The importance of a carefully crafted message cannot be underestimated in its power to deliver effective marketing.
When many people think about conversion optimization, the first thing that comes to mind are the functional elements like the call-to-action or placement and sizes of buttons, images and forms. However, no amount of a/b testing of the placement of these components will deliver the results if the overall message is not impactful and compelling.
How well you craft your message can be many times more important than anything else you put on the page.
Messaging in context – a powerful change agent
In early 2016, we were engaged by a client in the hospitality space to help them improve their marketing and grow their customer inquiries. We started the engagement with a thorough assessment and strategic planning project.
- We interviewed key stakeholders
- Combed through customer survey responses
- Reviewed prior marketing materials
- Analyzed website data; and
- Monitored customer interactions
We were looking for the moment of truth of why some prospects said yes while others walked away. Our discovery led to a hypothesis that increasing the prospect trust in the company would enhance their engagement. We believed that if prospects trusted that the company was there to help them, they were more likely to move past their initial reluctance to engage.
With this hypothesis in hand, we worked with our copy team to craft a series of ads to test different variations of offer and trust messaging. Within each group, we tested further variations of these themes. In all other elements, the ads were similar.
The results of these focused messaging tests were telling with the trust oriented messages beating all other variations. Within a few months, we saw a 221 percent increase in website visits and a 321 percent increase in new prospect inquiries showing that the right message can have a significant impact.
Customizing the message based on audience
In another campaign, we were working with a global talent firm to reach key decision-makers in the North American, European, and Asia Pacific regions.
The campaign was based on a series of content offers utilizing some of the key learnings the client had gathered in their work helping companies find, train and manage great talent.
The campaign launched with good results across North American and Europe. However, downloads were trailing in the Asia Pacific region. After monitoring user behavior on the site, we discovered that the audience from the Asia Pacific region was spending a lot of time trying to learn more about the company.
Using this information, we circled with the copy team and crafted revised landing page messaging specifically for this region that demonstrated not only the value of the content offer but also provided more about the brand that was behind the offer. The results were almost immediate with conversion rates rising to those similar to what we were experiencing in North America and Europe.
While it’s easy to get caught up in the mechanics of a marketing campaign, do not forget the importance and power of great messaging for delivering results.
