We really liked Avinash Kaushik’s presentation, ‘Top 5 Things Marketers Can Do Now’. Here’s a little summary that we broke down into smaller steps.
‘You cannot improve one thing by 1000% but you can improve 1000 little things by 1%’ – Jan Carlzon
1. Think: Increase profit – Reduce costs – Increase satisfaction and loyalty.
2. Traffic sources: In Google Analytics, look at the pie graph that shows where your traffic comes from. This will tell you areas that you could focus on. E.g. Very small piece of pie for ‘other’ sources means perhaps you can improve your newsletters as a source of more traffic.
3. Landing page optimization: Focus on only one page on your website out of the hundreds you may have. Choose your main conversion page or high impact pages. Improve this page using Google Website Optimizer to conduct A/B testing of ad copy, images etc.
4. Bounce rates: Use Google Analytics to see your bounce rate. A 25% bounce rate is good. A 50% bounce rate and you should freak out; it is bad except for blogs (not including new acquisitions). Ask yourself why customers are leaving on these pages. Can they be better directed to other pages?
5. Website content: Deliver value to your customer. Put the content of your website first (before advertising space). Solve customer problems first. Make your website what they were looking for.
6. Depth of visit: Use Google Analytics to find your average number of page views. Three pages or more means that they are engaging with your web site. Then search these people, where they come from and the keywords they use to find you.
7. Organic search versus paid search: Analyze the difference. How is each page doing?
8. Search volume: Use Google Analytics to search volume of a keyword over the course of one year. Compare this keyword or your brand (if you are large enough) to the category or industry average.
9. Websites viewed by your demographic: Use Google Ad Planner to find the websites that people visit most often anywhere on the web based on the demographic information that you put into the tool. You will find websites to display your ads and the precise audience you seek.
If you seek ways to improve your online marketing campaigns but have run out of ideas, look towards behavioral science for inspiration. Behavioral science is a discipline that collects and studies data on how people react when faced with a decision and how decisions, such as those made by peers and governments, influence individuals. Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational are two books on this subject which present interesting and easy-to-read examples of societal reactions to various circumstances, with outcomes that will surprise you.
One interesting example from Predictably Irrational is an experiment based on the price of drugs and people’s perceived effectiveness of the drug. The author and his fellow scientists found that when people were given a ‘new’ pain-killer, which they were told was very cheap, their perception of the pain-relief it provided was less than when they were given a drug (the exact same drug) which they were led to believe was very expensive. The test subjects responded that they experienced greater pain-relief when given a drug that was perceived to be more expensive.
If people find they obtain better pain-relief results from a pricier drug, should we therefore aim to keep the health care system as expensive as possible, thus providing society a perception, and indeed a very real feeling of ‘better’ health care?
These are interesting thoughts for the Obama Administration to ponder while formulating social security and health care programs. That being said, France and other European nations’ health care systems are cheaper and more effective than that of the United States.
So what will analytics be able to tell you if you change your price, incentives, imagery and viewer access to reviews? Let behavioral experts shed light on your site’s visitor behaviour and be inspired to test your site according to the interesting insights provided on the human decision processes.
Here is a summary of the most interesting knowledge shared at the conference, Les Affaires – Adapt Your Marketing Strategy In Times Of Crisis held in Montreal on 12 March 2009.
Changes in Consumer Behavior Resulting From Economic Crisis
The US housing bubble of 2008, which propelled the current global financial crisis, is largely due to consumer behavior. Similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s where a run on banks perpetuated a downward financial spiral, it is consumer behavior again that is dictating the crisis of 2008.
Consumer behavior towards budgeting, debt and spending has changed in recent decades. Ever higher amounts of personal debt are more acceptable. According to Jacques Nantel, Professor Secretary General of Marketing at the University of Montreal, real household income has not increased in the last ten years. However, retail sales rose almost 180%, along with personal debt, from less than 50% of disposable income to more than 120%. It is this attitude towards personal debt that is accountable for the current economic situation, rather than the sub-prime mortgage market specifically.
As a consequence of the economic crisis, there are foreseeable adjustments consumers will make to their behavior. A reduction in credit is the foremost concern for consumers. Either their bank will press them to pay on loans, or consumers will voluntarily seek to reduce their credit card bills or consolidate all their debts into a lower interest loan.
That being said, consumers want to limit further debts and have developed distrust towards credit terms on sale items. Selling products with financing credit terms and various credit payment options are no longer the deal-closers they used to be. Instead, people are looking for quality and durability rather than the greatest quantity for the cheapest price. Consumers are rediscovering the virtues of a household budget and doing the math on saving for an item rather than paying for it on credit.
What this means for marketing
Just as the post-war generation’s spending habits were strongly shaped by war conditions, adjustments in consumer behavior are already taking place in those living through this crisis. Marketers require new strategies for success with these customers.
Firstly, marketing budgets are affected. Naturally, businesses are keen to cut costs and apply greater pressure on marketing teams for return on investment evidence. Strategic marketers with a strong brand name and lots of cash could use this time to fill in the recently vacated publicity landscape with their ads at discount media prices. However, launching a new brand might prove difficult, unless it’s a budget brand – and, as mentioned above, household budgeting is the new black.
This economic climate is the ideal time for marketers to explore online marketing, pay per click and social media avenues for advertising campaigns. Not only do you receive immediate and transparent results of return on investment, positive or negative, you also amass a wealth of demographic and geographic data to support future campaigns and your bid for a larger budget. It is the ability to target, in a very focused fashion, groups of consumers on the internet which promises to make internet marketing such a success. Additionally, email newsletters for retention campaigns can be specifically targeted towards your consumer demographics. Note here, it is imperative to avoid anything resembling spam, keeping in mind consumers’ heightened sense of distrust.
Consumers prefer to make purchases from someone they trust, who understands their individual needs. Online advertising allows you to focus on specific demographics and modify your advertising adcopy and images immediately to suit the times. Now is the perfect time to empathize with your consumer’s financial situation. Use the internet to market directly to your consumers and change your sales messaging to suit their new purchasing behaviors.
