eROI NYC Interactive Agency

I have been supporting Greenpeace for almost 2 years now. I actually converted with one of those Greenpeace guys on 23rd Street. I know, how could I right? Most people hate those guys, but he camped right in the spot where I used to smoke cigs and thus we got to talking. And isn’t that always the trick…just communicate. (communication means listening too).  At any rate I signed up to give them 5 bucks a month. A drop in the pan but in the world of micro-giving not bad. So I get their usual messaging….an email every month…oddly enough a DM piece every once in a while (doesn’t seem very Greenpeacey to send out junk mail…but for the 60+ crowd direct mail still works)…but I got an email from them this week that raises some issues with me. Although I applaud their effort to engage…the overall effort is weak and outdated.  I will let it speak for itself:

“Help us get started by putting up “wanted” posters for Mr. Tillerson in your hometown!”

The idea is a simple one: download our short one-page toolkit and print out a few copies of the “wanted” poster we have created for Rex Tillerson. Then, take some time over the next couple of weeks and put them up around town. It’s as easy as that and should be a lot of fun.”

OK…so let me get this straight….Greenpeace wants us to print out a bunch of flyers to get the word out? I mean seriously? Does it really make sense to have one of the  ”greenest” orgs condone printing out a bunch of wack flyers that won’t have any impact. I know I know they’re supposed to be looking “big picture”…but that is exactly my point. If the goal is to get the word out about this horrific CEO let’s get the word out. Any organization/non-profit, whatever it is, no matter what you are trying to do or push, should fear the same thing….being irrelevant. Once your message and how you deliver it become obsolete so does your mission. I think the most frustrating part is that they are almost there…the idea is like flirting with something that can have legs.  So let’s examine this thing and see how they could have done better.

First of all I do like the whole “wanted” theme. Its catchy, it makes sense, its provides a nice motif to work with. Where the mission goes astray is the delivery and the overall design of the campaign. You are telling people to put up flyers around their town? What good will that do? No one can share that info easily….you maybe get 5-10 seconds of the person’s time, if that, as they are passing the flyer…there is no incentive to take any action. Rather than using the 1945 approach to marketing they should have gone to where the conversation is…the internet. Why not push Greenpeace supporters to use the Wanted Poster as their profile picture on social networking sites. Why not use twitter to create a digital “America’s Most Wanted” of sorts. I would also create a micro-site that functions as both a petition and a billboard for the movement. People like to discover things….so give them stuff to discovery. On the micro-site I would include as many videos and links as I could that could that illustrate why he is on the “Most Wanted List”.  I would provide incentive for singing up and spreading the word.  Currently there is only a blurb about this on their Facebook wall with pretty much the same messaging as the email. It is paramount that GP engage the users on their level. Give the people something to talk about. Give them something to do besides print a bunch of paper flyers.

In today’s world causes are like little badges people where to help differentiate. Making the “Wanted” movement a part of the current vernacular would create evangelists out of people who never would have otherwise reach. For instance…remember when the Iran elections were going on last year? I can’t tell you how many people changed their profile pictures to reflect the green hue indicative of the opposition candidate. That created curiosity…”why is your profile picture green? Oh…that’s because I support democracy in Iran.”

Get the conversation started Greenpeace. You are falling behind. Call me…we can help.

“Let’s get conversions!” they cheer from the cliffs and huts of the village. We hear it everyday. How do we increase conversion rates? No matter the vertical or the offer the answer is simple. Provide value….be compelling. I converted myself on an offer this weekend so I thought it relevant to share. And perhaps bring you some value. First, remember that everyone is competing for eyeballs both online and offline….what the internet provides is interaction with the brand….eyeballs plus action so that to me is the goal. Let’s go through the steps of my recent conversion.

Step 1: I received the below email. Delivery time Friday 4:45pm…Subject Line: Happy Valentine’s Day from eMusic…the offer: Here is a gift for you. How curious and tempting right. I am fan of the “Unwrap it now” call to action as well. Visually the creative is decent. I have issue with the header navigation. I know the old “best practice” hand book has a chapter on this but in this case I say let the V Day offer stand alone. Its going out to existing users and its a conceptual event driven offer. Nav in the email is just not necessary in this case. But alas the offer was compelling so I clicked.

Step 2: I was routed to a landing page and was auto played a short Flash Video. The video was good I suppose. Not to intrusive but not that big of a WOW factor. It works though as it is an offer for existing users. The action isnt to forward this. So the video is short and the song is too which is nice. The end state of the video plugged the offer and below the vid there is a link explaining the gift….5 free downloads.

Step 3: I clicked the redem button and was on the home page ready to log in.  So now I am here….logged in with free stuff to use. I noticed something I liked on the home page (see below)….I read about the artist…then downloaded her whole album. The experience was so good I searched again and downloaded another album. I pay for 35 songs a month and used almost all of them in this one session.

So I interacted and had a brand positive experience in just three clicks.  There are a couple reasons I like this besides the fact that it brought value.  For these kinds of sites and services its important to remember that sometimes your users forget they are even a part of the community. I know I do sometimes…I have lost my downloads a few times because it just slips my mind that I have them waiting for me there. While it may seem like it doesn’t matter if I use my downloads or not as E-Music will make their money anyway I contend that it means everything. They need to show that people use their service so they can intern sign more artists and labels to get an even broader audience. So this offer is relevant, compelling, it brings value and encourages interaction. Good job E Music. Still a fan. Here’s a sample of what I found…pretty sweet…the drop at 0:49 seconds in is ridiculous. Enjoy

This just came out today. Seems a little late…but I am down with it. I will def try it. On the onset it seems to do everything FB does. I wonder what implications this has for them. More on this as I give it a try. Scobleizer chipped in it for a pretty good read.

Last week I was invited to speak at Scholastic publishing in Soho. As i mentioned on twitter I kept a look out for one Mr. Potter but saw neither he nor Clifford roaming the halls. I was asked to speak for 20 minutes about optimizing landing pages. Wow. So many things to say so little time. I racked my brain trying to figure out a way to provide value to these people while still trying to come up with something new and relevant. What makes this a difficult topic is that Landing pages, and the things that make them successful, just like everything else on the internet change all the time depending on so many things.  How can I be educational to the education people? I set out on the usual research of sites and blogs that anyone else would…google, marketing sites, etc…I needed more. I needed something new. The more I read and discovered the more I realized that there is no answer. There were sites offering “Top 10 Landing Page Secrets” and the usual “Your Guide to Landing Pages”. No smoking gun thing that makes a landing page “optimized”.  For as many products as there are in the world there could be equal number of landing pages that work. There has to be a framework in which we can talk about all landing pages across all verticals. Then I considered this…..a constantly changing system never has answers….it is all theory. At the heart of it…optimizing a landing page is nothing but a guess. Thus was born Landing Page Theory. (Only pronounced properly with your tongue in your cheek…)

The 5 rules of Landing Page Theory

1. Landing Page Equilibrium (L) = The point at which a landing page achieves balance and is thus optimized against other systems
2. The right combination of variables (V) and constants (C) will equal (L) V +C = L
3. L can only be proven through testing various combinations of (V) and (C) using the scientific method
4. All choices should be made in consideration for the user
5. All if this is only theory: there are no rules if you convert

What is a CONSTANT?

1. A clear and concise goal
2. Your audience
3. Your entry points

What is a VARIABLE?

1. Clear call to action
2. Appropriate forms
3. Consistent imagery
4. Solid brand message
5. Good user experience
6. Copy in “F” shape pattern
7. Stickiness: Do I want to click out?
8. Testimonial
9. Product shot
10. There are a ton more…

After explaining my new Theory I took a look at some case studies to provide some concrete examples. I identified the constants and then we worked as a group to identify the variable and decide if they indeed equaled L. The below is a Pin Code campaign we did with Breitling Watches. What are some of the variables?

Do you have any landing page examples that we could examine in this context? A special thank you to Stephanie Miller and the DMC for including me in the panel.