What truly makes donors give? What prompts customers to clickthrough some emails but delete others? While there are many technical factors involved in email marketing, the easiest to change, and the most impactful to the bottom line, is getting your messaging right. In this Web clinic, we’re reaching outside of our own labs to find one of the most interesting nonprofit tests we’ve seen in recent years. Why explore tests from nonprofit organizations? Nonprofits face the ultimate challenge. Without an actual product or service to sell, they must convert based on perceived value. If you can understand why people donate to a nonprofit, you can understand how to amp up the perceived value of any product or service's actual value. Tim Kachuriak, Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer, NextAfter brought three lessons learned from a test that generated a 380% increase in revenue per email for an American think tank.

1. Personalized Messaging Tested:
How little changes to an email send led to a 380% change
in response rate

2. We’re sharing on Twitter!
#WebClinic

3. #WebClinic
Jon Powell
Senior Manager of
Executive Research
and Development,
MECLABS Institute
Today’s speakers
Tim Kachuriak
Chief Innovation and
Optimization Officer,
NextAfter

4. #WebClinic
What makes donors give?
NextAfter is obsessed with answering that
question. That's why it helps nonprofit
organizations turn the Web into a living
laboratory to find the answers — and
acquire more names and convert more
donors than it ever thought possible.
More about Tim and NextAfter

5. #WebClinic
Experiment: Background
Background: Think tank soliciting year-end donations to meet annual fundraising goal.
Goal: To increase donations.
Research Question: Which email will generate the most revenue?
Test Design: A/B split test
Experiment ID: #616
Record Location: NextAfter Digital Research Library
Research Partner: The Heritage Foundation

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Experiment: Version A
• This email was sent by Jim DeMint,
the president and most well-known
leader of The Heritage Foundation,
asking recipients for their support
with a year-end gift
• The tone of the email is formal and
professional

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Experiment: Version B
• The email was sent by Christie
Fogarty, the foundation’s lesser
known Director of Membership
Programs, requesting donations
• The email uses a much friendlier,
informal tone

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Version A
Experiment: Side-by-side comparison
Version B
?
Audience Question:
Which email will result in more donations?

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Design
Revenue per
Visitor
Relative
Difference
Statistical
Significance
Version A – Jim DeMint $0.03 - -
Version B – New Sender $0.14 380.7%
% Relative Change: 380.7%
99%
Experiment: Results
Increase in Revenue381%The optimized version’s revenue increased by 380.7%.

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Version B
Version A
Experiment
?
Why didn’t the more formal letter sent
by the well-known company president
produce better results?

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Experiment: Background
Background: B2C credit counseling company wants to discover which image will produce the
most leads.
Goal: To generate new leads.
Research Question: Which image will result in greater lead generation?
Test Design: A/B split test
Experiment ID: TP #1402
Record Location: MECLABS Research Library
Research Partner: Consolidated Credit Counseling Services

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Experiment: Version A
• Version A incorporates
image of generic
company employee

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Experiment: Version B
• Version B incorporates
image of well-know
company founder

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Design
Leads
generated
Relative
Difference
Statistical
Significance
Version A – Generic image 7.16% - -
Version B – Company founder 9.64% 34.6%
% Relative Change: 34.6%
95%
Experiment: Results
Increase in Leads35%Version B’s leads increased by 34.6%.

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What do these two winners have in common?
Key question

16. #WebClinic
What do these two winners have in common?
Key Question:
They both represent the right
amount of humanization in each
situation.

17. #WebClinic
Why humanize your sales process?
“The funnel does not occur as a
physical construct; it occurs as a
mental construct …The marketer does
not optimize a sales campaign (or even
a website); the marketer optimizes a
thought sequence.”
From The Marketer as Philosopher
Reflection Number 5
https://goo.gl/HnUWpX

18. #WebClinic
Today, we are going to show you three ways
you can humanize your sales/nurturing
process and show how each case study
achieved this.
Today’s focus

19. I. Ensure that you have the right
representation for the right conversation

20. #WebClinic
Version A
I. Right representation
• The use of a well-known, high-
ranking sender with a long-form
letter implies a mass, impersonal
email send

21. #WebClinic
I. Right representation
• The winning email hypothesized
(and confirmed) that a lesser-
known sender with a shorter,
briefer message would imply a
more believable, personal email
send
Version B

22. #WebClinic
I. Right representation
Not This But This
60%In Click-Rate
159%In Completion Rate

23. #WebClinic
I. Right representation
• In the case of a homepage,
however, the conversation is
not at a personal level yet
• Because of this, it makes the
most sense to use a more
known figure to help draw
someone into an introductory
conversation with the company

24. #WebClinic
I. Right representation
• In the case of a homepage,
however, the conversation is
not at a personal level yet.
• Because of this, it makes the
most sense to use a more
known figure to help draw
someone in to a introductory
conversation with the company.
“People don’t buy from companies, from
stores or from websites; people buy
from people. Marketing is not about
programs; it is about relationships.”
-The Marketer’s Creed, Article I

25. II. Ensure that you have the right tone
for the right conversation

26. #WebClinic
II. Right tone
• The losing email uses a tone that
reads very much like a formal
lecture
• This might make sense in other
marketing materials, but not email
Version A

27. #WebClinic
II. Right tone
• The winning email, however, takes
a tone that matches more closely
to the expectation of the medium
• In fact, it was designed to read like
a conversation and is true to the
style of the actual sender
Version B

28. #WebClinic
Experiment: Right tone
Background: A large event management online software provider.
Goal: To increase total lead inquiries (phone calls and form sign-ups) from visitors who
abandoned the free trial sign-up process.
Research Question: Which email tone will result in a higher rate of lead inquiries?
Test Design: A/B single-factor split test
Experiment ID: TP2083
Record Location: MECLABS Research Library
Research Partner: Active Network

29. #WebClinic
Experiment: Right tone
Subject Line: Your Free RegOnline Access
Dear [Name],
You’re just one step away from getting FREE access to RegOnline, our award winning Event
Registration and Management Software. Quickly make an event website, try our event
marketing tools, build a registration form template or even generate custom name badges.
Click here to finish your profile and get started. Your personal profile is kept secure and we
promise NEVER to sell or misuse your information.
Have questions? Call us direct at 1-800-XXX-XXXX -- we can even set up your free access over
the phone.
Sincerely,
Jon Powell
Customer Service Representative
RegOnline
Direct: 1-800-XXX-XXXX ext. XXXX
jon.powell@RegOnline.com
Control
• The Control email uses
typical sales tone of a
direct-response email

30. #WebClinic
Experiment: Right tone
Subject Line: Your Free RegOnline Access
Hi [First],
I noticed that you started the process of getting free access to RegOnline but weren’t able to
finish. Are you concerned about giving out your phone number? Are you worried about high
pressure sales tactics or mandatory contracts?
We believe our product sells itself, so we’re just here to provide you with whatever
assistance you need in getting your event up and running - in whatever way works best for
you. We promise NEVER to sell or misuse your information.
Call me direct at 1-800-XXX-XXXX and I can help get you rolling. If you’d rather just try again
online, use this link instead.
Thank you in advance for your trust!
Sincerely,
[Name of Representative]
Customer Service Representative
RegOnline
Direct: 1-800-XXX-XXXX ext. XXXX
[name]@RegOnline.com
Treatment
• The treatment directly
addresses the anxiety of
completing the process
• It takes on a categorical shift
in tone — from a direct-
response tone to a customer
service tone

31. #WebClinic
Design Inquiry Rate
Relative
Difference
Statistical
Significance
Control – Company-centric 1.58% - -
Treatment – Customer-centric 7.08% 349.41% 99%
Experiment: Right tone
Increase in Lead Inquiry Rate349%The service tone achieved a statistically significant increase in inquiries.

32. #WebClinic
Design Inquiry Rate
Relative
Difference
Statistical
Significance
Control – Company-centric 1.58% - -
Treatment – Customer-centric 7.08% 349.41% 99%
Experiment: Right Tone
Increase in lead inquiry rate349%The service tone achieved a statistically significant increase in inquiries
“Brand is just reputation;
marketing is just conversation, and
buying is an act of trust.”
-The Marketer’s Creed, Article II

33. III. Ensure that you have the right level
of clarity for the right conversation

34. #WebClinic
Version A
III. Right clarity
• The losing email asks donors to
blindly give without establishing
how donations will be used
• In addition, the calls-to-action
either omit the desired action or
are easily missed by being placed in
the middle of a long sentence

35. #WebClinic
III. Right clarity
Version B
• The winning email, however, walks
through why donations are needed
and how they will be used
• In addition, the call-to-action is
very clear and direct

36. #WebClinic
Background:
• Client: Good of All
• Email acquisition campaign with
traffic being driven from
Facebook
• Headline “talks down” to the
visitor
• Call-to-action focuses on what I
must do
Control
III. Right clarity

37. #WebClinic
Tested Elements:
• Copy is more clear and tells
the reader what they want to
know.
• The copy also addresses
reader as a “fellow world-
changer.”
• Call-to-action communicates
value: what I get and when
get it.
Treatment
III. Right clarity

38. #WebClinic
Control Treatment
133.7% increase
in conversion rate
III. Right clarity

39. #WebClinic
Enhancing Clarity
133.7% increase in names acquired
Version Conv. Rate Relative Diff Stat Confidence
Control 1.3%
Treatment 3.1% 133.7% 98.0%
Key Learning:
By communicating more clearly the value of the offer, rather than the
action required, the conversion rate improved by 133.7%
✓

40. #WebClinic
III. Right clarity
• In the case of a homepage, the
new visitor is still forming their
understanding of who the
company is and how it might be
able to serve them
• In this case, you want to ensure
that the potential customer is
aware that a figure they may
know and trust actually
founded the company and is
engaged in it

41. #WebClinic
III. Right clarity
• In the case of a homepage, the
new visitor is still forming their
understanding of who the
company is and how they might
be able to serve them.
• In this case, you want to ensure
that the potential customer is
aware that a figure they may
know and trust actually
founded the company and is
engaged in it.
“Testing trumps speculation and that
clarity trumps persuasion.”
-The Marketer’s Creed, Article III

42. SUMMARY

43. #WebClinic
Summary
FKey principles
1. People don’t buy from (or give to) companies, stores or websites; people
buy from people. Leverage this principle in your own marketing by making
your sales/nurture process the personification of a human relationship.
2. As detailed in today’s case studies, here are three ways you can humanize
your marketing:
1. Ensure that you have the right representation for the right conversation.
2. Ensure that you have the right tone for the right conversation.
3. Ensure that you have the right clarity for the right conversation.

44. #WebClinic
More from NextAfter.com
Find out which page won at:
http://tinyurl.com/nextafter

45. #WebClinic

46. LIVE OPTIMIZATION

47. #WebClinic
Live Optimization: Advantage Route Systems
Primary Audience: B2B
Page Purpose: Lead-gen, encourage
requests for free demo of accounting
software suite

48. #WebClinic
Live Optimization: EntirelyPets
Primary Audience: Conscientious pet
owners
Page Purpose: Ecommerce

49. #WebClinic
Live Optimization: EMercury
Primary Audience: B2B
Page Purpose: Lead-gen, email marketing
solution

50. #WebClinic
Live Optimization: Whistler Travel Insurance
Primary Audience: Canadian travelers
Page Purpose: Insurance sales

51. #WebClinic
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52. #WebClinic
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53. #WebClinic
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