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An Insider’s View on Visual Marketing – Get Your Own Gimmick

Conversion Scientist Lab Coat

For The Conversion Scientist, it is very simple: Create a hook and use it everywhere.

 Speaking engagements, your website, your social media profiles, webinars, podcasts, the movies, grocery shopping.

Well, maybe not everywhere.

Brian Massey devised an inventive way to exaggerate the serious nature of his business without compromising its integrity. With science on the brain, naturally, he put on a lab coat.

“Every headshot I have includes the guy coat,” says Brian.

Speaking in lab coat

Conversion Scientist Lab Coat

[pullquote position=”right”]“Every business needs a mental ‘hook’ that prospects can hang mental impressions on. I like to joke that my audiences will forget what I teach, but they never forget the lab coat.”[/pullquote]

Brian also likes to hand out lab coats to his customers, making them “Honorary Conversion Scientists”. This unique gift turns clients into walking billboards for Conversion Sciences. 

The Conversion Scientist doesn’t stop at just the lab coat. His website, blog site, office, and social media pages are adorned with a science related theme: beakers, bunson burners, and yes, a custom created Periodic Table of Elements for Online Marketing.

Periodic Table of Online Elements
Click to Enlarge

 In fact, the inventive and humorous folks at Grasshopper penned an entire article on the importance and effectiveness of integrating humor into your marketing and branding strategies.

Visual Marketing is the discipline of studying the relationship between an object, the context it is placed in, and its relevant image. A great brand is more than a tagline or a popping logo. It’s the purpose behind your business and how your potential clients perceive that purpose. It’s the story that makes you great. Hence the reason the lab coat works.

Lab coat + Conversion Science = The Conversion Scientist

Visual gimmick and imagery is an important part of the marketing world. Remember to throw this into your branding toolkit.

To read Grasshopper’s article in its entirety, visit 4Ways to Infuse Your Marketing with Hahas, LOLs, and ROFLs.

BTW, get your very own lab coat through our Buyschtuff store today.

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Free for Readers: Pendulum Fundamentals Program

In 2007, I attended one of the most amazing presentations I’ve ever seen. The presenter was storied ad-man Roy H. Williams. The topic was “The Pendulum.”

In the forty-five minutes or so of his presentation, he took us on a journey through the past eighty years. His sign-posts were pop music, literature and art. The journey showed how our culture evolved from a “We” generation to a “Me” generation and back.

Then he said something that turned out to be prescient. If his pendulum theory was correct, he said, “2009 is going to look a lot like 1929.” We now know that, economically, 2009 looked a whole lot like 1929.

This framework delivers actionable insights, but it’s also just interesting as hell.

So, I was pleased to learn that Michael Drew, Roy’s co-author of the book Pendulum had put together a fundamentals course on the Pendulum for just $147.

Free Pendulum Foundations CourseA fascinating course at the right price.

But, for you, my readers, he’s offering it free of charge.

This course is important because it helps you understand the shifting motivations of the people to whom you are advertising and marketing.

Why do proven marketing programs stop working over time? It’s not necessarily list fatigue.

Why do we have such trouble marketing to millennials and other emerging generations? It’s because they are riding the pendulum ahead of us.

Can we just keep doing things the way we are? The Pendulum proves that you can’t and won’t.

This stuff is fascinating and inspiring to me as a business owner and marketer. Let Michael show you how to apply the lessons of the Pendulum.

You can have a brilliant product or service, but if it does not meet the values or the desires of a changing generation, you will struggle. Herein lies the basic ideas behind Pendulum. Pendulum gives you the tools you need to build your online network and motivate prospects to take action. Straight forward and simple to apply, Pendulum in Action will give you a competition-crushing advantage in your market.

It’s an important macro shift and Michael has boiled down a system to take advantage of it.

  • Predict upcoming trends
  • Identify and tap into voids in the market
  • Truly understand and meet your customers’ needs
  • Know what people value
  • Write high-converting copy
  • Build products & services that consumers want

The Fundamentals program gives you a crystal ball of sorts. You’ll find yourself trying and succeeding with approaches you never would have considered without it.

Who doesn’t want to see into the future?

 [pullquote position=”right”]Applying Pendulum In Action is a way to set marketers and business owners apart from their competition.[/pullquote]

We don’t promote many things on this blog, but this is one I personally believe in.  Here is how you get this $147 course for free:

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get insight from the best on buyer persona and relationship marketing.

You should take some of your savings and grab a copy of Roy’s and Michael’s book, “Pendulum: How Past Generations Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future.”

Pendulum in Action Book

“Times change, but some things remain consistent: People either think of themselves or of others. The question is, how do you know when and what does it mean. Williams and Drew have figured that out in Pendulum, their razor-sharp look at cultural shifts over the last 3,000 years. You need to know your customer. Pendulum gives you that knowledge.” – Jonathan Blum, SVP and Chief of Public Affairs and Global Nutrition Officer of YUM Brands.

“[pullquote position=”right”]For anyone in advertising or marketing, this book is a must. It will tell you why our communications have stopped working and what you need to do about it.[/pullquote] As with any good book, this one raises many questions as it delivers invaluable insights.” – Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist and bestselling author of Your Customer Creation Equation.

“Startling insights and perspectives for anyone who wants to be successful now or in the future”- Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos and New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness.

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Donation Throw-down: Social Media vs. Traditional Media with Lon Safko

Tomorrow is the day.

Finally a pledge-week special for those of us that need some social guidance. Chopra, Orman, Dyer and now Lon Safko.

PBS Schedule-lon safkoThe KAET AZPBS Schedule for Pledge Week.

 

Believe it or not, KAET AZPBS does not do an online version of their specials during their key fundraising times.

We are changing that.

This is the first airing of a television program on the entire spectrum of social media. It will introduce the audience and businesses to the full potential of social media, from Twitter to Second Life. Lon addresses issues such as privacy, using social media as a meeting tool, and finding work using social networks.

We’ve wired up everything to measure the results. The socialotymetry devices have been placed. The donamic analytometer is connected to the internet. We’re ready to analyze the results.

Will social media generate more pledge dollars than on-air TV?

This is where you come in.

Where You Can View this Special

Social Media and You 3D Viewers Guide Cover-Thumb
Download the Free Viewer’s GuideTo View Online – You can view a pre-cast of the AZPBS special on Facebook. You can watch it in its entirety.

To View on Live TV (Arizona Residents only) – The on-air broadcast will be at 10:30pm MST.

Ways to Show your Support

The title of the AZPBS special is Social Media and You: Communicating in a Digital World. It will air online first and then be broadcast through Arizona TV stations later in the evening. Now is your chance to send a very real message to television stations everywhere. Vote for social media by donating online.

You can donate and show your support the following way:

  1. Watch the special online at www.22s.com/LonSafko starting March 6 starting at 10:00pm EST. You can sign up for a reminder on this page now.
  2. If you support public broadcasting, donate through the link on the page.
  3. Spread the word.

Once you have viewed the special and donated to support local broadcasting, make sure to share this information with your friends, family, business associates, and anyone else you can think of. Note: you can donate at any time, even now.

Your donations will go to KAET AZPBS, home of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Is there a more appropriate place to start a revolution?

Will you join in the Throw-down?

Be sure to get your reminder and watch the program. Donate if you support public broadcasting, and let’s make some history together.

Here’s a sneak peak of Lon talking about mobile marketing. 

Special thanks to our media pioneers: 22Social, Andrea Vahl, Phyllis Khare, Jamie Turner, Brian Massey and of course, Lon Safko.

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Brian Massey, Beyond the Lab Coat [AUDIO]

The original Conversion Scientist sat down with host of the Big Value Big Business podcast, James Lynch, to discuss everything from how he makes a terrible employee, to finding your own gimmick, to the inter-workings of a conversion scientist.

Some highlights from the interview include:

  • Brian spends a great deal of his time, helping businesses transform their websites through a “steady diet of visitor profiling, purposeful content, analytics and testing..”
  • Brian indulges his passion by speaking and writing about the art and science of conversion optimization. It is almost a sickness really.
  • What makes Brian tick? He thrives in the challenge of creating value, creating something new and helping businesses make more money on the traffic flowing through their website. “I mean who doesn’t want to get more money from the traffic that they’re getting on their website.”
  • Gain insight from his experiences in building a business in such a niche market, including why it is essential to create a “hook”, and of course, a “gimmick”. Sorry, the lab coat idea is taken.
  • Learn how converting more visitors into customer on your website is INDEED a science.

Brian Massey

 Grab your pen and paper, learn something new, and enjoy the latest edition of Big Value Big Business Podscast with James Lynch.

[pullquote position=”right”]“It takes a combination of experience, skill and neurosis to end up being a conversion scientist.” – Brian Massey[/pullquote]

 

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Subscribe

Read and download the Transcript

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Don’t Neglect the User Experience of Webinar Marketing

This is a guest post by Nis Frome.

Content marketers regularly rank webinars above blogging, white papers, and social media with regard to demand generation effectiveness and efficiency. In 2013 and 2014, the Content Marketing Institute reported webinars as second only to case studies in terms of digital marketing effectiveness. But often webinar marketing is a wholly selfish process – as in marketers rarely take a walk in the shoes of webinar viewers. If they did, they’d be appalled at what they saw.

What am I referring to?

Before I began hosting my own webinars, I sat on the other side of the screen as a viewer. Almost the entire experience – aside from actually getting the information I needed from the webinar – was riddled with bottlenecks, bugs, and an overall poor user experience. Specifically, landing pages contained far too lengthy (and often broken) forms; email notifications contained incorrect information or, worse yet, were nonexistent; downloading webinar software plugins meant I missed the first few minutes; and recordings were not to be found.

 None of the above should surprise you. In a recent survey conducted by The Conversion Scientist, Brian Massey, nearly 70% of marketers responded having spent more than six hours putting together the content for the webinar. Hot damn! That’s a huge time investment for just creating the content. It’s no wonder then that little effort is reserved for improving the rest of the webinar marketing experience for the end user.

I’ve meticulously documented many of the mistakes I’ve seen and, fortunately for you, addressing them doesn’t require much more than acknowledging them in the first place. Below are a quick five that you can implement immediately.

1. Interview the speaker – Have your moderator begin interviewing the speaker 10 minutes before the webinar is set to begin and continue doing so until five minutes until after the webinar is set to begin. This:

          a. Let’s you get to know the speaker better

          b. Entertains early arrivers

          c. Gives your audience a few minutes to get any necessary plugins downloaded, without boring the people who have arrived on time

2. Live Critique – Reading off a script can get pretty boring for those in the audience. Try keeping your presentation to 20-30 minutes and then inviting the audience to submit their work or use cases for a live critique. This gives you a chance to practice what you preach!

3. Q&A via Twitter – It may be hard for you to track all the audience questions but it’s even more difficult for those of us in the audience! Consider using a completely open chat room – cough, Twitter, cough – for Q&A. It makes the conversation last a whole lot longer.

4. Google Calendar integration – Members of your audience operate on their own schedules – not yours. So you know what’s better than getting reminders at times you’ve deemed appropriate? Getting reminders at times your audience has deemed appropriate! How convenient that users can manually adjust their Google Calendars to remind them about upcoming events at predetermined intervals! After a user registers, you can provide them with a link that will open the event in Google Calendar with all the necessary fields pre-filled (you don’t even have to be a programmer to do this):

 5. Recording – Fun fact: 85% of people don’t care whether they’re watching the live or recorded version of a webinar. The reality of the matter is that your audience may not be available during the one-hour timeslot you’ve selected. Most webinar software solutions let you record your webinar. Do everyone the favor of sharing it immediately after the live version is completed. 

 Nis FromeNis is a full-stack marketer with an obsession for UI/UX and growth hacking. He is an award-winning web and app developer, and is the co-organizer of both Natural User Interface Central and the Rutgers Mobile App Development club. Nis is currently the COO of Hublished, a webinar marketing optimization SaaS solution he co-founded as a junior at Rutgers University.

Cascade ContentFind out how to breathe new life into your Webinars by turning forgotten presentations into a shareable and lead generating cascade of content. Visit www.cascadecontent.com for more information and FREE Recommendations.

For even more tips, check out my recorded webinar below. The Content Cascade: Getting More Out of your Webinar

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Smart, Fun Marketing Gear at Buyschtuff

The New York Times reports that, when you’re wearing a white lab coat, you’re ability to solve problems and pay attention increases. But how can a marketer or business owner justify wearing a lab coat?

Well, if it’s a digital marketers lab coat — like we wear at Conversion Sciences — no one can object.

Buyschtuff is a store dedicated to authority-building products for marketers. We have the schtuff you are looking for to turn the ho-hum of marketing into the an engaging and entertaining marketing experience.

See what we have in stock in our conversion-optimized online store.

Conversion Scientist Lab Coat

Is your marketing team throwing s**t against the wall? Protect your expensive clothing with a marketing lab coat much. It’s white. It fits. Ladies are impressed by it. You can wear it anywhere you want to gain the respect and attention that you deserve. Come on, you want to be taken seriously, right? Neither do we.

Is an executive telling you that you need to talk more about your company on your landing pages? Simply point The Unexpected Formulas Posterto the Unexpected Formulas Poster hanging on your wall and explain, “Number 2: Our visitors don’t care about our company or its products.” If it’s on a poster, it has to be true, right?

This is what we’re all about: having fun while marketing smart. We don’t use any annoying marketing jargon here, words like hybrid, immersive experience, synergy, velocity, democratization, templatize (huh?), aggregation, or syndication. Instead we offer products that are fun and useful, and we promise to keep our tongues squarely in our cheeks at all times.

The only other way to get this schtuff, is to  let us optimize your site for you. Our clients earn their lab coats.

Remember, Free Shipping on all orders over $1,000,000.  Go order some marketing fun for you, your friends, neighbors, or your entire city.

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Austin, Texas: The Conversion Capital of the World [SlideShare]

In case you have not heard, Austin announced themselves as “The Conversion Capital of the World” this past February. Much to the dismay of Vancouver and surprisingly, the mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, who flat out denies Austin’s existence altogether.

Who knew so many people would be up in arms over what is obviously a tried and true proclamation. 

I know, you are thinking, “Here they go again. A SlideShare? What could possibly be next? Podcast? Webinar? Oh no, an infograph!”

All great ideas that we will definitely take into consideration. Thank you.

Ok, so we are a little proud of our self proclamation, but who wouldn’t be?

In fact, Ryan Deiss of Digital Marketer, sums it up nicely with this statement: “The motto of Austin, Texas is “Keep Austin Weird,” and weird is exactly what you’ll need to be if you want to succeed at digital marketing.”

So, take a look at these 18 CRO weirdos…er…experts who reside in Austin and see what they have to say about The Conversion Capital of the World.

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What Is The One Thing That Keeps Searchers From Converting On Your Site?

There is an insidious voice speaking to your visitors from the moment they click through to your site. It camps in the back of their minds, setting up a tent and proceeding to talk your visitors out of taking action. While there are many angles this voice can work to fill visitors with doubt, there is likely one that is common to a large number of your visitors.

It’s “the thing.” Dun – dun – dun.

If you can discover and address “the thing” – the major concern shared by a significant number of your visitors that keeps them from converting – then you can make some major improvements in your conversion rates and revenue per click.

When testing, we have found that this thing will fall into one of five areas: risk reversal, value proposition/messaging, social proof, user interface/user experience, and credibility/authority. All of these nagging questions may be present to some degree, but one of them is more pressing than the others — and addressing it will give you wins early and often.

  1. Risk Reversal
  2. Value Proposition & Messaging
  3. Social Proof
  4. User Interface & User Experience
  5. Credibility & Authority

Read the rest of the article.

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A Lesson in Website Optimization from the Conversion Scientist

What is Website Optimization?

Website Optimization is the science of finding more online revenue without paying to get more visitors. 

Where do you start?

Get out your spy kits and start assessing your competitors sites. If you want, you can use a tool like Ghostery to see if your competitors have installed analytic and testing tools. If they have, you need to get moving on yours. If they haven’t, you can create a serious advantage over them but doing it for yourself – right now. In order to get a leg up on your competition and optimize your website, the time is now time to test and discover how your site is performing.

OK, so how do you do this? Easy – after you have assessed the competition, and discovered what you are up against,  call someone that will teach you the ropes on A/B testing.

Website Traffic Analysis

You need to know how your website is performing

Conversion Sciences offer a free consultation at http://conversionsciences.com/contact.

To find out the 5 important metrics used in monitoring clients’ websites and what you need to look for in your competition, check out the entire article on http://blog.marketizator.com/using-science-to-increase-conversions.html.

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Maximizing Webinar Registration Conversion Rates

Webinars are powerful lead generators. A webinar attendee has raised their hand as a potential prospect better qualified than most of your other leads.

  • Webinar attendees have a problem that you solve.
  • Webinar attendees are willing to spend 30, 45, or 60 minutes to solve that problem.
  • Webinar attendees are often further along in the sales funnel.

Thus, getting people to your webinar is important. Your visit-to-registration conversion rate is key.

webinar regstration conversion rateYour Webinar Registration Conversion Rate

If you flip this equation, you get the Webinar Registration Abandonment Rate. No one wants to be abandoned.

So, I cringe when I see what the Webinar providers use as registration pages. These pages are austere, provide little customization, and prevent me from measuring my conversion rate.

image
Is your webinar provider’s registration page chasing away attendees?

 

It’s so bad that marketers are required to provide instruction pages to help their visitors get through the registration process.

In this article, you will find the kind of registration process I prefer. I invite you to check it out. It is provided by Hublished, a new service that gives marketers control over the webinar lifecycle.

This registration process is superior because:

  1. My hard-won visitors never leave my site to register.
  2. The registration overlay doesn’t have to remind them of why they were interested in the topic.
  3. Registrants aren’t left at some random thank you page after registering.
  4. I get the data I need to calculate my registration conversion rate (and I expect it to be higher).

Give it a Try

When you complete this registration, you will have registered for a 30-minute webinar on How Webinar Content Fuels Conversion. You’ll want to attend or watch the recorded webinar later.

 

We have a full description of the webinar avaialble.

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