I’m fascinated by consumer behavior. I bet you are, too.
For example, as you probably know, a red “submit” button on your “free download” form will typically increase click throughs by several percentage points. Why? One theory is that the human brain often associates red with urgency.
After all, red shows up in fire, lava, poison plants and a few other places that, through evolution, we notice quite quickly. The argument is that we react to red more than we do, say, the color brown or yellow.
If that’s interesting to you, check this out.
Not long ago, I was talking with a good friend of mine named Dan who works at a credit card company. Dan spent a good part of his career testing the results of the direct mail campaigns that he was running.
You’re probably already familiar with A/B Split Testing where you test one letter (called the control) against another letter. The idea is that by changing just one variable in the B letter, you can see what changes drive better results.
When you get a lift in the results that’s better than the control, then you have a new control and you conduct future tests against the new control.
Dan was trying to beat the results of a control that had historically been tough to beat. He tested logo placement, graphics, copy … all sorts of stuff. But still, no dice. The control continued to generate the best results.
But then Dan had an idea.
What would happen if he changed the sentences that had an asterisk after them and replaced them with a footnote?
In other words, what if he took the sentences that required legal clarification (and were almost always followed by an asterisk), and he replaced those asterisks with a footnote?
It was just a hunch, but Dan wondered if the asterisks implied “legal stipulation” and were getting people to stop reading the letter. He also wondered if a footnote might imply “additional information” instead of “legal stipulation” (which would be less of a stopper for the recipients).
What were the results of Dan’s test?
That’s what I talk about in today’s abbreviated episode of The Jamie Turner Show, which you can check out below. (What? You haven’t subscribed to the podcast? Apple gave it New and Noteworthy designation. You can subscribe by clicking here for iTunes and here for Stitcher.)
Anyway, check out the episode below. It’s only a few minutes long but it will provide some great tips and insights on how you can use Dan’s methodology to test your way to success in your next marketing campaign.
Jamie Turner is the CEO of the 60 Second Marketer and 60 Second Communications, an Atlanta-based marketing agency that works with national and international brands. He is the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile” and is a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe. Subscribe to The Jamie Turner Show podcast by visiting iTunes or Stitcher.