you might also be interested in that.” So you’re speaking directly to what someone’s already shown an interest in . whether just at the micro level − “I’m just browsing” − or especially at the . “I’ve purchased this . and now . as we all know . I’m much more likely to purchase again .
especially in the short term.” Dan Levy:
Right. You also talk about a case study where customizing on-site display ads resulted in a percent increase in click-throughs for the company Visual Website Optimizer. Can you unpack that one for us Aaron Orendorff: Oh . I love this one . yes. This is such a nugget .
especially for anybody who’s trying to
recruit folks and find the right people. So what Visual Website Optimizer wanted to do was hire new developers in India specifically. So they used behavioral tracking and geo-tracking to isolate where their visitors were coming from. And they just did a really simple split test where half the visitors from India who went to their homepage got no display ad .
and the other half got this − oh . it’s great − this tiny . little − if you can go to the blog and see it . it just says . “We’re hiring in Delhi .” with a smiley face after it . and not even a real smiley face . just an emoticon.
And it’s just that simple − I mean . it’s
smaller than their headline. It’s smaller than their button. It doesn’t even necessarily look like a button. And yet . that drove that percent increase to the company’s careers page. I mean . just that specificity of . “You’re here .
and we’re talking directly to you .” pays off immensely.
Dan Levy: So is that one of the tricks for combatting banner blindness . you know . make your display ads not actually look like display ads . make them look more conversational . look like regular copy Aaron Orendorff: Yeah . almost like an instant message or something you would see on a Facebook .
and especially because it’s got the specificity that’s . you know . it’s like when I hear my own name . my brain responds differently than when I hear other people’s names. It’s an instinctual response . or even just like − I always think of this as sort of like the . “Thank you .
Delhi .” from a concert where everybody goes nuts .
even though the band just said their city’s name . and they know they do this at every city . but they still love it. Dan Levy: Right. They’re reading it off the set list on the floor because they’re − Aaron Orendorff: Exactly .
yeah. Dan Levy: Right . yeah. It’s funny. You see that tactic done in a sleazy way a lot where display ads . but when you see something that looks like a flashing message from Facebook or something. But . in this case . they’re using that sort of tactic .
but in a way that makes sense in the context of the site in that it’s targeted to users who actually find it relevant. Aaron Orendorff: Yes . and one important word . both targeted and
