MarketingSherpa.com

#1. The Agony of (and Lack of Data on) Choosing New Site Colors

These past two weeks, I've been in endless debates and design meetings trying to choose new colors for our revamped and expanded Web site over at http://www.MarketingSherpa.com.

If you've ever had to choose site colors, you'll understand completely. The three biggest problems:

(1) Everything's really subjective. What a color "means" can be personal or cultural, but it's not the same for everyone. Did you know baby girls wore blue and boys wore pink 150 years ago? Did you consider the green-means-money rule doesn't work outside the US?

(2) Everything looks slightly different on differing computers. Non-dithering hues notwithstanding, most people's screens look a little different. Laptops vs desktop monitors, old vs new screens, Macs vs PCs, varying background glare... the differences are not massive. But they are enough to make a pale brown appear to be pink.

(3) There's virtually no data on marketing and color.

I know because I checked our site's new Research Database, which has more than 1,800 records, for stats on color. Very little came up.

Turns out, you can find loads of articles on the Web about color choices. However, most are based on hearsay instead of lab tests, cultural associations and/or broad generalizations that don't help much when you've got a palate of hundreds of hues to choose from.

My next step was to check out our Case Study Library with nearly 750 Case Studies. Did anyone test color choices?

Well, yes, they did. However, results were disheartening to a marketer stuck in a design meeting. Aside from the twin factors of legibility and good taste (based on target demographic), color tests were *never* a big factor in improving conversion rates.

The important factors were invariably things such as:
o Traffic source
o Offer
o Specific words in copy
o Ease of navigation (including lack of distractions)
o Relevancy of images
o Trustworthiness
o Reading comprehension (type size, type color, background color)

The last item on the list nearly always resolved to fairly big type (11-12 points+), in black "ink" on a white background. So that's not color so much as eye-enablement.

So, you could say to yourself, well, since color doesn't matter like this other, far more important stuff, I'm not going to pay attention to it. Let's pick something quickly and end the debate.

Except for one thing: branding.

It's how I found myself in this pickle in the first place. If you check the Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/index.php) for 2000, you'll see Sherpa's first site colors were bright red and yellow. These were chosen non-scientifically because they are my absolute personal favorites.

However, nobody else liked them, so I was shanghaied a few years ago into picking new colors so MarketingSherpa's brand would feel more "corporate."

What's corporate? We ended up with red and gray. Which looked fine, if a bit boring to me. Unfortunately, red and gray also looked fine to a bunch of our competitors. If you're a color-sensitive person, Jupiter, eMarketer and MarketingSherpa all looked pretty much the same.

We needed a new color scheme to stand out from the fray. Our first choice, nicknamed 'Operation Desert Storm' was finally vetoed because sometimes a palette of khakis and dark red don't have thrilling associations.

Our second choice, nicknamed 'Kindergarten' was far more cheerful, but also vetoed because, well, you can guess why.

We actually went live last week with our third choice, 'Brownie.' And then too many people on staff complained the softer hues looked unpleasantly pink on older laptop monitors. (I got emails from folks with the words 'Pepto-Bismol' in the subject line.) Anyway, all of this is to explain, if you're in color choice meetings yourself, I feel your pain. Deeply.

And also, if you've been confused by the odd changes our site colors have been going through over the past few weeks (and days to come), this is why. Please bear with us. It will all be over soon, and then we can concentrate on the important stuff.

Anne Holland, President
Feedback(at)marketingSherpa(dot)com
MarketingSherpa, Inc

P.S. As always, our Case Studies and articles are open access for only a short time. Then, they go into SherpaLibrary. The links always remain the same.

#2. How Texas Instruments Centralized Its Global Email Marketing Into One Database

SUMMARY: If you're a behemoth B-to-B marketer like Texas Instruments, you probably have countless databases with global offices who are very territorial when it comes to their own data and each of them used to doing their own marketing thing.

What happens if management says to consolidate the databases and get all the email efforts talking the same language? The technical hurdles and the scheduling that follow will be immense, not to mention getting through the office politics. Includes eight tactics.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29876
(Open access until March 1st)

#4. How DRTV Achieved Double-Digit Annual Growth for Insurance Firm

SUMMARY: Direct response television isn't just about Ginsu knives and six-second abs anymore. The DRTV space has become a $182 billion industry and is being used by Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, General Motors and Procter & Gamble.

See how a respected Canadian insurance firm, which traditionally facilitated transactions via a network of agents, built their direct-to-consumer brand from scratch with DRTV as the centerpiece of a smart multichannel strategy.

Plus, five tips for novices interested in tapping into DRTV.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29875
(Open access until Feb. 28th)

#5. How Travel Site Enticed Consumers to Pay for Digital Content Downloads

SUMMARY: With niche travel growing and time-to-market becoming a challenge for traditional guide book publishers, one marketer wondered if paid digital products could bridge the gap between printed guide books and the massive amounts of content online already.

The question is: would customers be willing to open their wallets, and what kind of content made sense in a downloadable format?We've got the lowdown on what worked.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29878
(Open access until March 2nd)

#6. Etail Speech Take II: Three Ways to Lower Shopping Cart Abandons Based on MarketingSherpa Research

SUMMARY: MarketingSherpa President Anne Holland was poised to give a speech at eTail's West Coast Event. The topic: practical tactics to lower shopping cart abandons.

Then an ice storm hit the East Coast, and her plane never got off the ground. Undaunted, she's now posted the speech (including 10 PowerPoints and audio commentary) online for Sherpa readers. We also have posted a transcript of the presentation.

Features four *new* charts from Sherpa's upcoming Ecommerce Benchmark Guide 2007. The presentation is just under 12 minutes long.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29874
(Open access until Feb. 27th)

#7. PR Interview: How to Get Mentioned in Windows IT Pro Magazine

SUMMARY: 112,000 folks get Windows IT Pro. If you would like to see your company or product featured, find out how in our exclusive interview with Group Editorial Director Karen Forster. Quick tip: Never pitch the editors a story containing information you found on Microsoft Knowledge Base. Dumb but true. Some people have actually tried this.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=23777
(Open access until March 2nd)

#10. New Book Offer: 'Get Clients Now!'

What business owner wouldn't love a guide on adding clients? C.J. Hayden offers a 28-day flexible plan with tested strategies to build virtual relationships and get people's attention in an information-filled age. Her book has more than 100 tactics on topics, such as mastering cutting-edge methods and adapting appropriate techniques to the situation.

So, what's one of the many useful suggestions Hayden makes? Don't forget about prospects you already know, and mention your connection to them when composing your message. These people include your university's alumni, attended conferences' speakers and vendors serving your clients. Take advantage of these possibilities to get people to pay attention to what you have to say.

Also, be choosy when adding new tactics to your marketing plan. Hayden makes an important distinction. She explains that the Internet is not a marketing strategy but a medium encompassing multiple tested techniques. For instance, a teleclass is not much different from a live workshop.

Figuring out what marketing techniques to combine for a most effective plan is more prudent than attempting to include every innovation. Hayden suggests first figuring out your problem and then tackling the process of tactic choosing. If you desperately need to update your prospect list, a webinar won't do you much good since you won't have anyone to invite.

Hayden donated five copies for Sherpa to give away. Toss your name into the hat here to try for one:
http://sherpa.bookoffer.sgizmo.com
(Ends 03/04/07)

+ Last week's book offer:
These five lucky marketers will get their own copies of 'Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company' by John I. Todor:

Sonya Bachmann, Cib Group, Vaumarcus, SWITZERLAND
Richard Burckhardt, VP Search, FramesDirect.com, Austin, TX
Tom Hamilton, VP, Health For Everyone, Columbus, OH
Linda Napoli, CompuData, Philadelphia, PA
Donna Zelzer, Marketing Director, Midwifery Today, Eugene, OR

P.S. Did a friend send you this? for your own copy - it's award-winning, useful, and complimentary.

P.P.S. Got questions, comments, or ideas for editorial?
Email Editorial Director Tad Clarke at TadC(at)marketingsherpa(dot)com
or call Customer Service at (877) 895-1717 -- thanks!