Increasing Return on Marketing Dollars

A Newsletter Published by Lee Marc Stein, LTD.
February 2005 Issue

Contents

• 5 Reasons to Consider Usability Testing
• Award-Winning Flops #2
• 7 Proven Marketing Strategies for the New Year
• Home Game or Away Game?

5 Reasons to Consider Usability Testing

By Lon Taylor

Usability research has been around for decades and, until the Internet boom, was traditionally focused on testing products. During a usability test with a product, researchers will recruit participants and ask them to spend a distinct amount of time setting up items such as a phone system, VCR or piece of computer hardware.

The product manufacturer and researchers observe each individual participant from behind a one way mirror and learn if they are able to figure out how to use the device being tested. After watching around a dozen people, failures and problems (e.g. how to set the time on a VCR) become clear and can be addressed.

As the online growth continues, usability testing has been adapted to understand whether people in a targeted group can easily use a Web site, software application or a corporate Intranet. A typical project involves finding 8 - 20 participants, developing a set of specific questions and tasks to be presented, interviewing each participant one-on-one for an hour, and video taping the computer screen during every interview to record what people clicked or did not click on.

During the actual interviews, users are online and might be asked to locate a specific piece of information, purchase a product or sign up for a service. Throughout the entire exercise, moderators sit next to the participants. The moderators look for any issues that relate to the ease of navigation, understanding of content, the basic functionality of the site, and how well users comprehend the site's value proposition.

While usability testing takes a commitment of time and budget, the positive impact of the research has far reaching implications. Here are five big benefits that are immediate and measurable.

1. Uncover Critical "Showstopper" Glitches
Our firm recently tested an automotive site about half way into its development. One of the key site functions was a section that allowed a user to create and save a list of vehicle features. Everyone believed in this idea and expected that it would appeal to car buyers. During the interviews we discovered that none of the participants could find the pathway to use this feature. What happened? We discovered a critical problem as the navigational button to this section was called "Travel Log." People just didn't get the terminology and were stopped in their tracks when trying to complete this task. The development team subsequently changed the name and the fix proved to work during additional usability sessions.

2. Avoid Embarrassing Press Scrutiny
For the example illustrated above, the Travel Log feature was expected to be a major benefit of the site. If the site had launched without the re-naming of this section, the press could have had a field day criticizing the site. The negative publicity may have significantly impacted its traffic and overall brand perception. Web sites now play an increased role in creating attitudes about a brand. Finding and fixing usability issues early helps to insure that the media will shine a positive light on your site once it's live.

3. Save Development Time and Budget It has been widely published that each dollar spent on usability research and planning has the potential to save a minimum of ten dollars in future development or repair costs. If site problems are discovered by your clients and users after it's already live, there's going to be a mad rush to implement the fixes, a potential for increased call center volume and the possibility that revenue will be lost. With most corporate IT and marketing teams stretched to the max, launching an interface that customers find hard to use creates a cascade of headaches and unexpected costs. As Ben Franklin put it, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

4. Obtain Highly Detailed Feedback From Your Customers
There's no substitute for rich and insightful commentary directly from your target audience. Even the most experienced marketing person always seems to learn something new during usability testing. At the very least, marketing, research and IT people are able to confirm their ideas about how users would respond to the site, and this can galvanize the entire team to focus on user interface improvements.

5. Increase Retention and Conversion
One of the firms we've worked with on multiple projects won a coveted Webby award. The judges cited the following stats: Retail banking users increased 34%, credit card users increased 66% and small business users increased 82%, while cost per registered customer decreased 56% over the same period. This particular company has focused a great deal of attention on their online customers, and the results have had a huge impact on the firm's overall growth and reputation as a tech savvy bank.

Just as copy testing and focus groups play a key role in traditional advertising, usability research is proving to be an indispensable tool as companies extend their operations on to the Internet. Planning for at least one usability test during the development of your interface will have a positive impact on your bottom line. After all, the competition is only a click away.

Lon Taylor is Principal Usability Consultant at First Insights, a company that uses qualitative research and usability testing to improve the effectiveness of Web sites and online marketing initiatives. You can reach Lon or learn more about the firm's capabilities at www.firstinsights.com.

Award Winning Flops #2

The first installment of this series, appearing in last month's newsletter, was the most frequently-clicked on article I've ever run. It's rewarding to see that my flops are getting such response.

MAILER: Harvard Men's Health Watch

After writing several other packages for the Harvard Medical School Health Letters that were promising, I offered this one. It was based on very personal health experience (the name was changed to protect the writer)

OE: 9x12" window. The flap had "SEND FOR A FREE ISSUE AND GET TWO FREE REPORTS"

LETTER: Most of front is shown. Note the first subhead - it's very important to the moral (and morale, for that matter) of the story. This was a four-pager, in the tradition of what was working for this marketer.

LIFT NOTE: This was one of my favorite pieces of copy. You see both the front panel and inside. I thought it would resonate with the reader because it was all so true.

RESPONSE FORM: This followed the highly successful L-shaped format of the mailer's control packages.

WHAT WENT WRONG? We never know the why of flops (and I never knew how badly this flopped; I only knew it did not come near the control). Two theories, however,

1. The OE and letter did not do enough VISUAL merchandising of the free issue offer. Although the offer was on the flap of the OE, that was an afterthought.



2. Most health letter publishers find that their best lists are subscribers and expires to other health newsletters. I wrote this package, however, to break into new territory: those businessmen who weren't currently health letter subscribers. Look at that first subhead in the letter again. I do not believe lists like Business Week, Fortune, WSJ were used on this package. So we may have had targeted copy going to the wrong target.

7 Proven Marketing Strategies for the New Year

By Rob Engelman

We're still in the early stages of the New Year, and still thinking about and planning marketing and business development activities for 2005.

With this in mind, remember that mega-successful business professionals and entrepreneurs market themselves as much as they market their companies. High performers create a personal marketing blueprint to guide business building activities on a daily, weekly and monthly basis -- this is why we know who they are, and what they do.

Whatever you do or what your position, consistent application of the following seven core marketing best practices will enable you to produce the kind of business results you desire.

1. Focus on Your Ideal Customers: Everything starts with customers, for without them you will never make a sale. Hence, it is critical that you define your customer base as specifically as possible - both the companies and the individuals you covet. Test your description with a few customers and prospects that fit the profile. Do they agree with your assessment of them?

2. Know the "Pain" That Creates Opportunity for You: Think like a business doctor. People buy your services to solve or avoid acute trauma or discomfort. It is unlikely that your customers have you, or your company, at the top of their priority list. They do, however, care very deeply about their problems and desires. Clearly linking your solutions to your customer's problems will allow you to rise in importance in their minds.

3. Define Your Personal Value Proposition: Generally, people do not hire firms or institutions; rather they hire the people who represent these organizations. So, you are the message, and you are the product. This means you are also the product manager and the sales force. Therefore, it becomes critical that you are able to describe what it is that you do (what pain you solve), and for whom - in a clear, concise and meaningful way.

4. Turn Your Clients Into Your Sales Force: Your clients should be your best source of referrals and your best source of advertising. Remember, referrals are made based on personal reputations and solid relationships. Once a successful project has been completed for a client, let them know that you appreciate referrals and testimonials. To make the referral process easier, make sure they know exactly the type of person to whom you would like an introduction.

5. Build High Power Allies: Invest time cultivating exceptional relationships with a very select team of professional allies both within and outside your organization. Go to market against a defined target audience in a strategic and cooperative basis with your allies. Build joint marketing plans and determine the roles and responsibilities each party will play. Refer lots of business back and forth, and keep the lines on communication open and honest.

6. Become A Celebrated Expert: The best business marketers invest their time wisely by developing their own personal reputation. They differentiate themselves by publicizing the qualities and experiences that make them unique. They also use tools such as speaking, writing articles, conducting roundtables and seminars, and joining / working with the right organizations to their advantage.

Quick Aside: Ask yourself… which two organizations can I take a leadership role in that will not only stimulate my professional growth, but will also increase my professional visibility and generate business for me? Join these groups today.

7. Build Your Personal Direct Marketing Engine: The previous six ideas require your personal effort (i.e. you need to develop your own target market and value proposition). Leverage these activities by communicating with your prospects, customers, networks, and alliance partners in a consistent manner by using traditional direct marketing methods such as direct mail, personal publicity, e-mail campaigns, Web sites, etc.

Why do these practices work? Success is not accidental. The best business developers achieve leverage by developing a systematic marketing process. It is in the process that the "gold" can be found.

By using this approach in 2005, you will concentrate on the most effective ways to create business for yourself on a consistent basis. You will not have to become a "salesperson" who is constantly hawking yourself to stay afloat because business will begin to come to you.

Rob Engelman, President of Engelman Management Group, provides strategic marketing and management leadership as well as "best practices" seminars for organizations ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 corporations. Rob also teaches at the University of Chicago - Graham School of General Studies, as well as other leading universities. He can be reached at 847-945-7573 or via e-mail at rob@engelmanmanagement.com. Or, visit his website at www.engelmanmanagement.com.

Home Game or Away Game?

This past month, one of the agencies with which I work regularly asked me to create some direct mail concepts for an online jobs site. The client is fairly aggressive in its marketing on its own site and is running drtv. So a few of the OEs proposed were similarly aggressive in their promises. The client complained: "We're mailing into offices. We'll get recipients in trouble or at least upset."

Huh? Why would they elect to mail into offices? They wanted to use lists like Business Week, Fast Company, etc. They need list brokerage help. Between 70-80% of the subscribers to these business publications get delivery at home. This is definitely a home game.

You also want to mail home when you are marketing vacations, personal investing, and charitable causes. Corporate mailrooms are starting again to make decisions about what goes through, so if you have a universe of executives at home, use that.

When do you want to play the away game? When your offer is obviously strictly business. This might include high ticket business software, safety management consulting, accounting services, etc. The context in which these kinds of products/services are considered becomes important to response.

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