careful to change only one thing at a time.
Even then, you still have questions to ask. Suppose you run the same classified ad for several weeks with no changes. Some people in the business will tell you sales will increase over time simply because more readers will respond to your ad having seen it several times. So, you decide to change your headline after it has been running for three weeks and sales increase by 7% in the fourth week. Is the new headline responsible or that the ad has been seen for four weeks?
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income,
In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the “best of the best” – in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that were significant to you starting a postcard campaign and really winning at it. So here goes the most incisive higlights about postcards.1) I know that a postcard is better than something in an envelope.For many reasons, the main one being, in an envelope you can’t make your potential customer see your message.People are fast. We see and read very quickly – actually much more quickly than we even realize.. Think about yourself – how fast do you go through your mail and process out what you want to keep and what yo
- Colour and texture of sales letter paper
We could probably add at least this number to our list, but this will do for now. My point is that every bit of the appearance, tone and content of sales letters and web pages is tested continually by the pros in direct marketing.
And probably the most fascinating aspect of testing is that much of it is not obvious. Why is it that a blue signature results in more sales than a black signature? Why is it that a headline with quotation marks around it pulls better than one without? Why is it that a sales letter with a PS, PPS and PPPS tests better than one with only a PS and PPS?
Here is a big and very important problem with testing. If testing is going to give you any useful information at all, you can only test one thing at a time. If you change the font and the colour of your headline, and your sales increase by 5%, which change was responsible? You don’t know. You must be careful to change only one thing at a time.
Even then, you still have questions to ask. Suppose you run the same classified ad for several weeks with no changes. Some people in the business will tell you sales will increase over time simply because more readers will respond to your ad having seen it several times. So, you decide to change your headline after it has been running for three weeks and sales increase by 7% in the fourth week. Is the new headline responsible or that the ad has been seen for four weeks?
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income,
There are thousands of business cards on the market. Millions and billions even. What you need is a business card that creates value for your customer and sets you apart from the crowd. Your business card has to shout without being over the top or considered unprofessional. How do you do that?You have to provide the right imagery and the right word choices. Word choices are vital when creating a business card. A customer wants to look at a business card that tells them what they need and why they need it. They don't simply need to know you provide a service. They need to know why your service is over the top. They also need you to convince them to come see you.The Business Card Call To Action The simplest way t
There is a process called ‘split testing’ that can help. There are software systems available that will allow you to upload your sales letter to your website using, for example, two or three different headlines. Visitors will see one headline or another when they look at your page. The particular one each visitor sees is chosen at random by the system. You can decide on the best headline according to the number of sales each one pulls.
Keep this in mind: When you are selling a front-end product, your primary goal is to build your list. So if you, for example, decide to test your offer price, your interest is not in total income, rather in total numbers of sales because this will add more names to your list.
Testing is a subject that could occupy us forever. Have a good look at the ways your guru tests and follow his or her model.
That’s all for this time. See you soon.
Over the next two articles we shall talk a little bit about building web pages, hosting and uploading your pages (it sounds scary but it’s not really).
Thanks for listening :-)
Copyright © 2006 Mary Rice-Johnston & Golden Goose Direct. All rights reserved.
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