Flint McGlaughlin Managing Director, Founder MECLABS Institute The Marketer’s Blind Spot: How to keep from making costly mistakes with your messaging
Flint McGlaughlinManaging Director, FounderMECLABS Institute
The Marketer’s Blind Spot: How to keep from making costly mistakes with your messaging
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
20%In Clicks
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
75%In Clicks
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
20%In Downloads
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
32%In Leads
We compared the responses of 2,021 U.S. consumers and 455 marketers on preferred
marketing approaches to determine how often this type of disconnect occurs.
IN SOCIAL …
Prominently Display Social
61%20%
Want Updates via Social
Marketers
Consumers
IN SHOPPING EXPERIENCE …
Prioritize Free Shipping
18%74%
Prioritize Free Shipping
Marketers
Consumers
IN DIRECT MAIL …
Send Physical Mail Updates
19%54%
Desire Physical Mail Updates
Marketers
Consumers
IN PRODUCT DISCOVERY …
Use Online Ads
60%27%
Use Online Ads
Marketers
Consumers
IN SOCIAL …
Prominently Display Social
61%Marketers
20%Consumers
Want Updates via Social
Prioritize Free Shipping
18%Marketers
74%Consumers
Prioritize Free Shipping
Use Online Ads
60%Marketers
27%Consumers
Use Online Ads
Send Physical Mail Updates
19% Marketers
54% Consumers
Want Physical Mail Updates
IN DIRECT MAIL … IN PRODUCT DISCOVERY …
IN SHOPPING EXPERIENCE …
IN SOCIAL …
Prominently Display Social
61%Marketers
20%Consumers
Want Updates via Social
Prioritize Free Shipping
18%Marketers
74%Consumers
Prioritize Free Shipping
Use Online Ads
60%Marketers
27%Consumers
Use Online Ads
Send Physical Mail Updates
19% Marketers
54% Consumers
Want Physical Mail Updates
IN DIRECT MAIL … IN PRODUCT DISCOVERY …
IN SHOPPING EXPERIENCE …
BLIND SPOTS
In the next few minutes, we are going to answer a vital question for every marketer:
How can I discover the cause and the treatment for my inherent (marketing) blind spot?
#1 By understanding the psychological source of our disconnect
The Marketer’s Blind Spot
OCULAR BLIND SPOT (ILLUSTRATION)
A blind spot (scotoma) is an obscuration of the visual field.
A particular blind spot known as the physiological blind spot, "blind point" or punctum caecum in medical literature is the place in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting photoreceptor cells on the optic disc of the retina where the optic nerve passes through the optic disc.
OCULAR BLIND SPOT (ILLUSTRATION)
A blind spot (scotoma) is an obscuration of the visual field.
A particular blind spot known as the physiological blind spot, "blind point" or punctum caecum in medical literature is the place in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting photoreceptor cells on the optic disc of the retina where the optic nerve passes through the optic disc.
Pre-attentive processing is the subconscious accumulation of information from the environment. All available information is pre-attentively processed.
Then, the brain filters and processes what is important. Information that has the highest salience (a stimulus that stands out the most) or relevance to what a person is thinking about is selected for further and more complete analysis by conscious (attentive) processing.
CONTROL
CONTROL
[Headline Here]
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
1. Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
3. Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
2. Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
4. Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
? Which headline won?
CONTROL
[Headline Here]
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
1. Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
3. Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
2. Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
4. Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
? Which headline won?
Get Paid to Take FREE Surveys
Here’s Your First Survey, and an Invitation to Join Our Research Community
Get Paid to Fill Out Online Surveys
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Surveys – Quick, Easy and FREE
Win Cash & Prizes for Online Surveys
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
You’re Invited to Join the SurveySpot Community and to Earn Rewards For Your Opinions
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
ALL HEADLINES FROM EXPERIMENT (BY PERFORMANCE)
10.44%
8.87%
7.46%
7.23%
5.67%
5.12%
5.03%
4.24%
3.36%
2.95%
Why did these headlines perform in this order?
?
Point-Sequenced Grammar: There are three types of sentences: point-first, point-middle and point-last. With simple logic, it’s easy to understand that placing the main point of thought in the front of the sentence has a higher probability of being read. The best headlines are typically point-first.
-25
EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS
The example headline is here.
Here the example headline is.
Here is the example headline.
POINT-SEQUENCED GRAMMAR (ILLUSTRATION)
POINTFIRST
POINTMIDDLE
POINTLAST
Get Paid to Take FREE Surveys
Here’s Your First Survey, and an Invitation to Join Our Research Community
Get Paid to Fill Out Online Surveys
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Surveys – Quick, Easy and FREE
Win Cash & Prizes for Online Surveys
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
You’re Invited to Join the SurveySpot Community and to Earn Rewards For Your Opinions
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
ALL HEADLINES FROM EXPERIMENT (BY PERFORMANCE)
Get Paid to Take FREE Surveys
Here’s Your First Survey, and an Invitation to Join Our Research Community
Get Paid to Fill Out Online Surveys
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Surveys – Quick, Easy and FREE
Win Cash & Prizes for Online Surveys
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
You’re Invited to Join the SurveySpot Community and to Earn Rewards For Your Opinions
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
ALL HEADLINES FROM EXPERIMENT (BY PERFORMANCE)
10.44%
8.87%
7.46%
7.23%
5.67%
5.12%
5.03%
4.24%
3.36%
2.95%
POINTFIRST
POINTLAST
-25
EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS
Point-Sequenced Grammar: There are three types of sentences: point-first, point-middle and point-last. With simple logic, it’s easy to understand that placing the main point of thought in the front of the sentence has a higher probability of being read. The best headlines are typically point-first.
-25
EXPERIMENT ANALYSIS
Customer-Centric Logic: When structuring a point-first sentence, one must ensure that the point conveys the customer’s “get” before it conveys the company’s “ask.”
Get Paid to Take FREE Surveys
Here’s Your First Survey, and an Invitation to Join Our Research Community
Get Paid to Fill Out Online Surveys
Get Rewarded for Your Opinion
Surveys – Quick, Easy and FREE
Win Cash & Prizes for Online Surveys
Set Up Your FREE Account Today and Start Earning Money!
You’re Invited to Join the SurveySpot Community and to Earn Rewards For Your Opinions
Join the SurveySpot Community and Have Your Opinions Count
Take Online Surveys From Home and Win Cash & Prizes
ALL HEADLINES FROM EXPERIMENT (BY PERFORMANCE)
10.44%
8.87%
7.46%
7.23%
5.67%
5.12%
5.03%
4.24%
3.36%
2.95%
POINTLAST
POINTFIRST
Customer Logic
“What I Get”
Company Logic
“What I Do”
The marketer’s blind spot is SELF-INTEREST.
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
173%Increase
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
47%Increase
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
112%Increase
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
137%Increase
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
189%Increase
VERSION A VERSION B
VERSION A VERSION B
197%Increase
#2 By (consistently) embracing a method for seeing through our disconnect
The Marketer’s Blind Spot
MARKETING
PSYCHOLOGY
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
Most formal disciplines have systematic methods for coping with human blind spots…
MARKETING
PSYCHOLOGY
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
Reference Class Forecasting: Provides statistical information about the likely overruns of cost and time and about the likely underperformance of projects of different types.
REFERENCE CLASS FORECASTING (ILLUSTRATION)
Identify Ref-erence Class
Obtain Sta-tistics
Adjust Pre-diction
STEP
01STEP
02STEP
03
5
MARKETING
PSYCHOLOGY
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
Reference Class Forecasting: Provides statistical information about the likely overruns of cost and time and about the likely underperformance of projects of different types.
REFERENCE CLASS FORECASTING (ILLUSTRATION)
Identify Ref-erence Class
Obtain Sta-tistics
Adjust Pre-diction
STEP
01STEP
02STEP
03
5
MARKETING
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
Implicit Association Test (IAT): A measure within social psychology designed to detect a person's automatic association between mental representations of concepts in memory.
IAT (ILLUSTRATION)
PSYCHOLOGY
Male Female
Jeffrey
Career Family
Business
Maleor
Career
Femaleor
Family
Rebecca
6
MARKETING
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
Implicit Association Test (IAT): A measure within social psychology designed to detect a person's automatic association between mental representations of concepts in memory.
IAT (ILLUSTRATION)
PSYCHOLOGY
Male Female
Jeffrey
Career Family
Business
Maleor
Career
Femaleor
Family
Rebecca
6
METHODS FOR CORRECTING BLIND SPOTS
PROJECT PLANNING
PSYCHOLOGY
MARKETING
Conversion Heuristic: Enables a marketer to invert his or her perspective and see through collateral into the thought sequence of the prospect. 7
CONVERSION HEURISTIC
Homepage Search/Category Page
Order Page Billing/Shipping ConfirmationProduct Page
-50%
-39%
-90% -94%
Net
Uni
que
Visi
tors
Low
High +7%
CONTROL FUNNEL
Homepage Search/Category Page
Order Page Billing/Shipping ConfirmationProduct Page
-50%
-39%
-90% -94%
Net
Uni
que
Visi
tors
Low
High +7%
CONTROL FUNNEL
It is not “how many?” but “why so?”
Homepage Search/Category Page
Order Page ConfirmationProduct Page
-50%
-39%
-90% -94%
Net
Uni
que
Visi
tors
Low
High +7%
CONTROL FUNNEL
AREA TO TEST
EXTERNALTRAFFIC
PRICEREVEALED
Billing/Shipping
CONTROL
C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a©
Treatment added a cart summary with image of the vacation — reminding the customers of the value they will be receiving once complete
TREATMENT
TREATMENT
C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a©
Page layout has been made linear instead of horizontal
We clearly identified the number of steps in the process
C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a©
Added 100% privacy guarantee
Added security seal
Offered additional one-on-one support
Added lowest rate guarantee
TREATMENT
Design Booked Vacations % Rel. Change
Control 27.40% -Treatment 37.20% 36.10%
Relative Increase In Conversion 36%The Treatment increased conversion rate by 36.10%.
! What You Need to Understand: By utilizing the Conversion Heuristic, the Treatment generated a 36.1% higher total conversion rate than the Control.
1. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/infographic-consumers-know-exactly-how-they-want-be-marketed-1678402. http://www.britannica.com/science/blind-spot3. http://ccnss.org/ccn_2014/materials/pdf/sigman/callibration_probabilities_lichtenstein_fischoff_philips.pdf
Hazard, T. H., & Peterson, C. R. Odds versus probabilities for categorical events. Technical Report 73-2. McLean, VA: Decisions and Designs, Inc., 1973.Phillipsi L. D., & Wright, G. N. Cultural differences in viewing uncertainty and assessing probabilities. In H. Jungermann & G. deZeeuw (Eds.), Decision making and change in human affairs. Amsterdam: D. Reidel, 1977.Lichtenstein, S., & Fischhoff, B. Do those who know more also know more about how much they know? The calibration of probability judgments. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1977, 20, 159-183. Lichtenstein, S., & Fischhoff, B. How well do probability experts assess probability? Decision Research Report 80-5, 1980(a). Lichtenstein, S., & Fischhoff, B. Training for calibration. Organizational Behavior .and Human Performance, 1980(b), 26, 149-171.
4. Mlodinow, Leonard. Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior. First edition. Pantheon Books, 2012.5. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1302/1302.3642.pdf6. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html7. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l
=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/8155995
ENDNOTES
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