of Your Value Proposition (in 5 Simple Steps) Austin McCraw Senior - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How You Can Use Email to Discover the Essence of Your Value Proposition (in 5 Simple Steps) Austin McCraw Senior Editorial Analyst MECLABS Group

Introduction Austin McCraw Senior Editorial Analyst MECLABS Austin McCraw joined the MECLABS research team in 2007 after graduating from University of Florida's college of Journalism and Communications. Since then, he has reviewed over 2,500 experiments, written over 300 hours of training, and developed five professional certification courses on the topics of Offer Response Optimization and Value Proposition. Currently, he works @McOptimize directly with Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, Founder and Director of MECLABS, on his academic and commercial writing projects. He lives in Florida with his wife and three sons. 2

PART I: A N E XPERIMENT

Experiment: Background  Experiment ID: Protected Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP2067 Research Notes: Background: Company provides technology and product supply to the oil and gas industry. For this experiment, they were making a specific segment (drilling engineers) of their opt-in list aware of an upcoming conference. Goal: To determine the most effective point of value Primary research question: Which value category (Overcoming challenges or generating results) will generate the most response? Approach: A/B split test (variable cluster)

Experiment: Background Which emphasis will generate the most response? Option #1 Option #2 Overcoming Challenges Generating Revenue

Experiment: Version A Version A : Overcoming Challenges • “…researching to find solutions to the monitoring and technology issues you face…” • “How can deepwater risk be reduced?” • “How can you adjust parameters based on new downhole data?” • “What are the newest insights around stick-slip mitigation?”

Experiment: Version B Version B : Generating Results • “conduct in -depth field tests to leverage the latest technology… recent results will be presented” • “…improved penetration rates and higher quality wellbores…” • “...outperforming conventional drilling BHA’s by more that 350%...” • “…10% improvement on ROP…”

Experiment: Results 17% Increase in clickthrough rate Version A generated a 17.05% higher clickthrough rate than Version B Relative diff Subscription path CTR v. control Version A (Overcoming Challenges) 20.93% 17.05% Version B (Generating Results) 17.88% -  What you need to understand : The email message focused on overcoming challenges outperformed the email focused on results, leading us to conclude that for this segment there is more value in obtaining the solution to problems.

Experiment: Results The greater gain was new knowledge we obtained about the customer.

What you Need to Understand F Key Principles 1. The goal of a test is not simply to get a lift, but rather to get a learning.

What you Need to Understand F Key Principles 1. The goal of a test is not simply to get a lift, but rather to get a learning. 2. We should always strive to better understand our customer, and in particular, to understand the essence of our value proposition.

Uncovering the Essence The Expression (The Message) The Essence Testing (Value Proposition)

What you Need to Understand F Key Principles 1. The goal of a test is not simply to get a lift, but to get a learning. 2. We should always strive to better understand our customer, and in particular, to understand the essence of our value proposition. 3. Email is one of the most effective ways to quickly test and discover your value proposition.

Testing Value Proposition with Email Why is email so great for testing? 1 1. Ease of changes 2 2. Large sample size 3 3. Highly competitive environment 4 4. We already have to do it

Our Experiments How-to SL #1 : How to Optimize your Content Marketing Discovery SL #2 : Does content marketing really work? 15.9% How-to SL #1: How to effectively use color on a website Discovery 47.9% SL #2: 5 horrifying mistakes designers make with color

Today’s Focus Today, I am going to walk you through a simple 5-step method for using email to test your value proposition.

Important Warning WARNING : Email testing is useless if you are NOT willing to be a: miserable failure

PART II: 5 S IMPLE S TEPS FOR U SING E MAIL TO T EST V ALUE P ROPOSITION

STEP 1: Identify Potential Claims of Value

STEP #1 : Identify Potential Claims of Value Value Proposition Testing Process Body Copy (BC) Testing of Value Subject Line (SL) Testing of Value Top Claims of Value Proposition Proposition VP #1 SL 1-1 SL 1-2 VP #2 SL 2-1 SL 2-2 BC-1 VP #3 SL 3-1 SL 3-2 BC-2 VP #4 SL 4-1 SL 4-2 BC-3 VP #5 SL 5-1 SL 5-2 VP #6 SL 6-1 SL 6-2

STEP #1 : Identify Potential Claims of Value Imagine for a moment, that you are selling mortgages. What would be potential claims of value one could make? 5. Payment Plan Options 1. Reliability 6. Reduced Anxiety 2. Lowest Rates 7. Service Quality 3. Easy Process 8. Community Involvement 4. Brand Name

STEP 2: Estimate the Force of Each Claim

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim Value Proposition Testing Process Body Copy (BC) Testing of Value Subject Line (SL) Testing of Value Top Claims of Value Proposition Proposition VP #1 SL 1-1 SL 1-2 VP #2 SL 2-1 SL 2-2 BC-1 VP #3 SL 3-1 SL 3-2 BC-2 VP #4 SL 4-1 SL 4-2 BC-3 VP #5 SL 5-1 SL 5-2 VP #6 SL 6-1 SL 6-2

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim + - + + Appeal – “I want this” Exclusivity Exclusivity – “I can’t get this anywhere else” - - - + Appeal

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim Claims of Value Appeal Exclusivity - + Reliability + ? Payment Options + + Lowest Rates + ? Brand Name + + Payment Plan Options - ? Reduced Anxiety + - Service Quality

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim Claims of Value Appeal Exclusivity - + Reliability + ? Payment Options + + Lowest Rates + ? Brand Name + + Payment Plan Options - ? Reduced Anxiety + - Service Quality

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim Claims of Value Appeal Exclusivity - + Reliability + ? Payment Options + + Lowest Rates + ? Brand Name + + Payment Plan Options - ? Reduced Anxiety + - Service Quality

STEP #2 : Estimate the Force of Each Claim 2 We teach a more in-depth process for identifying and evaluating your claims of value in the Value Proposition Development Course . Value Proposition Worksheet

STEP 3: Test within Subject Lines (Round 1)

STEP #3 : Test within Subject Lines (Round 1) Value Proposition Testing Process Subject Line (SL) Testing of Value Body Copy (BC) Testing of Value Top Claims of Value Proposition Proposition VP #1 SL 1-1 SL 1-2 VP #2 SL 2-1 SL 2-2 BC-1 VP #3 SL 3-1 SL 3-2 BC-2 VP #4 SL 4-1 SL 4-2 BC-3 VP #5 SL 5-1 SL 5-2 VP #6 SL 6-1 SL 6-2

STEP #3 : Test within Subject Lines (Round 1)  Experiment ID: Protected Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP2092 Research Notes: Background: Large Financial Institution Goal: To determine which claim of value will generate the greatest response Primary research question: Which subject line will produce the greatest open rate? Approach: A/B Multifactorial split

STEP #3 : Test within Subject Lines (Round 1) SUBJECT LINES CLAIMS S/L : Mortgage Rates under 2.7%. Lowest Rates Find a solution in minutes. S/L: Own Your Home Sooner Payment Options with Free Bi-Weekly Payments S/L: Discover the Advantages Brand Name of [Brand Name] mortgages

STEP #3 : Test within Subject Lines (Round 1) Claim Subject Line OPR Low Rates Mortgage Rates below 2.7%, find a solution in minutes 19.28% Low Rates Low mortgage rates – starting under 2.7% 18.58% Hidden Fees Low mortgage rates with no points or hidden fees 18.10% Payment Plan Own your home sooner with free bi-weekly payments 20.99% Brand Name Buying or Refinancing? Check out [Brand Name] 17.16% Brand Name Discover the advantages of [Brand Name] mortgages 19.80% Community Looking for a lower mortgage rate? You’re not alone. 18.08% Anxiety Spending too much on your mortgage? 18.22% Anxiety Getting the lowest mortgage rate? 19.37% Anxiety Mortgage payments too high? 18.67%

STEP #3 : Test within Subject Lines (Round 1) Claim Subject Line OPR Low Rates Mortgage Rates below 2.7%, find a solution in minutes 19.28% Low Rates Low mortgage rates – starting under 2.7% 18.58% Hidden Fees Low mortgage rates with no points or hidden fees 18.10% Payment Plan Own your home sooner with free bi-weekly payments 20.99 % Brand Name Buying or Refinancing? Check out [Brand Name] 17.16% Brand Name Discover the advantages of [Brand Name] mortgages 19.80% Community Looking for a lower mortgage rate? You’re not alone. 18.08% Anxiety Spending too much on your mortgage? 18.22% Anxiety Getting the lowest mortgage rate? 19.37% Anxiety Mortgage payments too high? 18.67%

STEP 4: Test within Body Copy (Round 2)