The fact is what catches one Fish, might not catch another!

So, with that in mind let me ask,

I know about testing, I do plenty myself and we know Mike and others here are fantatical about it.

Is it right though to say making one change on a web page or letter will increase a response rate? Reason I ask is this. It would be true to say that copy has to be tailored to the target. Bait has to be right.

So although test results for certain words, formats, colors etc can show a measurable result that does not mean they will work on every target.

We all know long copy works fantastically well but on some sites it fails miserably. So does that also mean red headlines and other "tricks" might not perform on other targets?

Like some feedback please.

Alan,

The very reason you do testing is that no matter how much you know about what has worked on other sites and what works generally, you do not know until you test how that will work in the unique environment of another web site, with another product/service and for another audience and indeed, at another point in time.

So it would not be right to EVER assume that what has worked on other web sites would definitely, absolutely work on another one. The more similar the target audiences and other factors are, the more likely the same techniques are to work. But only testing can ever tell you for sure.

Marcia Yudkin

Hi Alan,

I think you're right, something that works for others might not work for you, and ideally you should always test for yourself.

But this is not always feasible because

1. Let's face it, we're all lazy.

2. Traffic and size of market. In niche markets or low traffic sites the amount of testing you can do is limited. So we have to focus on testing the more important stuff like offers and headlines. The less important stuff like colors are lower on the priority list, so we just have to go with our best educated guess, based on available results.

3. Timing. For example, events like the Jason Potash Webinar don't give much time for testing all the variables. There's really only one shot at making it work, so the only choice is go with the best bet. Using other people's results is better than guessing blindly.

Similarly, when writing for clients we're really giving our best shot, so unless my own testing shows different results, I use results from other people's tests.

So I guess, the short term strategy is to use other people's results, the long term strategy is to test for yourself.

Sincerely,
Yeo

Alan,

You are essentially asking two questions:

and

The answer to the first question is "well, it just depends". And the answer to the second question is "well, it just depends".

I think Yeo identified two very important variables here, which are timing and volume of traffic.

If your time is limited because the product or service has a short shelf-life, then clearly there isn't time to test and one has to go with one's best guess KNOWING WHAT ONE KNOWS ABOUT THAT MARKET. Also, if the volume of traffic is low, then clearly you cannot generate statistically significant data in which case making changes may not prove a whole lot.

But what I feel is the most important thing/variable to be aware of here is the culture of your market. There may not be a lot of science or stats involved with this. For example, my market and my clients' markets are professionals in a B2B selling scenario. In that scenario I "intuit" that glaring, red, long headlines will do more to alienate the market than to enthuse it to reading further. Quid pro quo, it is best to avoid screaming headlines in favour of something slightly more subtle, for the simple fact that whilst screaming headlines quite obviously work well when selling products to would-be internet marketers, they won't go down well with sophisticated corporate buyers - even if it can be proven that they have better pulling-power.

What I think is also worth bearing in mind is that at the end of the day, marketing is somewhat random. We can try to control certain variables to the best of our abilities, but in the end, we cannot know the appetite of every single potential customer/client or what words will persuade them best. We can only work within the "bell" of the bell-curve of people likely to buy from us/our clients and hope that we've said enough to present a case for the service or product at hand. We change it in one particular way, and suddenly that appeals more to this type of person, but alienates another.

I've heard it said that the offer is actually much more important than the copy, although I would add the caveat that the copy has got to be good enough to present the offer in an appealing way, and so maybe that is the thing to focus on. I certainly focus on that with my clients - I don't accept their versions of their offers at face value, because most of them are total pants.

Just my 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps-worth.

AKA: there's such a thing as trying too hard.

Jane

Alan,

Excellent questions...

What helps me (to some degree), is being able to individuate each traffic source, and look at those CR%s - not just the general CR%.

In a recent letter that I wrote - these individual traffic sources vary enormously (for the same letter), from 1% CR to 12% CR, the average is hovering around 5% - 6%... with thousands of visitors so far...

I am honestly thinking of toning down the letter at this point to see if it helps (at least the headline section) - making it a little less aggressive (going for a little more "brand" at this point).

But, you can be sure, we'll be watching this like a hawk.

I think Yeo and others had some great advice. It seems to be fairly impossible to really know what works, especially when traffic sources aren't constant - IMO traffic sources influence the sale more than the letter itself (at least this is what I continue to see) - perhaps the letter helps up the median CR% - thus the "tricks"...

It does help me to see the sources that pull best, and base my strategy around this - of course you need good tracking to see this, and even then, it is a game of intuition, and your "best guess"...

A good builder friend of mine says... "better to be lucky than good"...

And a golfer friend says, "the harder you practice, the luckier you get..."

Well, gotta go back to practice some more...

Ciao,

Tim