Forrester has published its first overview of the online multivariate testing vendor landscape. Their analysis shows a high level of maturity in the market with testing being a must-have for online marketers.
John Lovett’s paper opens, "Online testing is a critical component of an efficient marketing optimization solution in the burgeoning field of web site optimization"
Forrester surveyed client-side businesses and give a wealth of insight into both the biggest benefits of testing and some of the challenges faced. Of the marketers surveyed, 48% felt that the increase in conversion rate they had achieved was the top benefit of testing. A significant number also cited customer satisfaction as having improved. Reduction in the risk and guesswork associated with making changes online isn’t covered in the report but is a recurring theme in the discussions we have with our clients.
Within the vendor comparisons, Maxymiser is identified by Forrester as one of only two companies offering a full suite of methodologies and service levels. What’s more, we appear as the firm with the most people dedicated to testing worldwide. Some larger firms for whom testing is only a small element of overall business declined to give figures. Our sole focus at Maxymiser is helping our clients to proactively manage conversion rate and we’re proud of that and the results they have achieved.
We were happy to see that managed service offerings, comprising test strategy, implementation support and analysis receive praise. Forrester notes that clients engaging for such services gain greater uplift from their engagements which mirrors our own experience at the coal face.
"While evidence shows that testing can result in improvements regardless of the method employed, organizations that leverage a managed service model achieve greater gains. On average those gains are two percentage points higher, which could equate to millions of dollars for conversion based web sites" Forrester, October 2009
This increased effectiveness as a result of leveraging external expertise in testing is something that is mirrored in our own day to day work with marketers. Our experience is that marketers who combine external expertise and a testing tool to create a conversion management strategy rather than adopting a tool and driving it in-house benefit from 30% more uplift. Marketers we work with also tell us that adding test design, creative and deployment skills to the managed service model for testing to create a full service conversion management offer creates yet more benefit by enabling them to get the right tests live and in a timely manner.
At our recent client seminar, both Chris Dalrymple of ASDA Wal-Mart and Martin Smith of easyCar commented that they benefit from leveraging external expertise. A full service allows them to get more of the right tests done and to conduct testing without placing high demands on busy marketing and technical teams.
If you are yet to include testing in your online marketing strategy, Forrester’s Online Testing Vendor Landscape report gives a great level of insight into how marketers are deploying multivariate testing, their motivations and some of the challenges they face.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Conversion Management – More than a testing tool
The notion of proactively managing onsite conversion rate has reached a tipping point. Conversion management transforms conversion rate from being a figure that is simply reported to something that can be strategically managed and measurably improved.
“It is vital that we continue to innovate and improve online to stay ahead of our competition and Maxymiser is a very important part of that strategy. The uplift generated by Maxymiser has delivered us millions of pounds in additional revenue.”
Matt Douglas, Senior eMarketing Manager, Alliance & Leicester
See our multivariate testing case studies for this and more examples
To achieve these fantastic results, it is not only the choice of test tool that is critical, but also determining who will support the tool, create testing strategies and execute them. The resources and expertise you are able to leverage in effectively managing conversion rate will be the major determinant of the bottom line benefit to your business.
Effectively leveraging a multivariate testing tool to provide a successful conversion management strategy requires more thought than many anticipate at the outset. Effective conversion management strategies require careful analysis of web analytics data and past performance to identify the most profitable pages to test. Identifying the best variants to test also requires careful consideration and benefits from expertise in what is worth testing and where. This can only be built up by running tests day in and day out. The creative and copy to be tested also takes time and skill to develop.
The question of who will support the tool is one of risk reduction; any situation where your agency or IT department can bill you by the hour whilst they fathom how to deploy a free tool to your site is to be avoided. Our clients benefit from named account managers who have the ear of our R&D team meaning we can go very technical at very short notice to ensure your tests are deployed on time without unexpected cost.
When it comes to conversion management, remember to give these areas a thought. Feel free to get in touch if we can help by providing further details of how we resource our accounts to ensure we provide a full conversion management service, not just a testing tool.
Matt Douglas, Senior eMarketing Manager, Alliance & Leicester
See our multivariate testing case studies for this and more examples
To achieve these fantastic results, it is not only the choice of test tool that is critical, but also determining who will support the tool, create testing strategies and execute them. The resources and expertise you are able to leverage in effectively managing conversion rate will be the major determinant of the bottom line benefit to your business.
Effectively leveraging a multivariate testing tool to provide a successful conversion management strategy requires more thought than many anticipate at the outset. Effective conversion management strategies require careful analysis of web analytics data and past performance to identify the most profitable pages to test. Identifying the best variants to test also requires careful consideration and benefits from expertise in what is worth testing and where. This can only be built up by running tests day in and day out. The creative and copy to be tested also takes time and skill to develop.
The question of who will support the tool is one of risk reduction; any situation where your agency or IT department can bill you by the hour whilst they fathom how to deploy a free tool to your site is to be avoided. Our clients benefit from named account managers who have the ear of our R&D team meaning we can go very technical at very short notice to ensure your tests are deployed on time without unexpected cost.
When it comes to conversion management, remember to give these areas a thought. Feel free to get in touch if we can help by providing further details of how we resource our accounts to ensure we provide a full conversion management service, not just a testing tool.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Businesses need to use their websites more effectively
Most businesses are still taking a very hit-and-miss approach to the design and navigation of their websites.
A recession is no time to be taking a stab in the dark with promotional activities of any kind, yet, with the exception of some forward-looking companies, most businesses are still taking a very hit-and-miss approach to their websites – arguably the most powerful shop window they have.
In a bricks-and-mortar store, the layout of the aisles and displays will have been carefully designed to steer customers to buy the most during their shopping experience. The high-street retail experience has been researched in great detail so that, not only does the customer fill up their basket, they will keep coming back for more. This means they need to enjoy the shopping experience, and be able to find what they need easily.
On the web, all of this applies equally. So why is it, then, that websites are still being designed backwards – without any feedback from customers until it’s too late?
A sub-standard shopping experience
E-commerce has been a booming business for a long time now, yet the majority of online store experiences remain dire, and the very opposite of intuitive - from failing to include search facilities, to wiping clean forms if the customer goes back to a previous page, and numerous shambolic omissions in between.
The result is that customers are still being bounced around poorly put-together websites in such a way that they are left dizzy and frustrated by the time they shut down their PC, with their basket still empty.
Given that many people now shop exclusively online, this lack of customer-centricity and quality control is shocking. It doesn’t matter how ‘expert’ the web designer. If they are not monitoring customers and tracking their preferences as they move around a website, they are missing the point.
Test as you go
Bricks-and-mortar stores invest heavily in testing the layouts of their stores to maximise results. One thing that retail store designers can’t do, which web developers can, is test out thousands of slightly different variations in a live environment to see which yields the best results. It is also very easy and affordable to do – and has been shown to represent much greater value for money than search optimisation.
Multivariate testing enables designers to be as creative and innovative as they want to be and then, crucially, see if it works, by gradually feeding out test pages to designated groups of real customers.
Amazon does this all the time, testing every tweak to its page layouts and content on its customers without them being aware of it.
What’s exciting about live, multivariate testing is just how well it works. The smallest and most subtle change can have a surprisingly significant impact on conversions and customer stickiness. One of the most astounding success stories saw a leading news and careers website gain a 1,000% uplift in completed registrations simply by changing the structure and layout of its forms. The content itself remained the same.
Subtle text changes deep in the checkout process for National Express, meanwhile, boosted the flow through that page by 14pc. The subtle changes that can have a massive effect on success are all too often missed by marketers.
Marketers miss the point
No example illustrates this more clearly than that of DIY supplies chain, Wickes. Four different designs of a proposed sign-in page were shown to a sample of around 500 marketers. They were asked which one delivered 11% uplift during live visitor testing. When the responses collated, it was discovered that only 4.6% of the marketing experts had guessed right!
This is the kind of thing that can’t be predicted.
What a risk these companies are taking, with their flashy glorified marketing brochures! The most effective websites are works in progress, which use ongoing, iterative changes to continually hone the customer experience.
Being innovative needn’t mean making radical or costly changes. It’s about paying more attention to the detail of how customers navigate and behave on your web site, and then responding with enhancements that can be delivered quickly – without having to wait for the next development cycle.
A recession is no time to be taking a stab in the dark with promotional activities of any kind, yet, with the exception of some forward-looking companies, most businesses are still taking a very hit-and-miss approach to their websites – arguably the most powerful shop window they have.
In a bricks-and-mortar store, the layout of the aisles and displays will have been carefully designed to steer customers to buy the most during their shopping experience. The high-street retail experience has been researched in great detail so that, not only does the customer fill up their basket, they will keep coming back for more. This means they need to enjoy the shopping experience, and be able to find what they need easily.
On the web, all of this applies equally. So why is it, then, that websites are still being designed backwards – without any feedback from customers until it’s too late?
A sub-standard shopping experience
E-commerce has been a booming business for a long time now, yet the majority of online store experiences remain dire, and the very opposite of intuitive - from failing to include search facilities, to wiping clean forms if the customer goes back to a previous page, and numerous shambolic omissions in between.
The result is that customers are still being bounced around poorly put-together websites in such a way that they are left dizzy and frustrated by the time they shut down their PC, with their basket still empty.
Given that many people now shop exclusively online, this lack of customer-centricity and quality control is shocking. It doesn’t matter how ‘expert’ the web designer. If they are not monitoring customers and tracking their preferences as they move around a website, they are missing the point.
Test as you go
Bricks-and-mortar stores invest heavily in testing the layouts of their stores to maximise results. One thing that retail store designers can’t do, which web developers can, is test out thousands of slightly different variations in a live environment to see which yields the best results. It is also very easy and affordable to do – and has been shown to represent much greater value for money than search optimisation.
Multivariate testing enables designers to be as creative and innovative as they want to be and then, crucially, see if it works, by gradually feeding out test pages to designated groups of real customers.
Amazon does this all the time, testing every tweak to its page layouts and content on its customers without them being aware of it.
What’s exciting about live, multivariate testing is just how well it works. The smallest and most subtle change can have a surprisingly significant impact on conversions and customer stickiness. One of the most astounding success stories saw a leading news and careers website gain a 1,000% uplift in completed registrations simply by changing the structure and layout of its forms. The content itself remained the same.
Subtle text changes deep in the checkout process for National Express, meanwhile, boosted the flow through that page by 14pc. The subtle changes that can have a massive effect on success are all too often missed by marketers.
Marketers miss the point
No example illustrates this more clearly than that of DIY supplies chain, Wickes. Four different designs of a proposed sign-in page were shown to a sample of around 500 marketers. They were asked which one delivered 11% uplift during live visitor testing. When the responses collated, it was discovered that only 4.6% of the marketing experts had guessed right!
This is the kind of thing that can’t be predicted.
What a risk these companies are taking, with their flashy glorified marketing brochures! The most effective websites are works in progress, which use ongoing, iterative changes to continually hone the customer experience.
Being innovative needn’t mean making radical or costly changes. It’s about paying more attention to the detail of how customers navigate and behave on your web site, and then responding with enhancements that can be delivered quickly – without having to wait for the next development cycle.
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