Friction can be described as anything that causes psychological resistance to a given element on a web page. And if you took a good look at your online donation page, you’ll find it is riddled with it. This entertaining workshop will help you to identify the donation-killing friction on your web site and implement strategies to limit it.
It may work for a campaign, but it’s not the way to build a long-term financial relationship with someone: “Using digital analytics, Team Obama was likewise able to squeeze every last cent out of supporters in ways unimaginable only four years ago.”
The Obama campaign succeeded online in part by taking an obvious step. They tested:
Any time you received an email from the Obama campaign, it had been tested on 18 smaller groups and the response rates had been gauged. The campaign thought all the letters had a good chance of succeeding, but the worst-performing letters did only 15 to 20 percent of what the best-performing emails could deliver. So, if a good performer could do $2.5 million, a poor performer might only net $500,000. The genius of the campaign was that it learned to stop sending poor performers.
I wouldn’t call it genius, but too few marketers do it.
Patrick Ruffini says the GOP needs to focus on what works, not what consultants say works. And that requires a new mindset:
Operatives — even digital ones — need to be willing to subject everything they do to randomized experiments to show what’s working and what isn’t. (If we did, we’d likely never hear another GOTV robocall again.) The top performers may not be the ones who hit on the first try — but those who can tweak and adjust to achieve the best result over the long run. In a political industry known for its brashness, the key to success moving forward may be an introspective and intellectually curious mindset that comes with constant testing and refinement.