How to Optimize Your Marketing Tactics with a Strong Value Proposition ACCESS WEBINAR RECORDING

Todd Lebo, Senior Director of Content, MECLABS Austin McCraw, Senior Editorial Analyst, MECLABS

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

BONUS: Earn up to 20,000 Cisco Rewards points by attending the Cisco Accelerate! Virtual Workshops
Redeem your points for thousands of fantastic prizes.
Heres How to Get Your Rewards Points: Both you and your company must be enrolled in Cisco Rewards no later than July 13th 2012. Receive 5,000 points for each session you attend. Attend both sessions and receive an additional 10,000 bonus points! The email address used to register/attend Accelerate! sessions must be the same email used for your Cisco Partner Profile. Email CiscoAccelerate@cisco.com if you registered using a different email address.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Todays speakers
Todd Lebo
Senior Director of Content, MECLABS Todd.Lebo@meclabs.com @ToddLebo

Austin McCraw
Senior Editorial Analyst, MECLABS Austin.McCraw@meclabs.com

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

What is a Value Proposition?

Value Proposition Question: If am your ideal prospect, why should I buy from you rather than your competitors?
1. You are fundamentally answering a first-person question posed in the mind of your customers. 2. A value proposition focuses on a specific customer segment. This requires you to consider who you are not going to serve and the associated tradeoffs. 3. A value proposition has a specific action in mind. It is seeking to answer why for a specific what. 4. A value proposition must differentiate you from your competitors. In at least one way, you must have an only factor.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

The Value Exchange

Perceived Cost

Perceived Value

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

The Value Proposition Spectrum

The Value Proposition Spectrum
PROCESS-LEVEL
Question: Why should your ideal prospect buy from you rather than any of your competitors? Question: Why should [PROSPECT A] buy from you rather than any of your competitors? Question: Why should [PROSPECT A] buy this product rather than any other product?

PRODUCT

PRODUCT-LEVEL
#1 #1

PRODUCT

PRODUCT

PRODUCT

#2

#2

PROSPECT-LEVEL
PRODUCT PRODUCT

#3

#3

Primary Value Proposition

PRODUCT

PRODUCT

#4

#4

Question: Why should [PROSPECT A] click this PPC ad rather than any other PPC ad?

Prospect B
PRODUCT PRODUCT

#1

#4

1
PRODUCT

#2

PRODUCT

#3

2 3
Conversion steps associated with a specific product

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

The Force of a Value Proposition

The force of a value proposition can be measured by four essential elements of the offer:
Appeal How much do I desire this offer? Exclusivity Where else can I get this offer? Credibility Can I trust your claims? Clarity What are you actually offering?

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

An Experiment:

How one B2B company utilized value proposition to generate a 302% boost in Projected Revenue

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Experiment: Background

Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP1214

Research Notes: Background: A leading software provider Goal: To increase total leads captured Primary research question: Which process will generate the most leads? Approach: Radical redesign of the complete lead-generation process focusing on strengthening the communication of the value proposition

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Experiment: Original ad

{Keyword} Business Software Award-Winning Business Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

How would you optimize this PPC Ad?

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

10

 2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

11

Experiment: Before and after

Original

{Keyword} Business Software Award-Winning Business Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business
Optimized

Business Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

The optimized PPC ad obtained 21% more clicks.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

12

Experiment: Before and after

21%

IN CLICK-THROUGH

Business Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

But we didnt stop there

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

13

Experiment: Original landing page

How would you optimize this landing page?

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

14

Experiment: Optimized landing page

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

15

Experiment: Results
Before After

The optimized landing page generated 54% more clicks.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

16

Experiment: Results
54% 21%
CLICK-THROUGH CLICK-THROUGH

Business Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

But we didnt stop there

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

17

Experiment: Original form

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

18

Experiment: Original form

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

19

Experiment: Before and after

Before After

The optimized form page generated 97% more submissions.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

20

Experiment: Original form

54% 21%
CLICK-THROUGH Business Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

97%

FORM SUBMISSIONS

CLICK-THROUGH

What was the compounding effect of the sequential gains?

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

21

Experiment: Original form

The optimized paths conversion rate increased by 272.2%

272% Increase in Overall Conversion

Metric

Control
0.89% 7.17% 15.84%

Treatment
1.08 11.06% 31.25%

Relative Difference
20.9% 54.26% 97.27%

PPC Advertisement Landing Page Clickthrough Form Completion Impression-to-lead Conversion

.009%

.033%

272.2%

to understand: In this What you needto 268% more projectedexperiment, a 272% increase inwith conversion led revenue and, when combined the corresponding 66% reduction in cost-per-acquisition, the optimized path produced more than 4 times the monthly profit (302% increase).

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

22

Todays Focus:

Two key ways to infuse your value proposition into your marketing tactics

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

23

Session 2 Expressing an Effective Value Proposition

1.

Key Principle

One must think holistically about the communication of their value proposition. This involves two key elements: 1. Congruence 2. Continuity

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

24

Session 2 Expressing an Effective Value Proposition Congruence

1.

Key Principle

Congruence is having every element of your page either state the value proposition or support the value proposition. (This can be expressed in your logos, price, design features, images, colors, etc.)

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

25

This page uses vague language to communicate the value and it is not connected to PPC ad. Three competing objectives and many navigation links leading off the page. Long paragraphs that are difficult to scan. Main CTAs are put in the right-hand column out of the visitors main eye-path.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

26

The optimized version uses quantitative language similar to the optimized PPC ad. Awards are shown prominently with testimonials. Paragraphs are broken up and more digestible. Navigation has been removed. Three CTAs have been reduced to one and put in the main column.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

27

Session 2 Expressing an Effective Value Proposition Congruence Example Design Template Logo Header States value proposition only States and supports value proposition Supports value proposition only
Navigation (Optional) Navigation (Optional)

Body

Footer

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

28

Session 2 Expressing an Effective Value Proposition Congruence Example of Body Copy

Provide a strong hook that keeps the prospect reading and identifies the value proposition. Engage the reader Establish that the writer is credible using track records or 3rd party quotes. Quickly tell the reader what the product is. Provide links to pop-ups with samples of the product. List features and benefits, relating to them personally to the reader. Establish some value, You might expect to pay. The entire purpose of this page is to get them to the next step.
What it is (States) Sample (Supports) What you get (States) Why it is important (Supports) Summary of what you get (States) Call-to-action (Supports) Header (States) Interrupt (Supports) Personal Photo (Supports) Third-party indicators (Supports)

Sample (Supports)

Value (States)

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

29

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Background
Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP1341

Research Notes: Background: A company offering dedicated business hosting services Goal: To increase the amount of leads Primary research question: Which page design will generate the greatest amount of leads? Approach: A/B multi-factor split test (radical redesign)

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

30

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Original

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

31

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Original

The banner is the first thing that people see when arriving at this page, but what does it mean? It might mean something to the company, but it conveys little value to the prospect.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

32

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Original

This company only truly needs 4 fields in order to obtain a qualified lead, and yet 20 different fields must be completed on this page. Call to action Request a Quote is impersonal and implies commitment and cost.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

33

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Original vs. Treatment

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

34

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Treatment
Immediately lets the visitor know where the are and what they can do on this page. Provides organized content that the prospect could navigate through based on their own needs Uses images with easily understandable meaning Uses the more personal/ lower commitment call-to-action language of Call to Discussing Your Needs Moves all unnecessary forms fields to a secondary step.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

35

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Original vs. Treatment

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

36

OBSERVATION #1:

Experiment: Result
189% Increase in Overall Conversion

The new pages conversion rate increased by 188.46%

Design

Conversion Rate (%)

Relative Difference

Statistical Level of Confidence

Original Page Treatment

2.00% 5.77%

188.46%

95%

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

37

Session 2 Expressing an Effective Value Proposition Continuity

1. 2.

Key Principle

Congruence is having every element of your page either state the value proposition or support the value proposition. (This can be expressed in your logos, price, design features, images, colors, etc.) Continuity is making certain that each step of the buy process either states or supports the value proposition.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

38

OBSERVATION #2:

The Inverted Funnel

1. The funnel is often presented as one potentially useful analogy for marketing. It is in fact, the primary analogy. All marketing should influence a decision.
g = 9.81 m/s2
Cisco Confidential 39

2. The funnel analogy distorts reality. People are not falling into your funnel, they are falling out. The funnel must be inverted. 3. People dont travel down the center of the funnel. People are climbing up the sides.

39
2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

OBSERVATION #2:

The Inverted Funnel

(Ma)YES
(Mi)YES (Mi)YES (Mi)YES
Landing Page

Sales Call

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES (Mi)YES

Business Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/Business

PPC Ad

40
2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 40

The Message

OBSERVATION #3:

The Force of the Value Proposition

(Ma)YES
Y

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

Value Proposition

For the Primary, Product, Prospect, and ProcessLevel Value Propositions, the objective is to tip the perceived value (Pv) to be greater than the perceived cost (Pc).

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

41
2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 41

OBSERVATION #3:

The Force of the Value Proposition

(Ma)YES
Y

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

Value Proposition

For the Primary, Product, Prospect, and ProcessLevel Value Propositions, the objective is to tip the perceived value (Pv) to be greater than the perceived cost (Pc).

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

42
2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 42

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Background
Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: 1214

Research Notes: Background: A leading software provider. Goal: To increase total leads. Primary research question: Which process will generate the most leads? Approach: Radical redesign of the complete lead-generation process.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

43

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Original PPC ad

Original PPC Ad

{Keyword XXXXXXXXX Software} Award-Winning XXXXXXXX Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX

(Ma)YES

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

Value Proposition

{Keyword XXXXXXXXX Software} Award-Winning XXXXXXXX Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

44

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: PPC Ads Side-by-Side

Original

{Keyword XXXXXXXXX Software} Award-Winning XXXXXXXX Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX
Optimized

Original ad uses only vague qualitative statements like Award Winning and Fully integrated The optimized uses specific quantitative statements like #1 On Demand and 6459+ World Clients to communicate the value.

XXXXXXXXX Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

45

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Optimize PPC Ad

Optimized PPC Ad

XXXXXXXXX Software Suite #1 On-Demand. 6459+ World Clients Award-Winning Solution. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX
(Mi)YES

(Ma)YES

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition

{Keyword XXXXXXXXX Software} Award-Winning XXXXXXXX Software. Fully Integrated. Free Trial www.XXXXXXXXXX.com/XXXXXXXX

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

46

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Results

The optimized PPC Ad conversion rate increased by 20.9%

21% Increase in Overall Conversion

PPC Ad Control

CR
0.89%

Rel. Diff.
-

Treatment

1.08%

20.9%

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

47

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Original Landing Page

Original Landing Page

(Ma)YES

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

48

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Original Landing Page

Original Landing Page

Again, the original landing page from the ad is using vague language to communicate the value. Also, there is a significant disconnect between the value communicated in the PPC ad and the value in landing page. Where is the Award winning? Where is the Fully Integrated?

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

49

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Optimized Landing Page

Optimized Landing Page

The optimized version immediately connects the PPC ad to the landing page maintaining strong continuity. As in the PPC ad, clear quantitative language is used. Awards are shown prominently. Testimonials and CTA both add value.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

50

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Optimized Landing Page

Optimized Landing Page

(Ma)YES

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

51

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Results

The optimized Landing Page conversion rate increased by 54.26%

54% Increase in Overall Conversion

Landing Page Control

CR
7.17%

Rel. Diff.
-

Treatment

11.06%

54.26%

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

52

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Original Form Page

(Ma)YES
Y

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES (Mi)YES

The Message

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition
Cisco Confidential 53

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Original Form Page

Original Form Page

This form page is not really communicating any value. They have stopped trying to sell and assuming that the customer is convinced to complete the form. Also, there is little connection that this page has to either the landing page or PPC ad.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

54

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Optimized Form Page

Optimized Form Page

The optimized page, continues to communicate the value of the offer even on the registration page. The message is directly connected to both the landing page and the PPC campaign.

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

55

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Optimized Form Page

Optimized Form Page

(Ma)YES

(Mi)YES

The Message

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES (Mi)YES

(Mi)YES

Value Proposition

(Mi)YES

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

56

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Results

The optimized Landing Page conversion rate increased by 54.26%

97% Increase in Overall Conversion

Landing Page Control

CR
15.84%

Rel. Diff.
-

Treatment

31.25%

97.27%

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

57

OBSERVATION #3:

Experiment: Overall Results

The optimized paths conversion rate increased by 272.2%
Metric Control
0.89% 7.17% 15.84%

272% Increase in Overall Conversion

Treatment
1.08 11.06% 31.25%

Relative Difference
20.9% 54.26% 97.27%

PPC Advertisement Landing Page Clickthrough Form Completion Impression-to-lead Conversion

.009%

.033%

272.2%

What you to understand: In this conversionneedto 268% more projectedexperiment, a 272% increase inwith led revenue and, when combined the corresponding 66% reduction in cost-per-acquisition, the optimized path produced more than 4 times the monthly profit (302% increase).

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

58

Summary

2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

59

Session 2 Concept Summary

1. 2.

Key Principles

Holistic approach: Every element at every step along the buy process must either state or support your value proposition. Two key elements:
Congruence - having every element of your page either state the value proposition or support the value proposition. Continuity - Making certain that each step of the buy process either states or supports the value proposition. (All the collateral supports or states value prop).

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

60

Questions?

Accelerate! Session Recordings: Session Recording Do You Have the Right Value Proposition? Upcoming Velocity Sessions: Marketing is the New Differentiation in the Tech Industry (with Forrester) Get Started Crafting an Effective Value Proposition: Download the Value Prop Worksheet from MarketingExperiments Marketing Optimization Programs Landing Page, Email, PPC Campaigns Earn up to 20,000 points for attending Accelerate! Sessions: Register for Cisco Rewards no later than July 13th. Stay Connected to Cisco Accelerate!

2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

63

Thank You!