We talk a lot about stories here at Neuromarketing, for one reason: our brains love stories, which makes them a powerful tool for marketers. Influence expert Danny Brown (@DannyBrown) hits on a key aspect of successful stories in Why the Human Story Will Always Beat Brand Storytelling. (For more story stories, see Your Brain on Stories, and other story posts.)
Need to focus on Conversion Rate Optimization, but aren’t sure where to start or exactly what’s involved? Let Paddy Moogan (Paddy Moogan) show you in A 5-Step Framework for Conversion Rate Optimization. This Moz post is long, detailed, and worth bookmarking.
Nobody knows content marketing better than Ann Handley (@MarketingProfs) , and here’s another example of her site’s own great content. Jonathan Long (@MDMSEO) describes Eight Ways to Capture Your Readers’ Attention (and Keep Them Coming Back!). It’s a brief checklist of best practices – are you missing any in your own content process?
If there’s anyone who knows how to design a perfect landing page, it’s Bryan Eisenberg (@TheGrok). Bryan share a great slide deck: Developing a High Converting Landing Page {Slideshare}. Subscribe to Bryan’s blog there, and then move on to Slideshare for the fully annotated version of the preso.
Quick, what kind of page converts best – a short, simple landing page, or a super-long squeeze page that takes up a dozen or more screens? The answer is, “It depends.” Sherice Jacob (@sherice) helps you pick the best approach for your situation Size Matters: The Long and Short of Conversion Marketing. Includes some nice A/B test examples with actual conversion results.
We all know we should be doing lots of content marketing. But, creating great content takes time and money. Lee Odden (@leeodden) shows how to maximize the impact of your content spend in Modular Content – Creative Repurposing for Content Marketing.
First impressions count. On the Web, they are even more important than in person since visitors decide in milliseconds whether they like and trust the site. Most of that first impression is based on subconscious cues rather than your brilliant headline and copy. At Copyblogger (@copyblogger), writer Vanessa Van Edwards (@vvanedwards) tells you how to get off to the right state with your visitors in 6 Nonverbal Hacks for Your Website So it Captures Attention and Converts.
My stuff
Here’s an instant classic of the kind Neuromarketing readers love: a research finding that is unexpected and not necessarily logical, but is actionable from a marketing and personal branding standpoint. The title gives it away, but get the details in Why Your Middle Initial Makes You Smarter.
Who is the father of neuromarketing? The DNA test results aren’t in yet, but that honor is frequently attributed to Dr. David Lewis (@DrDavidLewis1). Find out the fascinating story in Episode 6 of The Brainfluence Podcast, Shopper Science, Big Data, and Neuromarketing with Dr. David Lewis.
I finally released my speaking engagement trailer – see New Speaker Video. Big thanks to David Vogelpohl (@davidvmc) of Marketing Clique who hosted the event, and to Austin’s Capital Factory who provided the (comparatively) intimate venue for it. And, if you know anyone looking for a keynote speech that combines business savvy and brain science, send ’em to Roger Dooley – Speaking Engagements for more information.
Miss last week’s picks? Positive Results from Negative Thinking, Naps, Checkout Psychology… has a distinctly Austin flavor. From the power of naps to how thinking negatively can produce positive results, there’s brainy content for every taste. As usual, some good conversion and UX content, too.
Weird/Wonderful
Lucid dreaming – the kind of dream in which you know you are dreaming and that you can control – is something many strive for but few attain. A new study shows lucid dreaming can be artificially induced through a scalp stimulator. Susannah Locke (@susannahlocke) shares the details in Scientists find switch for people to control their dreams.
Find any content worth sharing this week? Let Neuromarketing readers know in a comment!
The Eisenberg slides are confusing. Much of the discussion is based on concepts that aren’t properly explained like “scent.”
That’s the problem with slide decks, Ann. My slides are mostly images, single words and phrases, etc. – not too useful by themselves. Bryan did provide slide notes at the bottom, but they aren’t too detailed. I guess I’ve seen Bryan and Jeffrey present enough that I could fill in some of the blanks! Scent, by the way, is the concept that a visitor searching for a product or solution needs to be able to follow the “scent” from page to page. You don’t want to guide the visitor to clicking and then leave them confused as to where to go next. (That’s probably an oversimplification.)
Great post, you never fail to amaze. I created my landing page through the old trial and error and I’m pretty happy with it now. Thanks for sharing.