I’ve always been fascinated with political elections, but the marketing side of me is often disillusioned when observing campaign advertising. It’s just too easy to spot both sides spinning their messages to meet their agendas. Clearly, this year is no exception and the partisanship seems to be more prevalent than ever.

We are constantly being bombarded with political ads from all forms of media communications (i.e. newspaper, radio, television, etc.) this time of year. On my short drive, to and from work, I often find myself alternating between different radio stations to hear the hosts spin their commentary to support their ideology. I sometimes feel that it would be empowering to have the ability to broadcast my views to the masses like the many opinionated talk show hosts on both sides of the airwaves.

One option might be to stand on a street corner and bellow-out my approval of an issue or candidate of choice. Though, I’d probably go to another town incognito since my biggest fear would be that a friend, acquaintance or colleague might see me and think I was a fanatic or something. Perhaps our family wouldn’t be invited to the next neighborhood block party!

Another option would be to become a political volunteer or spokesman, but I have never been very interested in trying to convert someone to my way of thinking. I’m very open to hearing other peoples’ perspectives and I can easily accept the fact that some people have a different opinion than mine. Unfortunately, some people use their pulpits to spin the affairs of others to meet their agenda and it’s particularly obvious with talk radio.

I mostly avoid political conversations these days since they always seem to bring out the worst in people. On one hand, I enjoy listening to political discussions whenever possible, but on the other hand, I often find myself getting aggravated with the way both sides unfairly spin their commentary. It’s an oxymoron and I wonder if other people have similar feelings?

Recently, I was speaking with someone about the accuracy of their web site’s survey data. We discussed how it’s actually pretty easy to manipulate a web site’s survey results. Here’s an example: KHOW, a popular Denver radio station web site, periodically rotates surveys on their home page. Currently, the survey is entitled “Who do you think won the debate?” There are two selectable answers and the results display percentages for each presidential candidate and their running mate.

After submitting your answer, the web site displays the current results. Unfortunately, there really isn’t any guidance regarding whether you can vote more than once. Technically, the web site appears to be using a cookie to track those who have voted before and displays only the results if you have. It’s easy to remove the web site’s “poll_id” cookie and vote again and writing a bot to monitor for any changes in the survey results and to automatically make adjustments would eliminate any manual intervention.

In the real world, this could be considered analogous to a single person being able to vote for a candidate or issue more than once and this seems like it would be a sin. Lately, there has been growing concern over voter fraud and organizations who provide voter registration information for people who don’t actually exist. In cyberspace, when you arrive on a web site you should be considered anonymous and it is important that you can remain that way. This is the conundrum with web site surveys that don’t require registration.

The moral of the story is to not believe everything you see and hear on the Internet. Keep in mind that web survey data can be subject to manipulation. If you have a web site that conducts surveys my recommendation would be to add some text clarifying that you prefer visitors not vote more than once. From a technical perspective, you should at least add some IP checking. If that isn’t enough, you can always ask your web site visitors to register before allowing them to take the survey and/or agree with any terms associated with participating in the survey.

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As marketing budgets are increasingly under the microscope, it becomes more important to think that if you cannot measure it, why do it?

There are many ways to examine campaign effectiveness, but a better method involves the component of where a campaign goes awry and where improvement is needed. A sales funnel can be a useful tool to help marketers understand how effectively marketing messages and media are in driving actual (and measurable) results.

Each marketing program that reaches out to new or existing customers creates a sales “funnel.” As a metaphoric example, the funnel can be a graphic representation of all the cars coming from different roads and different cities, different makes & models, and different drivers. As they get closer to the destination, they move from all their different originating points to a highway, then merging into a single lane. How many make it through to their final destination? How many give up and make a U-turn? How many cars run out of gas waiting to get past the line? How many have accidents? You get the idea.

In similar fashion the marketing funnel tracks all users exposed to a marketing message, beginning with the initial contact (ad program, Web site, search result, brochure etc.). The funnel gets narrower as the user traverses a series of additional messages and tasks as they become more interested in what you have to say, culminating in an “engagement” You define what that engagement is, but simply put an engagement is the goal of your specific marketing program’s objective. An engagement might include an “offer to register” for something, share their name or other personal data with you, download a trial version, sign-up, opt-in, or make a purchase. The art and science of helping the customer make that journey from the top of the funnel (the initial contact) to the bottom (the engagement with you) requires a high level of customer insight, allowing you to maximize your efforts at moving them through the process quickly and effortlessly. This information allows a company to make smarter decisions on traffic drivers, site navigation, content effectiveness and conversion techniques.

Deep, relevant and actionable Web metric data can bring your marketing picture into sharp focus. Online measurement and customer analytics is key to identifying and minimizing potential points of engagement decay within a Web site or online marketing program experience. Metric tools and analysis documentation should allow you the ability to make effective and informed decisions from the insight gained.

Sales funnel data should provide deep understanding into every element of Web-centric marketing initiatives by providing relevant, actionable knowledge regarding the media that sent each customer to you, individual Web visitor behavior, their preferences and incentives. This information allows a company to make smarter decisions on traffic drivers, site navigation, content effectiveness and conversion techniques.

By installing processes to monitor users’ activities and paths via the graphic sales funnel, from referring drivers (ads, P4P placement, e-mail blasts and other outbound materials), tracking metrics can identify phases of your user’s engagement and measure progression through those stages of the sales funnel.

Funnel tracking also increases insight into top customer issues, identifying where potential customers skip stages, or by revealing potential points of funnel decay where users become confused, lose interest, or have other reasons to abandon the process. Knowing where these points are can enable you to test different ways to encourage the user to “keep going”, or for you to improve the user interface, if instructions and “next steps” are not clear.
This is good stuff, and where you can earn big kudos by solving the problem(s). Strategies can be developed toward appealing to users’ interests, extending their online engagement time, offering cross-selling opportunities and encouraging repeat visits.

Sometimes the answer is not so obvious, and you need to take further action by conducting a usability study. If you employ a funnel in your measurement process you should have a good idea where the potential choke-point(s) are. Usability testing may reveal additional issues and measures you need to address.

Unfortunately, few companies deeply understand and anticipate customer behavior, often centering their marketing strategies around products rather than their customers’ desires, needs and expectations. Knowing your customer and implementing key strategies to satisfy those expectations can make the journey through the funnel effortless, affect customer behavior and drive business results.

Thanks to the sales funnel this important data cn allow you to fine-tune your creative messaging, as well as media placement. It can also help you craft an online Web site interaction experience that speaks your customer’s language, supports their expectations, and drives a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with them.

Agree? Disagree? Have a success story? Have a question? Share it with me at: bob_chernet@viewmark.com

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© 2008 Bob Chernet
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