Opting in to Ecommerce Optimization - Episode 219

INTERVIEW WITH JON MACDONALD

DESCRIPTION

In today’s podcast, we are talking with Jon MacDonald about his second book, Opting in to Optimization: How Successful Ecommerce Brands Convert More Customers, Increase Profits, and Create Raving Fans. We are discussing the 9 “laws” defined in it as well as how they relate to a brand’s maturity.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

Jon MacDonald is founder of The Good, a conversion rate optimization firm that has achieved results for some of the largest online brands including Adobe, Nike, Xerox, The Economist, and more. Author of two books on conversion optimization, he regularly contributes content to publications like Entrepreneur and Inc. He knows how to get website visitors to take action.

“Optimization starts with understanding the customer experience and working to improve that.”

— Jon MacDonald

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jon’s latest book is called Opting in to Optimization: How Successful Ecommerce Brands Convert More Customers, Increase Profits, and Create Raving Fans - a number 1 best seller on Amazon in three different categories.
The first book Jon published - Stop Marketing, Start Selling: Your Guide to Doubling Online - was more about tactics, about how to optimize your site.
A gap in optimization and ecommerce more generally - the second book is more about how you should be thinking, what the mindset needs you need to have in order to be successful.
The book covers 9 “laws” of optimization, some of which are the most counter-intuitive for brands:
- You can’t read the label from inside the jar - outside parties need to evaluate the site, you are too close to it.
- Competition is a distraction - if you start looking around, you’ll veer off course; you need to focus on what’s right for you and your visitors.
Helping the consumer to do their research and then convert as quickly and easily as possible should be a goal for both sides of the equation.
If you try to match competitors or what is supposedly the industry average, you’re going to be aiming for something that is either unattainable or taking your eye off the short-term.
In the book Jon talks about the fact that there’s no one “good” conversion rate - in reality, it’s one that’s always improving. All you should focus on are incremental improvements.
This can also be extended to other highly legible metrics like ROAS or ACoS. The fact is these are pretty blunt instruments, but because they are highly visible and easy to measure, they attract more focus.
Every metric needs to be looked at holistically with what’s going on around them. Most brands come to us when they have a conversion issue, but we almost always find that the issue leading to it can be tracked by a different metric.
If you’re trying to make a case to your executive leader, you need to come in with more than one metric, but there’s no quick way to increase your conversion overnight. You need to be looking for sustainable solutions.
Although Jon’s focus is on a brand’s DTC site, a lot of the advice in the book also extends to optimizing an Amazon channel:
- When marketers write product descriptions, they often sell the lifestyle or overall brand vision of the company but not how the particular product meets the visitor’s individual needs.
- Everyone wants to fight on pricing, but that’s not optimization, it’s a race to the bottom.
- Think about ways to do an offer or promotion that is not a dollar/percentage off. Instead, add something in terms of value, like free gifts with purchase, buy one get one, or bundling.
Bobsled’s research around what Amazon “maturity” looks like - a model that accounts for engagement of the brand around their Amazon channel and the overall investment in growth opportunities.
A lot of brands go for quick fixes, and the more mature you get, you realize there are no quick fixes. In order to be sustainable, you need to be thinking about customer experience.
Jon’s definition of ecommerce maturity is having the 9 laws and following the mindsets from Opt in to Optimization, in which the laws are ordered as a ladder to maturity.
Jon recently changed his mind about being a fan of LeBron James.
Jon is excited that the focus is back on the customer experience on brands’ websites as a key way of differentiating themselves.
The Good is a conversion optimization firm that helps improve the on-site experience of your customers.