While most copywriters have avidly studied Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising, very few have even heard of Theodore MacManus, let alone read his book, The Sword Arm of Business.  And yet MacManus was, in some ways, a more successful ad man, having:

Established his own (very successful) ad agency Launched the Dodge and Chrysler brands Hired and mentored Leo Burnett, creator of the Marlboro Man, Tony the Tiger, Pillsbury Doughboy, and many other advertising icons that made his clients rich Turned positioning into…

...continue to read "Sword Arms vs. (Semi) Scientific Advertising"

Oh, to have such problems…

If you’re hoping to download Firefox 3, it looks like it’s now safe to do so. But for nearly two hours yesterday, when the latest version of the popular Web browser first launched, so many people rushed the Firefox landing page that Mozilla’s servers crashed from the volume.

A round of applause for the marketing team at Mozilla. The pent up demand for their product combined with a brilliant “Firefox 3 Download Day” campaign to produce a perfect…

...continue to read "Firefox 3: How to Convert Seven Million Visitors in a Day"

When I wrote about how Mint.com quickly builds trust with visitors, I forgot to mention that — although coworkers had recommended Mint’s financial planning service — a former FutureNow client had written in to say he was impressed by how Mint’s website appeals to the four buying modes.

Ah, yes, the four buying modes; Spontaneous, Competitive, Methodical and Humanistic.

Since I was stuck in Competitive (fast + logical) buying mode, I ended up blogging about how Mint’s site addressed my trust concerns by…

...continue to read "Tips From a Client Who Doubled His Conversion Rate"

In case you missed the live webinar or had technical difficulties while watching it last week, you can watch it on YouTube now.

The presentation is 63 minutes, and the sound on the YouTube version isn’t the best. If you prefer, you can watch it full-screen and with better sound via WebEx.

The webinar starts with an introduction to Website Optimizer by Google’s Tom Leung. Then I share some of what we have learned at FutureNow over the the past decade of optimizing websites,…

...continue to read "Google Website Optimizer Webinar: What Should I Test?"

Countless once-skeptical businesses have changed their tune about personas [define]. The successes have been well documented, but a lot of smart people continue to scoff at the idea, thinking personas are a touchy-feely attempt to connect with customers on, like, a cosmic level — and that you’d have to be some kind of marketing hippy to waste budget on fluff like that.

Those attitudes are changing. This month’s Internet Retailer magazine shows how companies like Future Now are using personas to bridge the gap…

...continue to read "Use of Personas Boosts Conversion by 400%"

Humans are notoriously uptight. One moment we’re seething with anticipation over something that’s sure to be so thoroughly enjoyable that we can’t even picture complaining about it — ever — until the next day or so, when we do. Without warning, people will turn on your brand and tell their friends to do the same. This is why setting expectations online is crucial; something the band brand Radiohead learned the hard way after its novice online marketing efforts managed to disappoint…

...continue to read "Case Study: Karma Police Arrest Radiohead for Leaving Cash on the Table"

Most e-commerce sites only convert three out of every hundred people who visit their sites. What a shame! And the worst side-effect of this fact is apathy.

People often ask us, “What’s the average Conversion Rate in my industry?” Fair enough, but does it matter? If you’re converting less than 1/10th of your traffic, you should be concerned. If you’re converting more than that, you can do better. We all can. It’s even possible to double your conversion rate, if you…

...continue to read "How to Double Your Conversion Rate"