LESSON #57: Testing to Improve Your Marketing

By | February 12, 2010

In the previous lessons we’ve been building up to the point of having your product online and ready to sell. Maybe you’re already selling something online, or maybe you’re still working on it. Either way…

You need to know how to integrate testing into your marketing, otherwise you’re not “really” marketing…

(Watch this video…)

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Main points:

  • Split Testing (aka A/B Testing) – a method testing used in marketing, wherein a baseline control sample is compared to another sample containing one different variable.

  • Multivariate Testing – testing multiple variables at the same time.

  • In your marketing… if you can test something, you should.

  • A few of the many things that you should be testing…

    – Sales copy
    – Landing pages
    – Email marketing
    – Paid advertisements

  • Things to test on your sales letter:

    ALL 17 of the elements described in lesson #51.

    My Priorities:

    – Headline
    – Deck Copy
    – Opening Paragraph
    (Everything “above the fold”!)

    If visitors are not staying on the page and engaging with your sales letter, then the rest of the page is pointless. That’s why I prioritize testing above the fold.

    – Colors. They affect people on a subconscious level, and can really affect your conversion rate.

    (See video for my recommendations regarding color testing)

    – Video. We all know video is vitally important these days. Test it!

    -The Offer

    Awhile back, Mike Filsaime did an interview with copywriting legend Gary Halbert, who is now passed away. Gary said that the most important thing to test is “the offer”, and based on my experience I agree with him.

    They broke down the offer into four areas that should be tested…

    1) What they get
    2) How they get it
    3) What they pay
    4) How they pay for it

  • Tools for testing…

    1) Google Website Optimizer (A great free tool)

    2) Covert Conversion Pro (Affordable stand-alone tracking program. See also Ad Spy Pro for PPC tracking)

    2) Affiliate Prophet (What I personally use)

    Some of the reasons I prefer Affiliate Prophet include…

    -It’s self-hosted (on my own site, instead of google)
    -Real time (never a delay in stats)
    -The AIDA feature (predicts conversions)

    (See video for my demonstration of Affiliate Prophet)

    Affiliate Prophet Review
    Click Here to Visit Affiliate Prophet…

    Action steps:

    1) Choose a split testing tool.

    2) Create some split tests and start testing. (Or be ready to test as soon as you launch your product)

    Don’t make the mistake I made for many years. Choose to think like a marketer, and don’t skip this step!

    In the next lesson we’re going to talk about supporting your customers.

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

    Have a great day!

  • 69 thoughts on “LESSON #57: Testing to Improve Your Marketing

    1. Eric Post author

      I think it is easier because there is less data, and fewer options to worry about. It focuses on just the stuff you need for your split test. It still takes some technical knowledge to set it up, but I do show it in my video and also Peter offers support 🙂

      Reply
    2. David

      Eric, where do i place my tracking code if I am using WordPress with my salespages? I hope I didnt miss that in the videos.

      Reply
    3. Eric Post author

      Theres a few places you could possibly put it, but I would probably put it in the footer.php file just before the /body tag.

      Reply
    4. Prue

      Eric,

      You are very thorough. Thanks once more for your great tips. I believe you are the best. Keep up the good work.

      Reply
    5. Micah

      Hello Giddu,

      That’s a nice clean WordPress plugin!

      I would recommend that you add a sample pricing chart to your site. Some people might not want to wait around for a quote. You could still provide quotes, but perhaps only for larger projects.

      Reply
    6. Marija

      I start to be aware what I still need to make in marketing. I have never think about this before and will try it and see it. Thank you Eric. Marija

      Reply
    7. Micah

      Hello Allan,

      The next lesson will be sent to you soon. You can also visit the following link to see the latest lesson updates and revisit earlier lessons:
      http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/

      Here is the direct link to lesson 58:

      LESSON #58: Supporting Your Customers

      You may also simply change the number at the end of the link, to go to a different lesson number (example: /lesson1, /lesson2, /lesson3, etc…).

      If your email happens to block some of the lessons, we recommend that you view this tip on whitelisting an email address:

      How To Add a Sender to Your Whitelist (Safelist)

      Reply
    8. Giddu

      Hi Eric

      I follow your every lesson since last one year and I love it. I make blogs in WordPress and recently I have developed this site http://distancelearning.com.ng/. I want you to suggest further modifications that may improve my site’s user experience.

      Thanks

      Reply
    9. Micah

      Hello Giddu,

      Everything is looking great. Great use of photos in your posts. Right now, my biggest recommendation would be to keep posting content regularly. That is always helpful to start getting some traction, putting your business into motion.

      Reply
    10. Anna

      Where do I go to learn about url, ftp, html, etc? Is there a basic class for this? I have no idea what you are talking about, but want to learn because I don’t want to have to outsource everything. I have heard of people who had people build websites for them and then have to pay for any little changes. I do not want to be held hostage like that.

      Reply
    11. Jim Lee

      Hi Eric,

      I bought the full program from Chris Carpenter ( Info Cash) based in part on your recommendation (not blaming you 🙂 I do have the following concern:

      Do I understand this process right? If I set a budget of $10 per day on each campaign I will have to pay (Bing or whomever) $300 at the end of the month? In which case, I would need 1 sale that paid $10 per day in commission to break even?
      Obviously I would hope to do better than $10 per day but I am still creating an expense for $300. Is this for each campaign where I set a budget of $10 per day?
      What is the typical operating expense for running a PPC business? I’m scared. I do not need to add an additional expense.

      Just wondering and thank you for your time.

      Reply
    12. Marc M. Demers

      Hey Eric,

      Another great lesson.

      At every lesson, I’m telling me, this one is the best one but there is always another best lesson.

      Thanks Eric for all you do for Us.

      Marc

      Reply

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