Comments for Tom Lindmeier's Blog @ MarketPlanB http://marketplanb.com/blog Strategies and tactics for online marketing and ecommerce Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:37:21 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 Comment on Video product demonstrations are increasing conversion by Joe Stephens http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/comment-page-1/#comment-1719 Joe Stephens Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:37:21 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/#comment-1719 As a video producer I enjoy watching the essence and personality of a product or a company emerge as I engage in a project with my clients. I see a growing interest in the development of what I call for lack of a better word, "video Capability statements." That is a short video piece that "personalizes" and brings to life the product or service. The reality in the ecommerce world is that "shopping cart conversion rates" are very low, and it may be that if the product, or service, or company itself is personalized with a carefully crafted video, that the conversion rate might increase, and benefit the bottom line. I believe the demand for quality, professionally crafted video, by small business customers with a web presence is going to increase exponentially over the next couple of years. That's why I'm positioning my production company to take advantage of that trend. As a video producer I enjoy watching the essence and personality of a product or a company emerge as I engage in a project with my clients. I see a growing interest in the development of what I call for lack of a better word, “video Capability statements.” That is a short video piece that “personalizes” and brings to life the product or service. The reality in the ecommerce world is that “shopping cart conversion rates” are very low, and it may be that if the product, or service, or company itself is personalized with a carefully crafted video, that the conversion rate might increase, and benefit the bottom line. I believe the demand for quality, professionally crafted video, by small business customers with a web presence is going to increase exponentially over the next couple of years. That’s why I’m positioning my production company to take advantage of that trend.

]]> Comment on Video product demonstrations are increasing conversion by Scott Whitney http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/comment-page-1/#comment-1717 Scott Whitney Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:41:08 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/#comment-1717 Tom, Great points...especially about pre-production! It's the catalyst that makes or breaks the produced product. Auditioning talent, writing the script, determining all of your needs early on so that the day of the shoot goes flawless...it's key. In terms of the lighting, I think you're dead-on with the studio environment, much more control. I might add that in a studio you won't have the sound challenges that can pop-up in a non-controlled environment. All in all...less distractions! Your days are much more productive, and that yields a higher ROI. Tom,

Great points…especially about pre-production! It’s the catalyst that makes or breaks the produced product. Auditioning talent, writing the script, determining all of your needs early on so that the day of the shoot goes flawless…it’s key. In terms of the lighting, I think you’re dead-on with the studio environment, much more control. I might add that in a studio you won’t have the sound challenges that can pop-up in a non-controlled environment. All in all…less distractions! Your days are much more productive, and that yields a higher ROI.

]]> Comment on Video product demonstrations are increasing conversion by Walter Graff http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/comment-page-1/#comment-1716 Walter Graff Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:30:57 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/03/03/video-product-demonstrations-are-increasing-conversion/#comment-1716 Right on target. As a company that produces such pieces for websites we are always amazed that folks try to do this by themselves with little experience, rather than hire people that do it for a living. They'll spend weeks doing beautiful websites only to have crappy video content. Sort of like the president of GM saying, wait, my 16 year old nephew does websites, let him do ours. Walter Graff BlueSky Media Media Egg Right on target. As a company that produces such pieces for websites we are always amazed that folks try to do this by themselves with little experience, rather than hire people that do it for a living. They’ll spend weeks doing beautiful websites only to have crappy video content. Sort of like the president of GM saying, wait, my 16 year old nephew does websites, let him do ours.

Walter Graff
BlueSky Media
Media Egg

]]> Comment on Natural vs. paid search: Where should your marketing dollars go? by Tedel http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/02/19/natural-vs-paid-search-where-should-your-marketing-dollars-go/comment-page-1/#comment-1447 Tedel Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:01:46 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2008/02/19/natural-vs-paid-search-where-should-your-marketing-dollars-go/#comment-1447 I vote for sending your money to SEO, it won't be much, as you can learn how to do it by yoursself easily. I vote for sending your money to SEO, it won’t be much, as you can learn how to do it by yoursself easily.

]]> Comment on The bad science of A/B and multivariate testing for e-commerce by Multivariate Testing - Overdoing It? | Data SystemsPlus http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/comment-page-1/#comment-1123 Multivariate Testing - Overdoing It? | Data SystemsPlus Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:32:47 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/#comment-1123 [...] Why? The first is simple math. Tom Lindmeier explains it better than I could - but the bottom line, without big, stable traffic numbers and a steady, measured conversion rate, your multivariate testing results are not much better than choosing a ‘winner’ sales page at random. Any freshman statistics student learns that for a statistical observation to be reliable, it needs to be derived from a sample size large enough to ensure reliability. If you are launching a new product or site with zero traffic to start - you are making a mistake if you are making copy writing decisions based on statistics based on just a few hundred visitors and a handful of sales. Keep in mind also, the more variables you test, the more observations you will need for a valid test. [...] [...] Why? The first is simple math. Tom Lindmeier explains it better than I could – but the bottom line, without big, stable traffic numbers and a steady, measured conversion rate, your multivariate testing results are not much better than choosing a ‘winner’ sales page at random. Any freshman statistics student learns that for a statistical observation to be reliable, it needs to be derived from a sample size large enough to ensure reliability. If you are launching a new product or site with zero traffic to start – you are making a mistake if you are making copy writing decisions based on statistics based on just a few hundred visitors and a handful of sales. Keep in mind also, the more variables you test, the more observations you will need for a valid test. [...]

]]> Comment on Social networks and wish lists for ecommerce by Jonathan http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/11/07/social-networks-and-wish-lists-for-ecommerce/comment-page-1/#comment-989 Jonathan Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:36:47 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/11/07/social-networks-and-wish-lists-for-ecommerce/#comment-989 Have you taken a look at http://www.wish2list.com ? Have you taken a look at http://www.wish2list.com ?

]]> Comment on How and when to engage in social media marketing… a do-it-yourself starter for ecommerce businesses without deep pockets. by Eric Roth http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/07/how-and-when-to-engage-in-social-media-marketing%e2%80%a6-a-do-it-yourself-guide-for-ecommerce-businesses-without-deep-pockets/comment-page-1/#comment-922 Eric Roth Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:40:29 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/07/how-and-when-to-engage-in-social-media-marketing%e2%80%a6-a-do-it-yourself-guide-for-ecommerce-businesses-without-deep-pockets/#comment-922 You've written a solid primer, answered a mystery for me, and provided valuable links. Consider me an impressed newbie! Now I have to give myself an education. Thanks for the post and the leads! You’ve written a solid primer, answered a mystery for me, and provided valuable links. Consider me an impressed newbie! Now I have to give myself an education.
Thanks for the post and the leads!

]]> Comment on Yahoo coins term “Passionistas” in new study… is this a new demographic? by Passionista http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/10/01/yahoo-coins-term-passionistas-in-new-study-is-this-a-new-demographic/comment-page-1/#comment-784 Passionista Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:11:41 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/10/01/yahoo-coins-term-passionistas-in-new-study-is-this-a-new-demographic/#comment-784 it's different. Here's why, unlike the concept of just talking about influencers (which is brilliant as you stated), the studies main objectives were to give marketers good ways to talk to people online. One - brands should go where activity is natural It's natural for someone who is passionate about a topic to search more on it, talk about with friends and family, notice ads on tv/online/print, and probably write about it online (if they blog, etc). This is sponsorship 2.0. You are drawing in the passionate consumer and aligning with what they love. Two - people are willing to give brands a chance aligned to their passion It's human nature to like people who like what you like. Self love is what I call it. There's data to prove that passionate consumers will have greater affinity to brands when they are more closely aligned to their passion. The ability to display that alignment through content and engagement online is much better. There is plenty more in the report... pr can only do so much. Advertising.yahoo.com HAPPY HOLIDAYS! it’s different. Here’s why, unlike the concept of just talking about influencers (which is brilliant as you stated), the studies main objectives were to give marketers good ways to talk to people online.

One – brands should go where activity is natural
It’s natural for someone who is passionate about a topic to search more on it, talk about with friends and family, notice ads on tv/online/print, and probably write about it online (if they blog, etc). This is sponsorship 2.0. You are drawing in the passionate consumer and aligning with what they love.

Two – people are willing to give brands a chance aligned to their passion
It’s human nature to like people who like what you like. Self love is what I call it. There’s data to prove that passionate consumers will have greater affinity to brands when they are more closely aligned to their passion. The ability to display that alignment through content and engagement online is much better.

There is plenty more in the report… pr can only do so much.

Advertising.yahoo.com

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

]]> Comment on The bad science of A/B and multivariate testing for e-commerce by Tom Lindmeier http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/comment-page-1/#comment-779 Tom Lindmeier Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:23:42 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/#comment-779 Billy, I agree with you for the most part. I recognize the need to be careful about throwing numbers around unless we state the exact nature of the test. I'm not saying that the Google Optimizer is lacking. (The reference to 1M page views is on page 14 of the <a title="Demo" href="http://services.google.com/websiteoptimizer/">Overview Demo</a>). But I am saying that small and medium sized businesses need to moderate expectations of the number of tests they can run when they have moderate traffic. They are faced with running one test at a time over longer periods. Here's an example: Lets say you're running a home page offer test and a shopping cart test and both are multivariate with 4 treatments each. Even if you assign the lions share of page views to the control group on the home page test, the factor for your cart test is diluted to a point that you cannot run the cart test and possibly not even the home page test unless it is A/B. Overall conversion rates for most e-commerce businesses fall into the 2% to 4% range and that is how I came up with the 20-25M sample size. Billy,
I agree with you for the most part. I recognize the need to be careful about throwing numbers around unless we state the exact nature of the test. I’m not saying that the Google Optimizer is lacking. (The reference to 1M page views is on page 14 of the Overview Demo). But I am saying that small and medium sized businesses need to moderate expectations of the number of tests they can run when they have moderate traffic. They are faced with running one test at a time over longer periods.
Here’s an example: Lets say you’re running a home page offer test and a shopping cart test and both are multivariate with 4 treatments each. Even if you assign the lions share of page views to the control group on the home page test, the factor for your cart test is diluted to a point that you cannot run the cart test and possibly not even the home page test unless it is A/B.
Overall conversion rates for most e-commerce businesses fall into the 2% to 4% range and that is how I came up with the 20-25M sample size.

]]> Comment on The bad science of A/B and multivariate testing for e-commerce by Billy Shih http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/comment-page-1/#comment-774 Billy Shih Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:39:08 +0000 http://marketplanb.com/blog/2007/12/19/the-bad-science-of-ab-and-multivariate-testing-for-e-commerce/#comment-774 Disclaimer: I am an optimization analyst at Widemile and we specialize in multivariate and split testing. I can see where you are coming from with your issues, but I think there are a lot of misconceptions and mistakes going on with multivariate and a/b testing since it is a very nascent industry in the online world. I agree that sample sizes are important and that it is unrealistic for every business to be doing large multivariate tests or even split tests, but there are some problems with some of the things you suggest. Any test that lasts 6 months to a year is probably invalid in itself because that is too long of a time period. If you sell Ski's, you probably get different types of traffic in the Winter than in Spring, so optimizing your site over that long of a period will skew your results in different directions. The longer your test is, the more noise you introduce to your results, which at a certain point makes your results not statistically relevant. Even for non-seasonal products, assuming that 6 months to 1 year has no significant traffic changes is probably unreasonable since most companies are doing PPC and other advertising changes along with SEO over that time. Also, multivariate testing requires a certain amount of conversion traffic only 99.9% of the time. This is simply because conversions are much harder to get, so the sample size of page views is almost never a problem. Also, you can not say that you took into account for conversion traffic with such a narrow number from 20-25M. My company has tested sites with conversion rates as low as .1% all the way up to 30%, which is a huge difference in the amount of traffic required. You have to remember that some multivariate tests take longer than others also. A very basic one could take a site one week, while a very complicated one could take the same site 4 weeks or more. While we rarely work with small businesses, many of our clients are medium sized. Not every business fits but if they do, its because of their conversion traffic. We have not had problems optimizing their pages using split and multivariate testing and we get statistically relevant results within a month or less typically. Google's tool, while not perfect, does a great job at driving real results. I'm not sure where you got the 1M page views a week number from, nor the context of it, but from what I've seen, their calculations of how long it takes to run a statistically significant test have been accurate. Since their tool is free, and only helps to boost their AdWords revenue, Google has no incentive to give people a tool that gives them bad results. Also, I can't speak for other companies, but it is in our best interest to create long term conversion lifts for our clients. Many times I have pushed clients tests to run a test longer simply because we need to get solid results. I think you should give Google Optimizer another try, if you haven't already and see if you still think the same way. As long as you follow their guidelines of not testing too many things in regards to your traffic, it works. Disclaimer: I am an optimization analyst at Widemile and we specialize in multivariate and split testing.

I can see where you are coming from with your issues, but I think there are a lot of misconceptions and mistakes going on with multivariate and a/b testing since it is a very nascent industry in the online world. I agree that sample sizes are important and that it is unrealistic for every business to be doing large multivariate tests or even split tests, but there are some problems with some of the things you suggest.

Any test that lasts 6 months to a year is probably invalid in itself because that is too long of a time period. If you sell Ski’s, you probably get different types of traffic in the Winter than in Spring, so optimizing your site over that long of a period will skew your results in different directions. The longer your test is, the more noise you introduce to your results, which at a certain point makes your results not statistically relevant. Even for non-seasonal products, assuming that 6 months to 1 year has no significant traffic changes is probably unreasonable since most companies are doing PPC and other advertising changes along with SEO over that time.

Also, multivariate testing requires a certain amount of conversion traffic only 99.9% of the time. This is simply because conversions are much harder to get, so the sample size of page views is almost never a problem. Also, you can not say that you took into account for conversion traffic with such a narrow number from 20-25M. My company has tested sites with conversion rates as low as .1% all the way up to 30%, which is a huge difference in the amount of traffic required. You have to remember that some multivariate tests take longer than others also. A very basic one could take a site one week, while a very complicated one could take the same site 4 weeks or more.

While we rarely work with small businesses, many of our clients are medium sized. Not every business fits but if they do, its because of their conversion traffic. We have not had problems optimizing their pages using split and multivariate testing and we get statistically relevant results within a month or less typically.

Google’s tool, while not perfect, does a great job at driving real results. I’m not sure where you got the 1M page views a week number from, nor the context of it, but from what I’ve seen, their calculations of how long it takes to run a statistically significant test have been accurate. Since their tool is free, and only helps to boost their AdWords revenue, Google has no incentive to give people a tool that gives them bad results.

Also, I can’t speak for other companies, but it is in our best interest to create long term conversion lifts for our clients. Many times I have pushed clients tests to run a test longer simply because we need to get solid results. I think you should give Google Optimizer another try, if you haven’t already and see if you still think the same way. As long as you follow their guidelines of not testing too many things in regards to your traffic, it works.

]]>