🔊 Looking at the big picture when it comes to testing

Plus, a wide range of options for SMS marketers May 11, 2021 Good morning, Marketer, today we take a closer look at testing. Big-picture thinking is often overlooked but must be accounted for at the testing stage, says Western Governors marketing technologist Steve Petersen. For instance, marketing and sales teams have to be in closer communications because the data one team requires from customers might not be the same that marketers need in order to make their campaigns effective. The big picture is also useful when assembling an effective SMS marketing strategy. A new study indicates that this channel in particular is seeing more buy-in across the industry. As you’ll see below, there are many moveable parts — from acquiring subscribers to choosing a variety of messages to deploy — that make texting to customers an attractive channel for just about any organization. Chris Wood,Editor Operations When testing, look at the big picture In his latest article, marketing operations practitioner Steve Petersen looks at how optimizing UI/UX elements can have multiple downstream repercussions — and he provides actionable advice on how to guard against such outcomes. Taking lead generation forms as an example, he shows how removing fields to promote form completion can result in a higher volume of marketing qualified leads but poorer quality sales qualified leads because potentially important contextual information is missing. What’s more, the information no longer collected at the initial form completion stage of the customer journey might need to be collected at a later stage and provision needs to be made for that to happen. “For example, when selling insurance, the final cost of a policy will require knowing a lot of detailed and sensitive information about the person covered,” Petersen says. “Does it make sense to ask for a lot of that information on an initial lead form, or does it make sense to gather just some general information and allow the salesperson to provide a ballpark estimate along with how various factors will influence the cost? There are pros and cons to both approaches, and each could be pursued depending on whether more total leads or more qualified leads are called for.” It’s even possible that information not collected at an early stage in the journey will need to be collected post-sale and involve other departments and multi-departmental orchestration. The key to managing these kinds of situations is understanding data flows. Where is data being collected, where it flows, and who is managing and analyzing it? That’s one way to mitigate against wasting time and effort on UI/UX testing that will ultimately not work out. [Read More]() [Trade cookies for control of your identity program]() Not everything will change as third-party cookies fade, but digital marketers are scrambling to solve for an uncertain future. Brands focusing on building and managing first-party data solutions will be ready for the so-called “third-party cookieless world” but also positioned to look smart and act on customer intelligence they own. When brands use their own data to know customers and prospects better, wonderful things start to happen. [Read More »]() Videos Taboola partners with Oracle Moat Measurement Content discovery and native ad platform Taboola today announced a collaboration with Oracle Moat Measurement which provides metrics on all aspects of video performance, including impressions, views and completion rates. Oracle Moat Analytics will integrate with Taboola Ads, providing brands and agencies with video performance reporting within the media buying platform. This is the first third-party metrics provider to be directly integrated into Taboola. Why we care. With campaigns increasingly built around video content, clear metrics are critical. Oracle’s offering gauges engagement across channels and devices and enables in-campaign optimization based on performance. For advertisers using Taboola, there should be benefits to having video metrics baked into the platform. Webinar: Create Better Digital Experiences for Your Customers With Headless and Hybrid CMS Adopting headless and hybrid Content Management Systems is part of a move toward greater agility in marketing. These solutions give you more flexibility and speed in choosing where content is distributed and how it is displayed. Join a panel of experts moderated by MarTech Today’s editorial director Kim Davis, and learn the trends driving the adoption of headless and hybrid CMSs and the capabilities these systems provide. [RSVP Today »]() Performance How marketers are deploying text programs this year SMS worked better for a majority of marketers than other channels, according to the [2021 SMS Marketing Benchmarks Report](), a study conducted by text marketing solution Attentive. They surveyed nearly 400 retail and e-commerce marketers. Two-thirds of marketers surveyed are also planning to improve their digital marketing strategy by adding SMS this year. But what are the top ways to do this? First, you’ve got to up your subscribers. Then, you have to choose the right promotions. Here are the top ways marketers are driving up SMS subscribers, according to the survey: - Mobile website sign-up creatives; - Desktop website sign-up creatives; - Website landing page sign-up forms; - Social media promotion/social media sign-up forms; - Email banners/email sign-up forms; - Text-to-Join campaigns; and - Checkout page sign-up forms. What kinds of texts are they sending to subscribers? The top types are: - Special offers; - New product announcements; - Subscriber-exclusive offers (early access, mobile-only coupons, etc.); - Best-selling products; - Content related to brand mission and/or values; - Educational content on brand/industry-related topics; - Social cause and/or philanthropy initiatives; and - “Behind-the-scenes” content related to operations and/or employees. What technologies are marketers integrating their text messaging platform with? Here are five: - E-commerce platform; - Email service provider; - Customer service; - Data analytics; and - Customer relationship management. Why we care. It looks like this year SMS can be many things to many marketers and customers. You know your customers best. There’s probably a combination of the options above that suits their needs. [Stay ahead of the competition with advanced search marketing tactics]() Join us online, June 15-16, at SMX Advanced — the premier training experience designed exclusively for expert search marketers. Explore the latest SEO, PPC, and user experience topics, trends, and tactics with the Search Engine Land editors. [Register for just $219! »]() Quote of the day “The full extent of the damage to Colonial Pipeline, and its business partners, will not be known for weeks if not months. 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