The 2012 A/BAMA Campaign
Written by Dylan Langei
According to Optimizely, A/B testing, in essence, is a method to validate that any new design or alteration to the content on a webpage, email, newsletter, and/or person-to-person script is improving your conversion rate before making the actual content change. A/B testing provides you with a measurement tool and real data so that business decisions can move from "we think" to "we know." An A/B test involves testing two versions - version A (the control) and version B (the variation) - utilizing live traffic and measuring the effect each version has on your conversion rate.
Our soon to be guest, Amelia Showalter, who was the director of digital analytics for the 2012 Barack Obama campaign, utilized A/B testing with her team to market the reelection of President Obama. Considering Obama was reelected in 2012, we have much to learn from Amelia and her team's tactics. The articles from Businessweek & TechPresident provide details on the campaigns approach of leveraging A/B testing to listen, experiment, and analyze. The campaign mainly utilized A/B testing for emails to see if people were more receptive to one method over another. The interesting part was that they would create around 18 variations with differing subject lines, amount of money asked for, formatting, and even the message themselves - yet even the best writers, analysts and managers could not identify which of the variations would perform the best and worst. This relates to the concept of HiPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) and why it is so ineffective. Many businesses can learn from this, as HiPPO is often a method still practiced. Many businesses figure, well he/she is a top-level executive who makes three times as much as the normal employee, so they have the best decision-making skills. Well this is incorrect, it is impossible to predict what A/B testing measurements provide - accurate and concrete data so businesses can know what content will drive conversion rates. However, Amelia's team was provided with many resources, which allowed them to scale more easily than a traditional business might. Therefore, it would be difficult for a traditional business to send out as many emails as Amelia's team did, or engage in as many person-to-person interactions.
There are thousands if not millions of businesses using optimization to gather actionable data, track conversion rates, and discover winning combinations across a range of ideas. LifeProof is one of these businesses. LifeProof manufactures and markets SmartPhone and Tablet PC cases for all-environmental protection, functionality and interactivity. Lifeproof's goal was to implement a testing culture and launch a series of tests on the site's product pages. LifeProof tested various landing pages with original CTAs like "Buy Now" and "Learn More" to less direction options like "Purchase" and "Explore," and more explanatory options like "Choose Your Case" and "Find Out More." LifeProof also learned through testing failures. In an effort to increase the purchase of the Total Water Protection (TWP) feature, the team wanted to automatically pre-check that upsell on the product page. However, the team learned that pre-checking TWP was causing more harm than benefit. Pre-checking this item equated to an 11% decrease in monthly revenue projections. In the end, LifeProof experienced a 19% life in revenue, scaleable testing program, and strengthened branding.
Duracell + Deafness + Super Bowl XLVIII = Inbound Marketing
Written by Dylan Langei
On February 2nd, 2014 the Seattle Seahawks blew out the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII to claim their first ever Super Bowl title in franchise history. The showdown between the Seahawks' number one defense and the Broncos' number one offense was the most-watched program in U.S. history with 111.5 million viewers. According to experts, the Seahawks were the underdogs going into the championship game, but clearly proved that offense merely sells tickets and defense wins championships.
During the road to this monumental victory, Duracell saw an opportunity to leverage this emotional path by releasing a commercial featuring deaf Seattle Seahawk Fullback, Derrick Coleman. According to "Inbound" by Marketo, it can actually be quite challenging to get noticed during a big event, like a Super Bowl win. To overcome this challenge and adequately pursue inbound marketing, a company must create content that is unique with a fresh point of view. With this in mind, Duracell created the Trust Your Power (#TrustYourPower) campaign.
The Trust Your Power commercial is very emotional and inspiring, while also providing content that is relevant to Duracell's prospective buyers. Let's be honest, batteries are not all that sexy or cool, but what they provide is remarkable. By featuring an athlete that relies on Duracell's products to overcome his lifelong challenge of deafness and achieve his greatest aspiration of playing in the NFL, valuable content is created. Through this content, Duracell reminded prospective clients how important batteries really are. In three weeks, the 60-second commercial went viral and had 13 million views alone on YouTube. This inbound marketing strategy clearly made its mark by creating such intriguing content that millions of people felt it was worth sharing via social media outlets. Now let me remind you, Derrick Coleman is not some hot shot NFL player like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning who demands millions of dollars for commercial appearances and endorsement deals. Instead, Duracell targeted a no name player who had overcome severe challenges in part because Duracell powered his hearing aids. Trust Your Power is literally the epitome of inbound marketing - inspiring content that is worth sharing, unobtrusive, and focused on prospects' problems and concerns rather than the product or solution. Through the Trust Your Power campaign, Duracell successfully leveraged the miraculous story of Derrick Coleman and the Super Bowl run of the Seattle Seahawks to pursue inbound marketing. BOOM, there you have it folks, inbound marketing.
Leveraging Google Analytics to Crush the Competition
Written by Dylan Langei
After viewing countless videos with Google's Evangelist, Justin Cutroni, I feel a more captivating opening line would be, "Hi and welcome, my name is Justin Cutroni, and I'll be your instructor throughout this course. In my role as a Digital Analytics Evangelist at Google I try to help people understand how to leverage the Google Analytics platform to optimize their data collection, processing, configuration, and reporting to whoop the competition's ass." Then obviously proceed to show the awesome gif below featuring two cats on a treadmill and pose the question, "Would you rather your business be the light colored cat who has successfully mastered and integrated Google Analytics? Or the darker colored cat that has not integrated any form of digital analytics?"
An analogy like this would certainly catch my attention. Of course I'd want my business to be the light colored cat! The light colored cat looks like they've been training with Usain Bolt while the darker cat looks like, well, anyone that has ever competed against Usain Bolt. To remind you...
In all seriousness, the Google Analytics Platform Principles training highlights the many benefits of Google Analytics to a business' data collection, processing, configuration, and reporting techniques. These platform fundamentals allow for adequate interpretation of the data you're provided on the platform to make informed decisions to strengthen your competitive position. Through transforming and aggregating data, Google Analytics provides filters, goals, and grouping. Filters exclude, include or can change data, while goals track certain conversions to meet business objectives, and grouping aggregates data together to analyze channels and content related groups. These methods, along with report sampling, reduce latency while maintaining high accuracy for timely answers to business operations. By saving time and money, businesses are more effective and better suited to meet their strategic business objectives. However, according to Avinash Kaushik, Author of Digital Marketing Evangelist - Google, 90% of the failures in web analytics is because businesses do not have DUMB objectives. DUMB objectives are doable, understandable, manageable, and beneficial. Therefore, it is not just enough to integrate Google Analytics and think, OK great we're going to meet all of our strategic business objectives! Kaushik gives many good tactics to break down desirable outcomes so they may be dissected into actionable steps towards your business objectives. For example, if a company wants to improve marketing effectiveness, they must 1. identify broken things in m, 2. figure out how to do n, and 3. experiment with p type of campaigns. Once a company has deciphered the actionable steps to reach their desired outcome, they may leverage Google Analytics to provide data that will assist them in fulfilling their strategic business objectives. Now that, is what you call getting a leg up on the competition.
Sorry Nike, Just Google It.
Written by Dylan Langei
So what is all this hype around digital analytics, and more specifically Google Analytics? To be honest, you could Google it. But, since you're already here, I suggest reading on. Digital analytics are a fundamental component of marketing. With nearly everything moving online, the "digital" part of "marketing" is becoming implied. The term "digital marketing" may almost become obsolete, not because the digital part will become unimportant, but everything having to do with marketing will become digital. Through this digitization, many purchases are occurring online, therefore allowing consumers activity and behavior to be tracked. Nowadays, businesses don't have to assign an employee to stand at the door manually reporting customer traffic.
As stated in Forrester's Report, web analytics provide data handling, metrics, reporting, usability, integration, service, predictive analytics, and real-time data. The Big Six, if you will - Adobe, IBM, Webtrends, AT Internet, Google, SAS Institute - possess various strengths and weaknesses in the web analytics market. These vendors are sought out by numerous enterprises based on these strengths and weaknesses, and integrated accordingly. So why Google Analytics? Why become certified? Well, Google has immense brand recognition (Google is a verb for heavens sake), it is a marketable credential, and it will probably be the only chance I'll have at placing "Google" anywhere on my resume (not trying to downplay my potential, but come on, I'm a realist and Googles hiring rate is 0.2% - and yes I did Google that). Even though my chances of employment at Google are only slightly better than winning the lottery, I can become Google Analytic certified to increase the attractiveness of my resume. Why is this an attractive component of a resume you may ask? According to E-Nor, 51% of Fortune 500 companies use Google Analytics. Obama's campaign team even leveraged Google Analytics for the 2012 re-election campaign in order to engage supporters, reach and influence persuadable voters, and activate supporters to vote. This alone proves that Google Analytics is a very powerful and highly accredited tool. Therefore, becoming competent in a digital analytic platform like Google Analytics will provide me with a competitive edge over other job applicants. I will be able to understand web traffic, customer behavior, online campaigns, best customer location, what users are searching, what people click on the most, and various other components provided by Google Analytics. With this understanding, I then will be able to act on these insights by comparing different marketing approaches and move forward with the one that performs the best. Fusing business objectives and strategies with a comprehensive understanding of analytics is an invaluable trait in this digitize era of ours, in which I hope to possess after the Google Analytics certification.
Digital Marketing by Dylan
Written by Dylan Langei
About Me:
Greetings onlookers, I am Dylan. Originally from Santa Rosa, California my parents decided that 360 days of rain better suited our family and we relocated to Bellingham, Washington after a short stint in Orlando, Florida. I am currently undergoing Western Washington University’s one year Accelerated MBA Program, and this past June I earned a Business Administration, Management degree from Western. My professional experience is limited, but I am currently maintaining jobs at both Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU) and Western. I have enjoyed five splendid years at WECU, and just began last year at Western as a Graduate Assistant. After graduation I am stuffing a 70 liter backpack and embarking on a journey around Europe for two months. Post my return, a relocation to Seattle is in order to pursue a career in the field of real estate.
Why Digital Marketing?
I chose to enroll in this course as I have discovered a strong passion for marketing while in the MBA program. Digital marketing is an essential component of marketing as a whole, as the movement towards the Internet & electronics is inevitable. Due to this, I would like to expand my knowledge of engaging stakeholders via social media and various electronic devices. I hope to leverage this expansion of knowledge while applying for jobs and/or escalating my position at a company.
Learning Objectives:
I would like to of course become certified in Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Hootsuite, and Inbound Marketing. I am particularly interested in Search Engine Optimizations (SEO) as I currently dabble in web development. In my dabbling I have built myself a personal website and my friend’s business a website. SEO is a facet of web development I have not yet mastered, and is on my “bucket list” if you will.
Article Discussions:
Soft skills vs. hard skills. Meta-skills vs. technical skills. Which should we soon-to-be college graduates focus on to enhance our personal branding come job searching time? The article Knowledge and Skill Requirements for Marketing Jobs in the 21st Century provides a quantitative study that aims to answer this. Our academic system is an obvious Belieber of promoting the development of technical skills over meta-skills, and many academic studies have supported this belief. However, the areas of marketing knowledge where there were no significant differences between job levels are marketing research, selling, Internet marketing, promotion/advertising, public relations, and merchandising. This means that no matter the marketing position, subject knowledge in these areas are equally as important. Suddenly a silver lining begins to appear. Many recent graduates are well-versed in the use of technology, in which they may leverage to become competent in said skills above. Technology has provided us with tools to master marketing research, selling, Internet marketing, promotion/advertising, public relations, and merchandising. Social media ad campaigns, marketing automation software, and the ability to create viral videos are just some uses to leverage technology and prove acquisition of these vastly required skills. According to Radius, the year 2015 is in the growth cycle of marketing technology. I find this relieving for our generation, as most of us are technologically competent. As technology matures we will mature with it and continue to leverage its advantages to maintain marketing jobs in the 21st century.
Mobile ads will continue to surpass email and social, society will continue to adopt mobile commerce, and social media spending will continue to increase. These are not revolutionary assumptions brought to our attention by US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2011 to 2016 – but are certainty vital to how marketers are transitioning themselves away from traditional marketing and into interactive marketing. Consumers are beginning to demand relationship management where transactions are not merely a monetary exchange, but a conversation takes place. According to Gravoc, interactivity takes place when consumers can control when they view the products and what type of products they are viewing, the pace at which they review products, and the ability to order or request information directly. Because customers have the Internet to compare products and make informed purchasing decisions, businesses are forced to provide the customers more control. Interactive marketing combats this transition of power that has been given to the customer. Direct sales are becoming too costly and unwanted by consumers. This might just be me, but I always ignore pushy door-to-door sales visits from the CUTCO Cutlery salesperson (except for this My Wonder Cleaner Salesman – he is awesome). Now, marketers are forced to leverage interactive marketing through mobile ads, mobile commerce, and social media to engage consumers in a non-threatening discussion. Consumers feel safe on their mobile phones and computer, and therefore more inclined to make a purchase.
There is an obvious disconnect between what job applicants believe they are qualified for, and what an employer expects from an applicant. It is illustrated in the State of Digital Marketing Talent article that organizations are experiencing significant challenges in locating talent due to inconsistency indicated in performance expectations and an over reliance on subjective referrals. This is because the current job matching services and application forms ignore fundamental components to screen for a long-term employee. Many job applications request a resume, cover letter, and various other ambiguous details. Yes, work history and reasoning behind a person applying is important, but is not enough to conclude prolonged employee retention. Companies must consider components such as; work environment preferences, personality, behaviors, and interests. Establishing these mechanisms within the hiring process will build a more cohesive match between an applicant and the company. Employee turnover is an enormous cost burden on a company as well, equating anywhere from 16-213% of an employees salary according to the Center for American Progress. Businesses need to shy away from such a heavy reliance on resumes, as they only suggest exposure to various experiences but do not always translate to on-the-job abilities. An applicant’s resume could suggest they are completely competent in analytics, but if the work environment is not conducive to their preferences, they may become unable to produce satisfactory work. That is why it is essential to integrate culture meshing criteria in job searching efforts.