Recommendations for bettermeans

PRE-RECOMMENDATIONS INTRO FOR BETTERMEANS.COM

Meet the Conversion Sequence
Developed by MarketingExperiments
Breaks down the key elements for crafting copy on the web
All my feedback will be based largely on this sequence
C = Conversion
M = Motivation
People come to your site with a particular motivation in mind. The motivation to visit BetterMeans may be to learn about a cool new tech company or (preferably) to find a great new project management solution. You cannot influence motivation on your site; you can only reflect your users’ motivations in your copy.
V = Value proposition
A value proposition is, potentially, the most important copy on your website (especially for new users). It should be placed early on in the funnel on your site – at least on your home page and on your key landing pages (e.g., PPC landing pages). NOTE: Value props are not necessarily taglines, though they can be.
I = Incentive
An incentive – like a promo – is too often used by new companies to get people in… but it should really be a last resort (i.e., if value prop, motivation, and anxiety-busters aren’t working).
F = Friction
Fiction is simply how difficult it is for users to make sense of your messages and/or use your site. It’s usability.
A = Anxiety
Visitors may come to your site with anxiety visitors have about choosing your solution (e.g., anxious about switching from current project management solution; anxious about signing up for new product). Down the road, you may want to speak to users in greater detail about their anxieties so you can overcome them at key points on your site.

Big Opportunity: Refining the BetterMeans Value Proposition
A WELL-FORMED VALUE PROPOSITION:
Highlights the benefits or values of the BetterMeans offering that are MOST DESIRABLE to customers
Is stated in a single, succinct, meaningful and clear statement
Applies only to your brand/offering (i.e., EXCLUSIVE to you; your competitors can’t claim the same)
Survives the test of time (is unchanging)
Your current value proposition

Sample Strong Value Props

COPY ASSESSMENT FOR BETTERMEANS.COM

SUMMARY
Biggest opportunities are on home page
Navigation copy challenges  too simple?
“Why” feels like an unnecessary page
No clear calls to action on any pages
Heavy paragraphs on some pages

Overview: Home
Copy is very sparse
Copy does not sufficiently explain in text:
What this product is
Whom this product is ideal for
What pain you will solve for me & my team
Why I should click to learn more
Value proposition is complex, difficult to grasp
Video does all the talking… but it’s 3+ minutes long (so it’s not ‘scannable’)
No social proof (i.e., anxiety-reducers):
Which company that I trust is using this product already?
What do existing users have to say about this product?
What newspapers, bloggers, etc are writing about this product?
See APPENDIX for more about your key messages here

Overview: Why
Why bettermeans… what? What is this solution?
GRAMMAR: Cut comma in this line
Play button gets lost on grey video
The Einstein quote to the side explains all of the copy I’m now covering. Although this copy is good, it’s “warmup” text that may lose the reader.
Break up paragraphs of text with bullets, links and headlines.
No call to action in this important area
It’s not clear what the value of this page is. The “how” page seems to do what this page does, but better.

Overview: How
Fantastic long-form page that clearly breaks out what’s great about the bettermeans approach to decision-making, prioritization, and project management
The section “Order Derived from…” is a bit too overwhelming/intimidating to read with its multiline copy blocks.
The FAQs at the bottom of the page seem to be strong enough to warrant their own page.

Overview: What
Another great page
Strong headline for the page
Great headlines to describe the screenshot
Great bullet lists of what you can do
The ‘blue cloud’ areas between sections on the longer pages create a false bottom – several times, I stopped scrolling, thinking I was at the bottom of the page, only to look at my scrollbar and see that there’s more to go

Overview: Pricing
The 3 reasons to believe at the top (i.e., setup in 60, no credit card, free trial) get lost in text
The pricing FAQs are good here… but they might also be great with the other FAQs
The tone for the copy on this page is the best tone of any page on the site

Overview: Navigation
Short words are great
Unclear what the difference is between “why”, “how” and “what”
Little indication as to what a user will find inside each page… so no reason to click
Could just as easily name them 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C

ASSESSMENT: Your Value Prop
Your current value proposition
Too many large words
Pretend your site visitors are in grade 6, even if they’re PhDs; simple, clear language is easier to read for everyone in stimulating computer environments
I have no idea what it means
Needs to be clear… which means the average visitor to your site should be able to ‘get it’ the first time they read it
Tries to cram in everything
Your value prop needs to focus on what’s important for customers about your offering

ASSESSMENT: Your Value Prop
Need to simplify
From what I can surmise, bettermeans is a project management tool that lets you vote on what you want to work on
Yes, there’s much more to it than that… but you have to choose a small number of important points and state them clearly… or users won’t get it
Says nothing about your target market
It doesn’t have to say anything about your ideal customer… but that could really help

COPY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BETTERMEANS.COM

Summary
Add more social proof (e.g., companies using this product, testimonials, media reviews)
Let headlines work harder
Use more ‘scannable’ text (e.g., bullets, button calls-to-action)
KEY: Refine value proposition

RECOMMENDATIONS: General
List the kinds of companies this solution is ideal for
List the companies who are already using it
In your FAQs section, you list the types of organization this solution is best for… but I’d recommend you get more specific; “knowledge-based collaboration” could mean “tech startups”, couldn’t it? Use clearer keywords that users are looking for… and don’t be afraid to show an actual bullet list of org types that this solution’s made for.
Reconsider interruptive ‘blue clouds’; link in more traditional ways, or make the clouds look like buttons you can click
Consider putting top reasons to believe (e.g., setup in 60) into graphical form so they get noticed

RECOMMENDATIONS: General
Where possible, use bullet lists
Avoid paragraphs that are longer than 3 lines
Let headlines work harder:
Elevate great statements like “Be 10x as productive as traditional companies” to headlines
Example changes:
“New Team Structure” becomes “Goodbye, Boss Man”
“Full Transparency” becomes “No More Secrets”
“Distributed Leadership. Not Management” becomes “Let Great Leaders Rise to the Top”
Include more obvious calls to action
Currently lacking traditional buttons and text links, which, although ‘traditional’, really help people make decisions

RECOMMENDATIONS: Your Value Prop
SAMPLE VALUE PROPS FOR BETTERMEANS:
Vote up the best project ideas – and make every team member a key contributor
The innovative project management solution for innovative small businesses
The smart, affordable – and democratic – way to tackle complex problems in your org
Rethink command & control in your organization

RECOMMENDATIONS: Nav
Current
Delete the “why” page entirely
Other pages cover this content better
Rename “how” something clear (e.g., How It Works, How It’s Different, Work Smarter, Get Details, Open Philosophy)
Rename “what” something clear (e.g., Tour, Features)
Turn FAQs sections into FAQs page in nav
how it’s better
features
faqs
Proposed

OPPORTUNITY: HOME PAGERECOMMENDED COPY

Current Home Page

Recommended Copy on Home Page

Appendix & MISCELLANEOUS

Value Proposition Assessment Matrix
Value Proposition
< insert proposed value prop here >
Copy page & complete for each VP

MESSAGE MAP
Pulled from your video
WHO SHOULD USE BM
Social entrepreneurs
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH BM
Faster, better decision-making
Smarter project management & prioritization
HOW DOES BM CHANGE THINGS?
Rethink Command & Control
Promotes openness
Emphasizes efficiency
Works democratically
WHY YOU SHOULD USE BM
No command & control – everyone’s equal, everyone’s voice is heard
New, faster, more efficient ways of making decisions (especially about what your team will work on – great for prioritizing)
Smart teams that move quickly: Choose what you want to work on… so ideas that don’t have group support don’t happen (voting)  work environment becomes driven by profit + exciting projects that get voted up (= team engagement)
Transparent activity stream – both internal and to public groups (if you want)
Promote compensation for contributions
Standard collab tools like wikis, discussion boards, document storage

RECOMMENDATIONS: Messages
CHANGE THE WORLD: This message, though nice, feels too lofty and overwhelming for the average person.
We all want to change the world, but we need to have that change broken down for us – like “recycle every Tuesday” or “use green cleaning products”.
From a messaging perspective, I would recommend subordinating the “change our world” message.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Messages
REINVENT HOW WE WORK TOGETHER: This message is brilliant, succinct, and reflective of what many social entrepreneurs already think they’re doing: reinventing something.
Speaks well to your audience of ‘inventors’ (i.e., innovators).
Possibility to push this message further to remind users that innovative people wouldn’t consider doing something the old way… so why should their project management & decision-making processes be old?
From a messaging perspective, I would recommend keeping this message high in the messaging hierarchy.

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Recommendations for bettermeans

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