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7-Letter Word That Should Determine Everything
By Todd Brown | April 22, 2008
Can you answer these 4 ’savvy’ Internet marketing questions…
1. Why do many savvy Internet marketers use lots of links in their email promotions?
2. Why do many savvy Internet marketers continually change their opt-in page?
3. How do savvy Internet marketers continually improve their results, ROI, website conversions, etc.?
4. What one thing do most savvy Internet marketers base ALL of their marketing decisions on?
The answer lies in one little 7-letter word.
And, it’s a part of Internet marketing that most successful marketers take seriously while a majority of novices rarely even consider it.
Personally, I believe it’s the one thing that truly separates the really successful marketers from the ones that never quite “figure it out”.
So, what am I talking about?
Well, before I give you the answer, let me just give you a little word of warning:
As I’m writing this blog post, I’m sitting on the balcony of our suite up in Orlando over-looking acres and acres of undeveloped woods. It’s a rarity in Florida, especially South Florida and the West Palm area, where I live. So I’m really soaking in the view.
I’m here for a little mini-vacation with my family; yesterday spent at a really interesting little “theme park” called the Holy Land Experience. No rides or anything, but a bunch of really neat presentations, archaeological artifacts, and some amazing replicas of areas in Israel.
Below are some pics:
This is a miniaturized display of Israel back in biblical times. You actually can’t even see the whole display in this picture. It was that big!
This is supposedly a 1/3 model of the old temple that used to be in Jerusalem.
This was supposed to be what the tomb looked like that Jesus came out of in the Bible. Later, we actually went inside it. Pretty wild!
Here’s my dad getting ready to go toe-to-toe with one of the actors there playing a Roman soldier. Dude was pretty intimidating.
Who’s this yutz?! Yikes! I look like a Roman soldier from a Mel Brooks movie.
Anyway, what does my trip to the Holy Land Experience have to do with this blog post and the answer to the 4 questions above?
Not much really, other than just that my post and answer to those questions will be somewhat brief and to the point, so I can get back to the fam and my breakfast biscuit.
So, here goes:
The answer to each of the 4 questions above is…
TESTING!
In other words, savvy marketers understand and recognize that their opinion is worth very little when it comes to their on-going marketing.
The beauty of marketing… specifically direct-response… is that it’s mathematical.
It’s numbers-driven.
So, everything you do can and should be quantified.
And, ANY and EVERY change you make to ANYTHING you do should be tracked and measured.
This is how you continually improve your marketing.
Measure your results. Test something new against it. Measure those results. Compare the two. Continue with the one that got the better results. Then, start the process over with a new test. And so on, and so on, and so on.
For instance, how do you know if 3 links in your email promotions will get you better results than just having 2 links? You won’t unless you test.
How will you know if the 21% opt-in rate you’re getting right now on your opt-in page is the best you can do? Maybe with a headline change or graphic change or color change or formatting change you can increase that number to 31% - having a massive impact on your sales.
How will know if the current price you’re charging for your product is the optimal price-point? You won’t unless you test new prices. For all you know, increasing your price-point by 20% could actually increase your sales. How do you know unless you test?
Once you really grasp this idea of testing and tracking, you should realize that the only thing stopping you from continually improving your marketing and web results is just regularly testing new versions of what you’re doing right now. That’s it. Period.
And, until you no longer want to improve your marketing, results, business, etc., you should never stop testing. It’s the on-going testing of your website elements (i.e. headline, offer, testimonials, guarantee, price, images, captions, etc.) that will allow you to continually get better and better and better.
If you’re not testing regularly right now, here’s what I would advise you to do:
Using Google Website Optimizer (free with an Adwords account) I would begin doing an A/B split test of your landing page and sales page every month.
Try a different headline on the opt-in page and a different price-point on the sales page.
At the end of the month, using the simple reporting feature in Google’s Website Optimizer, analyze which version did better - the original opt-in or the new version, the original sales letter or the new version - then, going forward, make the winner the control that you test against.
Again, this process of on-going testing and tracking to continually find the best performing elements of your marketing and website is what will allow you take a site barely converting and turn it into a machine. Seriously. And, as I previously mentioned, EVERYTHING you do with your marketing should be driven and determined by the data and results you get from tests, not by opinion or feeling.
Which headline do you use? The one proven most effective by your testing and tracking.
Which price-point do you go with? The one proven most effective by your testing and tracking.
How many links do you use in your email promotions? The amount proven most effective by your testing and tracking.
Get the point?
The money is in the testing and tracking.
Talk to you soon.
Tags: internet marketing habits, internet marketing strategies, todd brown, internet marketing business, internet marketing video, internet marketing audio, internet marketing tactics, internet marketing
Popularity: 58% [?]
Topics: Website Optimization, Testing, Internet Marketing |
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Todd,
You’re absolutely correct when you say, “it’s a part of Internet marketing that most successful marketers take seriously while a majority of novices rarely even consider it.”
Testing is one of those things people know they should do, but it’s not as ’sexy’ or exciting as some of the other activities. That, plus I think it can be confusing to get started. What do you test? How much do you test? When do you know it’s enough?
You’ve laid the basics out pretty well, but I imagine there’s still a bit of confusion. I honestly wonder how much interest there’d be in a course that teaches people how to test their marketing?
Of course, there’s really only one way to find out.
Thanks again for another great post!
chestin
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hi Todd!
I deeply appreciate all your time and effort in writing a post about my question.
Back to the previous post, the “opening-loop” technique is incredible, I can now ’see-it’ in action, also in this post. Very interesting!
So back the original question, then if a single link or many links get the job done, that would have be tested what is best for each specific market? I think that what you’re saying is that maybe for some market there is a better solution that is non-working in the other.
I see that, but still, I am sure there might be a psychological explanation, as why in many diverse niches, marketers think posting multiple links is the way to go…
Anyways, I totally agree that testing is very important. Having a system that lets us test different marketing campaigns, newsletters, and landing pages, and measure their success rate, is really a must in these days.
Thanks for everything!
I’ll keep visiting your blog for updates!
Cheers!
Rod
P.S: Todd -by the way- have you looked at the article I wrote about you on my blog? First of all let me say that I don’t expect anything back from you from that post- I’ve received so much from you.
Actually- that post is my way of giving back something to you, and saying thank you, because your videos and info are not only helping me in my business but also have helped me in my personal life.
So please let me know if you’ve read it and I hope you like it:
http://edutainmenteng.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/the-habits-of-the-top-internet-marketers-summary/
Thanks again!
May 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
who is honest and who is not… the question for
the age… thanks
May 7th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Hi Todd,
How are you?
It’s seems you have been really busy as there are no updates in your blog.
I’ve just received the “Dream Team Home Study Program” from Rich Schefren’s course. I am quite excited, so I’ll make sure to post anything I find interesting here to share.
By the way, just to let you know more about me I am an Industrial Engineer and I enjoy marketing very much!
Cheers,
Rod
May 11th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Hi Todd,
Thank you for a great post again. You are a life raft in this ocean of internet hype. Every post you make is just about marketing and that is so refreshing. Tomorrow is my 49th birthday and I am going to make this internet marketing work for me. I hope to be able to give back to others some day as you are doing for us now.
Blessings to you and your family,
Andy
May 17th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Hi Todd,
I’d like to share with your readers something not open to testing, but something which works. No testing required.
This is something totally unique in my niche and I can help someone do the same, simply because it is simple.
http://www.myovernightbiz.com
Not everyone wants to be an Internet marketer. But everyone sure wants to make a living off the Internet. I can show them how.
Chris
May 19th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Hi Chris,
With all the respect,
what you do is what I call hype.
“Making a living off the internet” is not a serious claim for most of us here. If you’re serious about it, we all know it doesn’t change over night.
I don’t think you’re going to find that type of public in this blog, which is directed to serious internet marketers that want to sweat and work to get results.
Best regards,
Rod
P.S: Anyways, good pick up lines :). You managed to make me click on the link, but I got disappointed after reading:
“Not everyone wants to be an Internet marketer. But everyone sure wants to make a living off the Internet. I can show them how.”
…and especially after seeing your squeeze page with “Yes I want to make $80000 in the next 12 months”.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
click me
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 am
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November 14th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
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