Online Sales and Site Optimisation

Keith Feighery: Digital Strategist

Design, Info Architecture & Calls to Action

Case Studies

Design with Clear Intent

Clear Layout

Obvious Benefits

Appropriate Channel Design

Decluttered Logical Flow

Demonstrate clear Call to Action

Clear and Intuitive Messages

Intuitive Info Flows

eCommerce Case Study

Case Study: Wiltshire Farm Foods

Key Take-Aways

• Remove Clutter – focus on key goals all the time – Remove any obstacles

• Provide lots of visual feedback – Users know that actions have been successful

• Adhere to affordance rules – make them obvious– Big Buttons, Clear Large Links

• Anticipate and Answer questions upfront – Embed as part of user experience

• Knit USPs in copy and images of site– Emphasise all your differentiators

Website Optimisation

• Dynamically Testi key elements of site– Test Copy, Calls to Action, Images, Placement– The $300,000,000 Button

• Both Split (A/B) and Multi-Variate Test– Google Website Optimiser or Proprietary tools

• Define and set up conversion points– Need to track and measure user actions

• Clear calls to action significantly augment optimisation goals– Don’t force user to think – TELL THEM WHAT TO DO

Test Process

• Never stop testing and tracking user actions on website• A/B Split Testing

– Define specific site goals (sale, sign-up etc..)– Test two specific pages (typically high volume landing pages)– Commercial tools (Vertster) or Google Optimiser – Monitor which test is performing better– Use Variable rate or throttle testing to vary the percentage of traffic

that gets routed to the various pages• Multi-Variate testing

– Enables variable testing of elements within single pages– Different copy text, form layouts and even landing page images and

background colours together– Track combinations that achieve predetermined goals

Web 2.0 Examples

International Examples Web 2.0

Irish Web2.0 Examples

Look at Irish Enterprise Examples

Irish Software Examples

Sales Funnel Specifics

Managing the Sales Funnel

• Methods of acquisition– PPC Ads, SEO, Video, Email, LeagGen, Affiliate Marketing, Offer

based, etc.

• Once there – what’s important?– Prove you can Add Value

• Qualify Leads with intent – You want users who are amenable to your message – Its ok for

users to self-select opt out

• Monetise towards latter end of the Funnel– After user sees value and expresses intent– Push low-cost options in the middle of funnel– High cost ones at the end of your funnel

Customer Lifecycle

• Understand the customer lifecycle – The various stages of a customer over a timer period– Create indicators to track their intent– As they begin to move lag – make sure you target them

• Identify high repeat behaviour – Identify a common characteristic – and track this

• e.g. have visited more than 3 time and purchase

• Track rising and falling repeat rates– Have early warning systems in place

• Track repeat rate by media source – Search Engine, PPC, Banner Ad etc..

Customer Lifetime Value

• Segment customers into acquisition channels• Identify the potential lifetime value per channel• Identify length of customer lifecycle per channel

– Low cost channels could have shortest lifecycle• Compare the relative potential value

– Consider: length of lifecycle, potential revenue per Customer

• Allocate money towards higher potential value customers • By corollary - away from lower potential value

customers

Understanding “Recency”

• Tracking Recency – Time since a customer last engaged in a behaviour

• Recency is # 1 most powerful predictor of future behavior – Can predict likelihood of purchases, visits, game plays, or

“other action-oriented” behaviour• The more Recent a customer is, the higher their potential value is• Segment Repeat segment into past and present (30 days)

– Apply a recency filter for real-time view• Longer a customer has stopped engaging the less likely they are

to repeat• Take adjustive measures to increase in quality recency repeat

customers

Dave McClure’s AARRR for Start Ups

Start-Up Metrics

• Acquisition: – users come to site from various channels

• Activation: – users enjoy 1st visit: "happy” experience

• Retention: – users come back, visit site multiple times

• Referral: – users like product enough to refer others

• Revenue: – users conduct some monetization behavior

Start-up Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan = Target Customer Acquisition Channels• 3 Important Factors = Volume (#), Cost ($), Conversion (%)• Measure conversion to target customer actions• Test audience segments, campaign themes, Call-To-Action (CTAs)

[Gradually] Match Channel Costs => Revenue Potential • Increase Vol. & Conversion, Decrease Cost, Optimize for Revenue Potential• Avg Txn Value (ATV), Ann Rev Per User (ARPU), Cust Lifetime Value (CLV)• Design channels that (eventually) cost <20-50% of target ATV, ARPU, CLV

Consider Costs, Scarce Resource Tradeoffs• Actual $ expenses• Marketing time & resources• Product/Engineering time & resources• Cashflow timing of expense vs. revenue, profit

5 Steps Start-up Metrics Model

Website.com

Revenue $$$

Biz DevAds, Lead Gen,

Subscriptions, ECommerce

ACQUISITION

SEOSEM

Apps & Widgets

Affiliates

Email

PR Biz Dev

Campaigns, Contests

Direct, Tel, TV

Social Network

s Blogs

Domains

Retention

Emails & Alerts

System Events & Time-based Features

Blogs, RSS, News Feeds

AcquisitionWhere are users coming from

Acquisition Methods• SEO / SEM• Blogs• Email• Social Media & Social

Networks• Domains

Top 10 - 100 Keywords• Your Brand / Products• Customer Needs / Benefits• Competitor’s Brand / Products• Semantic Equivalents• Misspellings

Key Metrics to Track• Quantity (#)• Cost ($)• Conversions (%)

ToolsGoogle Analytics (web analytics)

google.com/analytics

Google Keyword Tooladwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

SEO Book Toolstools.seobook.com

Activation What do users do on first visit

Example Activation Goals• Click on something!• Account sign up / Emails• Referrals / Tell a friend• Widgets / Embeds• Low Bounce Rate

Key Metrics to Track• Pages per visit• Time on site• Conversions

ToolsCrazy Egg (Visual Click Mapping)

http://crazyegg.com

Google Website Optimizer (A/B & Multivariate Testing)http://google.com/websiteoptimizer

Marketo.com (B2B Lead Generation Management)http://marketo.com

RetentionHow users come back

Retention Methods• Automated Emails

* Track open rate / CTR / Quantity

• RSS / News Feeds* Track % viewed / CTR / Quantity

• Widgets / Embeds• Track impressions / CTR / Quantity

Example Retention Goals• 1 - 3+ visits per month• Long customer life cycle / Low

decay• Identify fanatics

Key Metrics to Track• Source• Quantity• Conversions• Visitor Loyalty• Session Length

Cohort Analysis• Distrib of Visits over Time• Rate of Decay• Effective Customer Lifecycle

ReferralsHow do users refer others

Referral Methods• Send to Friend: Email /

IM• Social Media• Widgets / Embeds• Affiliates

Viral Growth Factor = X * Y * Z

• X = % of users who invite other people

• Y = average # of people that they invited

• Z = % of users who accepted an invitation

A viral growth factor > 1 Equals an exponential

organic user acquisition.

RevenueHow do you make money

Revenue Tips• Start Free => 2% “Freemium”• Subscription / Recurring transactions• Qualify your customers -> Lead generation (arbitrage)• Sell something! (physical or virtual)• Don’t Rely on AdSense (only)

Resources & ToolsRevenue Metrics (Andrew Chen)

http://tinyurl.com/47r63aHow to Create a Profitable “Freemium” Startup (Andrew Chen)

http://tinyurl.com/8z9ygk 2008 Affiliate Marketing Review (Scott Jangro)

http://tinyurl.com/86wak4

Appendix

Case Studies for Optimised Sites

• Dave McClure’s Presentation– www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-

pirates-startonomics-hawaii-nov-2009?src=embed• Andrew Chen’s Blog

– www.andrewchenblog.com• Website Optimisation Sites

– http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/– http://www.iamalandingpagedesigner.com/my-blog/– http://www.widerfunnel.com/