Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, only looks at one dimension of marketing effectiveness. In this session, Kate looks at a process for improving marketing as a holistic discipline, from a customer experience perspective, using an example of a fictitious new product with no existing demand.

1. Smart, Scalable,
and Sophisticated:
How to Optimize Your Marketing,
Not Just Your Conversion Rate
[presented by] Kate O’Neill,
CEO of [meta]marketer

2. Who’s Kate O’Neill?

linguist by education, passionate about how we
communicate, driven by improving customer
experience, and geeky about data

first departmental website at UIC, first intranet
at Toshiba, first content manager at Netflix

described by Adobe Test&Target product manager as
“on the bleeding edge of web optimization--she's
creating the best practices instead of following
them.”

past roles at Toshiba, HCA, Magazines.com, lots
of startups, etc.
What’s [meta]marketer?

Marketing analytics, optimization, insights, strategy

We help clients understand their customers based on data and insights from their marketing
efforts so they can be more effective in creating lasting relationships with them.

Four years old; large and high-growth clients have included Symantec / PC Tools, Ingram
Book Publishing, XO Communications, Grand Ole Opry, and dozens of other e-commerce,
B2B, companies and brands.
@kateo, @metamarketer

3. Feeling the Twitter love?
me:
@kateo
[m]m: @metamarketer
@kateo, @metamarketer

4. Conversion rate
is just a ratio.
visits
purchases
visit
visit
visit
purchas
e
3 visits to
1
purchase
= 33%
conversion
@kateo, @metamarketer

5. Traffic, by itself,
decreases the ratio.
visits
4 visits
instead of
3 visits =
33% lift
in visits!
purchases
visit
visit
visit
visit
urchas
p
e
4 visits to
1 purchase
= 25%
conversion,
which is a
reduction
of 24%
from 33%
@kateo, @metamarketer

6. You say you want
a high conversion rate?
visits
purchases
vis
i
t
You could just turn off your
worst-converting channel.
visit
visit
purchas
e
Now we get a
purchase for
every 2 visits
instead of 3
= 50%
conversion, a
51.5% lift
from our
original 33%!
But obviously that makes no sense.
@kateo, @metamarketer

7. You have to improve the system.
The whole system.
@kateo, @metamarketer

8. growing your marketing
effectivenes
s
yields bigger wins than
an increase in
conversion rate
in any single
campaign or channel.
@kateo, @metamarketer

9. @kateo, @metamarketer

10. @kateo, @metamarketer

11. Introducing...
the Next Big
Thing
in the Startup
World.
@kateo, @metamarketer

12. Wonderful Cat
Wings, LLC*
*May be a fictitious company.
@kateo, @metamarketer

13. The Basic
Idea
+
=
$
I mean, right?
@kateo, @metamarketer

14. “Let’s start with SEO!”
So we can convert all those “cat wings”
searchers!
@kateo, @metamarketer

15. Well, crap.
Maybe we don’t have
a market.
@kateo, @metamarketer

16. What if we back up a step?
@kateo, @metamarketer

17. Figure out your sweet
spot
@kateo, @metamarketer

18. First pass: whiteboardlevel
@kateo, @metamarketer

19. how a
sketchlevel
ad
concept
might
read:
@kateo, @metamarketer

20. how a
sketchlevel
landing
page
concept
might
look:
@kateo, @metamarketer

21. @kateo, @metamarketer

22. @kateo, @metamarketer

23. second pass: draftlevel
cat spoilers, cat spoilers,
unaware of aware of
wings
related
market
how might
you recognize
them
what types of
search terms
by search
terms
cat
accessories,
cat toys
by search
terms
cat clothing
aware of
wings
aware of
brand
previous
customer
direct traffic; direct traffic; direct access
concept
brand
to login page;
searches
searches
cookie
cat wings,
gold cat
wings
Wonderful
Cat Wings
{brand} +
login or help
what do they
cat wings are
need to move
images of cats selection?
quality?
support?
ideal cat toy,
forward
in cat wings? price? quality? return policy? appreciation?
accessory
how to
measure
success
engagement
purchase;
signup for
newsletter
purchase
purchase?
return visits,
referrals
etc
@kateo, @metamarketer

24. Remember: improve the system.
@kateo, @metamarketer

25. small gains
big wins.
Watch
grow into
@kateo, @metamarketer

26. Thank you and good luck!
Email me at
kate@metamarketer.com
For a free 20-minute consultation by
phone on how to improve your marketing
effectiveness.
Or connect with me and my company at:
 Twitter: @kateo / @metamarketer
 Facebook: facebook.com/metamarketer
 LinkedIn: linkedin/in/kateoneill
@kateo, @metamarketer