This document provides 10 resources for landing page optimization and ad copywriting reference materials. It includes articles, web clinics, and quotes from marketing experts at MarketingExperiments about optimizing campaigns through testing headlines, calls-to-action, copywriting, value propositions and reducing friction. Key principles discussed include emphasizing the customer benefits in headlines, making small testing changes to improve performance, and crafting copy to match the visitor's thought process. The resources are intended to help marketers improve campaign performance through testing and optimization.

1. Landing Page Optimization and Ad
Copywriting Reference Materials
10 resources to get you started

2. Overcoming adequate marketing
“One problem we have in marketing is that adequacy is the enemy of excellence. In many cases, we’re
losing the most money by using campaigns that are working, but are not working well enough.”
– Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, managing director, MECLABS
At MarketingExperiments, we work to help our customers optimize their marketing campaigns by
sharing our discoveries as we continue to learn more about what really works. To help make your
testing efforts as effective as possible, here are some resources to get you started in online testing or
provide some transferrable principles that will help you decide what to test next. This reference
material largely relates to landing page optimization and ad copywriting.
For more marketing optimization information that can help you before, during, and after this training,
feel free to visit MarketingExperiments.com, MarketingSherpa.com, and B2BLeadBlog.com.
Thank you,
The MECLABS Editorial Content Team
P.S. Our job is to help you do your job better. Let us know how we can help.

3. Landing Page Optimization and Ad Copywriting
Reference Materials
MARKETINGEXPERIMENTS - BLOG

4. Landing Page Optimization
Overview
F
What information is required to qualify leads as being sales ready?
• What are the characteristics of the ideal sales opportunity?
• What are the questions sales want answered before getting a lead?
• What info is must-have vs. nice-to-have?
• Which questions tend to gather the most-needed information?
• What should we start doing to make leads more actionable?
• What things should we stop doing with leads that don’t value?
"
So what is landing page optimization exactly?
• Identify possible changes on your site that could improve the conversion
• Test to see what you can learn from your audience
• Learn from these tests
• True LPO requires a testing-optimization cycle
"
Full article Marketing Campaign: Landing page optimization can help
improve the return on your media spend
*

5. Ad Copywriting
Blandvertising is a wishy-washy
marketing claim that wants to
mean something… but it just
doesn’t mean anything.
Daniel Burstein
Directory of Editorial Content
MECLABS
Full article Blandvertising: How you can overcome writing headlines and
copy that don’t say anything
*

6. Source: MarketingSherpaLanding Page Optimization Benchmark Survey
Methodology: Fielded Feb 2011, N=2,673
Copywriting and Call-to-Action Optimization
Full article A/B Testing: 3 resources for copywriting and call-to-action
optimization
*
The headline has been repeatedly shown to
provide high impact … often, it makes the
difference between the visitor reading any
content and going for the dreaded “x”
- 2011 MarketingSherpa Benchmark Report

7. Copywriting Optimization: Long vs. Short Copy
Full article Copywriting: Long copy vs. short copy matrix
*
“This heuristic model of long-copy vs. short-
copy optimization principles has emerged
empirically over time.”
Bob Kemper
Director of Sciences
MECLABS

8. Lead Generation Optimization
Asking “how” leads to
information… asking “why”
however, leads to wisdom.
Flint McGlaughlin
Managing Director
MECLABS
Full article Lead Generation: 3 lessons from a 25% decrease in conversion
*

9. Landing Page Optimization and Ad Copywriting
Reference Materials
MARKETINGEXPERIMENTS -WEB CLINICS

10. Headline and Call-to-Action Optimization
Full Web clinic - Minor Changes, Major Lifts: How headline and call-to-action
optimization increased conversion 45%
*
How can I get the greatest amount of return on the least amount of
optimization investment?
KEY TAKEAWAY
All marketing messages must be centered
primarily on the interests of the customer.
Therefore, when it comes to crafting
headlines, emphasize what the visitor gets
rather than what they must do.

11. Landing Page Optimization
Full Web clinic - Quick Win Clinic (Part I)The 5 easiest changes to make to
your landing pages right now
*
There are essentially two ways to increase your website’s performance:
1. Endlessly drive more traffic to your landing pages with media buys, direct mail
sends and time-consuming social media
2. Improve the conversion rate of the traffic you're already getting

12. Copywriting
Full Web clinic - Copywriting on Tight Deadlines: How ordinary marketers
are achieving 103% gains with a step-by-step framework
*
“By knowing where each copy element falls in the story, you can carefully craft
each word, each sentence and each paragraph to specifically match the visitor’s
thought sequence.” – Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS

13. Landing Page Optimization
Full Web clinic - Hidden Friction: The 6 silent killers of conversion
*
KEY PRINCIPLES
1. Friction does not occur on the page, it
occurs in the mind of the prospect
2. Friction is more complex than simple issues
of page length, form amount, or number of
steps
3. Most friction goes undetected by
marketers

14. Value Proposition Optimization
Full Web clinic - Discovering Your Value Proposition: 6 ways to stand out in
a crowded marketplace
*
How do you formulate a value proposition in highly competitive
marketplaces?

15. #webclinic
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