Discovering the most effective messaging and positioning is crucial for crafting an effective value proposition, and then incorporating that vision into larger marketing campaigns. Website optimization offers marketers a chance to test these elements of value, and to use these results to isolate which products, messages and campaigns truly resonate with their audience.

As such, we asked respondents the following question …

Q: Does your organization use lessons learned from your website optimization efforts to make changes to your offline campaigns or other marketing communications?

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Website optimization appears to have a positive effect on other marketing operations, as 70% of those surveyed reported they use website optimization lessons to inform offline campaigns and other marketing communications.

Here are some thoughts to consider as you study this data …

Why do more marketers not use website optimization findings to improve overall marketing efforts?

While the 70% seen above is a significant total, we learn from subsequent data in the 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report that marketers who have reached more advanced levels of optimization practices are 57% more likely to assimilate lessons from optimization testing protocols into offline campaigns and broader messaging.

If you do not yet utilize website optimization results to improve your offline efforts, what is preventing you from doing so? Are you unable to interpret the results? Do you lack the internal political power or approval authority to use such information in offline channels? Or, do you simply worry online discoveries may not transfer to an offline audience who might have different motivations?

If you do use online testing to inform offline channels, has online testing served as a cost-effective way to produce more effective marketing in expensive offline channels? Have the real-time, real-world insights you have gained from online testing allowed you to affect other areas of the company, such as product development and customer service?

Have you honed your overall customer theory through website optimization efforts?

When using validated test data, website optimization can offer insight into your customers’ inner motivations, meaning you might be leaving money "on the table" when choosing to omit these insights from other marketing initiatives.

What types of information about customers have you gleaned from website optimization efforts? Has this information allowed you to improve your offline marketing? Have website optimization discoveries allowed you to better convey your value proposition in offline channels?

For more information about website optimization, be sure to download the free excerpt from the 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report. And, be sure to share your own analysis in the MarketingSherpa LinkedIn Group for a chance to be published in a future blog post

Useful links related to this research

Offline and Online Optimization: Cabela’s shares tactics from 51 years of offline testing, 7 years of digital testing

Digital Marketing: Understanding customer sentiment

Customer Theory: How we learned from a previous test to drive a 40% increase in CTR

The State of Website Optimization in 2012

Combining Offline and Online Marketing: How HP built relationships, boosted sales 2,050%