Do Clicks = Trials = Sales?

As I've been working recently building some online media tests for a consumer software client, it's been amplified to me the importance of tracking your campaigns accurately to determine to what extent they impact revenue.

I've mentioned in the past that online display media would not be my first choice (or 2nd, or 3rd :^) to drive data collection and lead capture in a campaign. That being said, I do feel there are other relevant online advertising vehicles that could work under the right conditions (paid search, highly targeted affiliate search, pay-per-download, etc).

If your product is a software solution which can be easily downloaded as a trial, pay-per-download might provide an interesting testing ground. We've actually had some success in a pay-per-download program with a global media download site, where in fact we've seen over 5500 downloads of our software product trial over about a 3 week period. At least that's what the media partner claims.

The issue for us is what exactly constitutes a 'certified download' with the partner? This week I analyzed the site's claimed download numbers with our analytics reporting and saw that the download to trial ratio was much lower that our standard trial ratios.

In examining the steps on the site to download the trial, it's clear that the first step -- click on the download link -- might indeed be their claimed number of >5500 clicks. But that doesn't mean that all of those clicks resulted in the file being actually SAVED to the client machine (2nd step from the download link), then RUN on the client machine.

When I mentioned this to the media rep, she agreed that altho the trial does get downloaded from their server (thus they should have the info on the number of times the file was actually served/saved), they don't have those figures. It's a critical pathing that's missing from our ROI calculation.

On our side we're able to see how many run the trial as it actually scans the host machine (it's a driver update software) and then provides a results page which is issued by our servers.

Right now it's very tough for me to figure out the ROI of the pay-per-download campaign. As well, there is insufficient reporting to see where we could optimize within the download process to improve saves and runs of the trial.

We're not ready to write off this type pf marketing investment, but it's certainly tough to build a business case for it. I mention this to remind you of the importance of not only doing sufficient internal tracking but also the tracking you receive from the online partners you may be considering. To get an accurate picture, you need to capture EVERY click, every online action, every online step from the initial message thru to trial and sales conversion.

Today's Cool Links - Apr 15, 2009

In Three Lead Generation Tips From HubSpot's Lead-Gen Guru nice video from Hubspot's Prashant Kaw, who talks about the importance of conversion all the way through the funnel. Allows you to trace which channels provide you the leads that actually close.

This story on ClickZ Revive the Lost Art of Direct Response Copywriting Online provides some good tips in writing your direct marketing copy. It reminded me how important a good direct response copywriter is to the success of your campaigns.

The First Offer You Should Build

Today MarketingSherpa talks about demos as offers in their article Product Demo With Voluntary Registration Results in 23% Conversion Rate. It underscores the need to have campaign offers that are relevant and targeted, and deliver information in a compelling and efficient way. In my experience in B2B lead gen, there are few offers as well-received, and which produce as high a conversion, as effective demos. Especially on a digital platform, when done correctly demos can succinctly and visually serve information on the target's terms, when, where and how s/he wants.

Online demos provide an opportunity for your target to see and hear how your solutions meet their needs. For software products especially, this gives your prospect a chance to see exactly how your products work in their native environment.

[NOTE: It's important to state that usually product demos are more down-funnel offers, and are used as the prospect has been previously assured that you understand their needs and are now at the stage where they want specific details and proof points as to how your solution satisfies their needs.]

There are a slew of static and rich media platforms available to you that enable you to build and serve up your demo. They can range from simple PowerPoint and Adobe Flash to more sophisticated rich media platforms (co's like EyeView, Articulate and Accela have especially strong solutions that are adept at serving content and increasing conversions). It's safe to say that price rises with the sophistication and robustness of the solution you choose, as well as adoption, dissemination and conversions. Check them out.