Engagement Optimization

Module 5

This Week You’ll Learn

• Top Elements that Influence Engagement (and how to optimize them)

• Ideas to Increase the Quality of your Customer’s Experience

• 7 Ways to Write Persuasive Copy

WIIFM

THE BUYING PROCESS

The Buying Cycle

Keyword Search

Evaluation of Options

Decision

Purchase

Re-evaluation

Factors Affecting The Buying Decision

1. Complexity of the Sale2. Continuity or “Scent”3. Confidence to Move Forward

Complexity of the Sale

• How much time is usually needed to make a buying decision of this sort? Is it a slow or fast process?

• How many decision makers typically are there? • Is the need for your offer urgent/critical or a

luxury? • Is it a one-time purchase or an ongoing cost? • How “risky” is the sale? • How well do your prospects understand what

you’re really offering?

Continuity or Scent

Confidence

Buying Process: Ask Yourself

• Provide enough information?• Next action obvious? • Answer all questions?• Address FUDs?• Intutive and easy?• Instill Confidence?

Optimizing the Buying Process

• POA assurances: Test More VS Less• Visual illustrations: Test More VS Less• Sales Copy: Test video VS long sales letter• Approach: Test educational VS Direct Sale • Information: Test adding FAQs & SAQs• Reformat: Test with more subheads, bullets

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

Unique Value Proposition

Ask Your Prospects

• “What is the initial impression you get of what this business has to offer you when you first see the home page?”

• “What feeling would you say best describes your first impression

• “Can you tell what we are offering?”

UVP: Ask Yourself

• What would it take to make certain personas buy ASAP?

• Is my UVP shown all throughout the key pages?

• How can I make the experience of buying from us extra special?

• Why am I THE BEST CHOICE for them – really? • Is your UVP memorable? Unique? Exciting?

UVP: Ideas to Test

• Different “angles” / wording• Experiment with the location of the – banner

or headline or on the sidebar?• Test different offers • Test adding the UVP near the CTA button• Test adding the UVP on your product image

PRODUCT PRESENTATION

Product Presentation

Presentation: Ask Yourself

• Does it load fast enough?• Do the images convey the benefits? • Is it easy for ‘Bob’ to spot the most

appropriate offer? • What’s above/below the fold?• Clever use of available space?• Features VS Benefits?

Presentation: Ideas to Test

• Video VS static image• Default size of Product Image• Many images VS single image • CTA: more vs less• Test Symbols • Reviews vs no reviews • Different ways to present product options

HOW TO WRITE PERSUASIVE COPY

Write Persuasive Copy

• Answer your visitors’ questions• Resolve objections• Provide security and confidence• Use a language your visitors use• Find your voice and write using your voice

Make Sure They ‘GET’ It

• Use words and terms your prospects use• Avoid techno jargon as much as possible• Avoid cliches as much as possible• Avoid generalizations. Be very specific.

Use Active (NOT Passive) Voice

Active VS Passive Voice

Speak to the 4 Personas

• Write copy that speaks to each persona• Order: Competitive, Spontaneous, Humanistic

& Methodical• Use bullets • Consider at what stage they are in the buying

cycle• Help them narrow down their choices

F B E EA NT & EU F R IE TS S

Avoid We-We’ing All Over Yourself

“We employ proven methods that have stood the test of time…We stay ahead of curve and have been deemed trailblazers, trendsetters, and pioneers.We fund every deal using CASH…We leverage technology and have truly unlocked the potential of internet marketing…We maximize all our strengths and scrutinize our weaknesses…We don’t just “do” real estate…it courses through our veins…”

Make Sure It’s Readable!

Copy: Ask Yourself

• Voice consistent? • Does it address the 4 personas’ concerns and

motives? • Benefit-oriented? • Logical / emotional? • What makes this offer different/better than

other similar offers? • Is it persuasive but not hypey?

Copy: Ideas to Test

• Long vs short copy • Order • Emotional appeal • Active Voice vs Passive Voice • Test removing black words • Layout

HEADLINES

Headlines

• Don’t sell the offer; Just sell the first line.• Should set expectations about content • Its main job to grab attention and persuade

visitors to stay

Headlines: Ask Yourself

• Does it stand out?• Match the ad scent that pulled in visitors?• Do you use Subheadlines? • Do your subheadlines convey the gist of your

offer?• Does it make visitors curious or interested?

Headlines: Ideas to Test

• Compare your product/service with something familiar

• Engage people’s senses• Make a remarkable claim• Before and after claim• Use negative qualifiers • Shock and awe approach

REVIEWS

The Importance of Reviews

• 77% of online shoppers use reviews and ratings when purchasing (Jupiter Research, Aug 2006).

• Reviews drive 21% greater purchase satisfaction and 18% greater loyalty (Foresee Results Study, January 2007)

• In a study of 2000 shoppers, 92% deemed customer reviews as “extremely” or “very” helpful (eTailing Group)

• 59% of users considered customer reviews to be more valuable than expert reviews (Bizrate).

• 63% of consumers indicate they’re more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews (CompUSA and iPerceptions study)

• 86.9% said they would trust a friend’s recommendation over a critic’s review; 83.8% said they would trust user reviews over a critic (Marketing Sherpa)

Reviews: Ask Yourself

• Do you show credible, quality reviews? • Do you screen/manipulate reviews?• Are there sufficient numbers of reviews?• How do the negative reviews compare to the

positive ones?• Do you offer many & appropriate ways for

customers to provide review information?

Reviews: Ideas to Test

• Placement • Graphic icons used for ratings• Multiple VS Single dimensions• Expert VS User reviews• Format • Same page as product or separate page?• Test options available for sorting reviews

Action Plan

Go through each slide in this Presentation and apply the recommendations appropriate to your site