1/ Copywriting is one of the last strongholds of opinions in a data-informed world.
If you wanted to optimize your website copy - take what's there and make it better - there's really no good way to go about it. Because you don't have any data on this stuff.
2/ Does the headline make people want to keep on reading?
Are the arguments you're making even stuff that people care about?
Do they understand what you're trying to say?
After reading everything, what remains unclear?
Do you have data on this? You don't.
3/ Google Analytics can't tell you anything about the copy. Heat maps don't show you anything about the copy. User testing is not designed for this.
So in most cases, you're left with opinions - "I think this is good!" or "this sucks".
4/ Considering how important copywriting is for marketing and conversion optimization, it's pretty crazy.
It's insane there's no data available that will tell you which parts of your copy suck, which messages don't resonate with the audience, or which parts really hit it home.
5/ Well, that is until now. You're gonna get this data soon.
@copytesting is coming out of beta, and we're launching it to the public May 5th. Next week!
The game in B2B: get inside the consideration set of category buyers.
Contrary to popular belief, B2B buyers are not all-rational beings. All-rational buyer would consider dozens of tools, compare their product specifications and prices, and choose the best possible option.
Recent research by Ehrenberg-Bass Institute showed that out of B2B buyers that need a new financial service, 47% go straight to their existing bank, and 75% of those who claim to shop around also end up with their existing bank. And most don’t even consider more than two brands.
Most buyers are satisficing. We don’t have unlimited time, energy or perfect information, so we settle for good enough. That's why category leaders, best-known brands keep on winning. They have momentum. The law of double jeopardy.
How to test the effectiveness of your messaging if you can't run an A/B test?
Most B2B pages don't get enough transaction volume for A/B testing (as a rough ballpark, you'd need a minimum of 600+ signups/mo) from that page, so A/B testing is typically out of the question.
That's also fine in most cases as A/B testing is a measurement methodology. It'll tell you whether B is better than A, and by how much. It won't tell you why, or how to improve anything.
That's why message testing is actually the better way to go for B2B.
Message testing is a form of qualitative research, hence you don't need large sample sizes.
What is effective messaging? It's when it resonates with the target buyer.
And that's what you want to check with message testing: how it lands on the people you're trying to influence.
Product marketing as a function is still unfamiliar and confusing to many, and even some product marketers can't define it well.
The best way to think about it: product marketing is strategy.
It's basically the same thing. And we need to start explaining it that way.
Product marketers work to understand the market and customers.
They choose the market segments to target, determine what attributes the product needs to win against the competition, design an effective go-to-market plan along with the required positioning and messaging.
That's essentially is "where to play" and "how to win" - the pillar questions of strategy.
If you look at what product marketers do, it's exactly that. Product marketing is strategy.
Fast eat the slow. Speed is a competitive advantage.
A fast organization has more people deciding and taking action, and fewer people briefing each other, reporting, seeking approvals, sitting in a myriad of unproductive meetings.
Ways to make your organization faster:
1. Reduce the need for meetings.
This not the same as no meetings.
Set clear rules and guidelines for how decision-making should happen. What is the standard for quality?