A Fine Balance: Optimization of Marketing Automation & Merchandising
He offered a five-step process:
- Identify a hypothesis (a problem and opportunity).
- Create a to-do list of what you'd like to improve.
- Document your hypothesis (e.g., screen shots of competitors, case studies).
- Prioritize based on potential return on investment.
- Start testing.
That's inspiring advice. We’d all like to be proactive when it comes to higher conversion. However, testing is complicated and hard to do well. “Who wants to be the one who suggested the idea that lost 10 points on conversion?” Woodcraft’s Fleming joked.
Having a testing methodology and getting support within their organization is still a challenge for many marketers. Too many organizations aren't supportive of failure, even when it helps move the needle on conversion in future campaigns. Plus, ensuring that hypotheses are measureable and provable isn't trivial. Still, the only way to improve is to innovate — which is, perhaps, reliant on a combination of that “innovation attitude,” access to powerful technology and some honest perspiration.
If you were at the event, what did you learn that you’d like to share? Or comment on these learnings by sharing any ideas or comments below.
Stephanie Miller, author of eM+C's “Engagement Matters” column, is vice president, market development, for Return Path, an email marketing solutions provider. She's also co-author of “Sign Me Up! A Guide to Email Newsletters that Build Relationships and Boost Sales.” She can be reached at stephanie[dot]miller[at]returnpath[dot]net or followed @StephanieSAM.
