does fear-based marketing work: how one company saw a $45 million increase in revenue by changing...

Does Fear-based Marketing Work?How one company saw a $45 million increase in revenue by changing their messaging tone

Today’s speakers

Austin McCrawSenior Director,

Content Production,MECLABS Institute

Ken BowenManaging Editor,

MarketingExperiments

Background: Internal experiment to test Twitter messaging approaches.

Goal: To increase clickthrough to the Executive Series download page.

Research Question: Which tweet will generate the highest clickthrough rate?

Test Design: A/B split

Experiment ID: Internal Social Media TestRecord Location: MECLABS Research LibraryCompany: MECLABS Institute

Experiment: Background

Experiment: Tweet Version A

Version A Version B

Experiment: Tweet Version B

Version BVersion A

Experiment: Which tweet will win?

Version A Version B


Version BVersion A

41% increase clickthrough rate

Design Clickthrough Rate % Rel. ChangeLevel of

Confidence

Version A 0.249% -

Version B 0.352% 41.0% 99%

Relative increase in clickthrough41%The Treatment significantly increased clickthrough by 41%

Experiment: Results


Version A Version BVersion BVersion A

41% clickthrough rate

Why?

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Does negative marketing really work?

Today, we will review two key principles discovered from experimenting across several negative

marketing campaigns and how these insights can help you employ the right tone in your efforts.

Today’s focus

Does fear-based marketing work?

1. The most effective marketing campaigns leverage value rather than cost to generate buying momentum. Our goal is to draw the customers toward value, rather than push them away from cost.

Key principles

The exchange fulcrum

Learn more: meclabs.com/education

http://www.meclabs.com/education


Version BVersion A

41% increase clickthrough rate

Leveraging the cost of ignoring the insight

Leverages the value of the insight

Experiment: Which travel insurance messaging will win?

Version BVersion A

330% increase in conversion

Leveraging the cost of not being careful

Leveraging the true value of this organization

Background: Net security corporation wants to increase customer retention.

Goal: To reduce churn rate for auto renew customers.

Research Question: Which approach to customer relationships will produce the lowest churn rate?

Test Design: Change in messaging approach.

Experiment ID: N/ARecord Location: MarketingSherpa Case Study LibraryCompany: Symantec

Case Study: Background

Case Study: Background

Read more: marketingsherpa.com/symantec

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/symantec

Case Study: The customer


• B2C users of the Norton digital protection suite of products.

• For this campaign, Symantec was specifically targeting auto-renewal customers.


Case Study: Customer pain points


• Customers are increasingly concerned about threats and the threat landscape as data breaches are picked up by media –Target, Sony, etc.

• Though they are aware of the threat, they are not educated on it and not sure how to best protect themselves.

“[Customers are] becoming increasingly aware of threats and the threat landscape, especially as more and more high-profile data breaches, hacks and threats swarm the media."

Solange DeschatresGlobal Sr. Manager, Content Marketing

Strategy & Storytelling, Symantec


Case Study: The challenge


Like most security companies, Norton’s creative and marketing has historically relied on threats and fear.

"We promote breaches and attacks and the need to protect oneself from cyber criminals. I think as a marketing challenge, this tends to disassociate the

customer from the brand.”

Sherri Chien, Director of Content Strategy & Storytelling,

Symantec


Case Study: Campaign


• Symantec wanted to create the “stickiness” of a real relationship between brand and customer.

• Humanized the relationship between Norton and auto-renewal customers by offering empowering content that would educate customers instead of just messaging that would scare them.

• Built out a new cyber Norton Lounge – designed to be the digital equivalent of a frequent flyers lounge – that moved away from messaging that preyed on customer fears and went toward messaging that allowed customers to associate Norton with living their digital life with confidence.


Case Study: The Norton Lounge


“Living Well Online”


Case Study: Fear vs. Customer-empowerment



“A Computer is a Weapon”


Case Study: The winner



• Auto-renewal churn decreased by 3% with the new messaging approach.

• Per Symantec, each 1% increase in retention rate is equal to $15 million in net annual revenue.

• $45 million in annual net revenue derived from the Norton Lounge.


Case Study: The winner



• Auto-renewal churn decreased by 3% with the new messaging approach.

• Per Symantec, each 1% increase in retention rate is equal to $15 million in net annual revenue.

• $45 million in annual net revenue derived from the Norton Lounge.

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt


1. The most effective marketing campaigns leverage value rather than cost to generate buying momentum. Our goal is to draw the customers toward value, rather than push them away from cost.

2. The most effective marketing campaigns focus on the impact of action, rather than the result of inaction. Our goal is to create positive (not negative) momentum in the psychology of our customer’s.

Key principles

Does fear-based marketing work?

91% increase in downloads

Experiment: Which life insurance messaging will win?

Version B

Version A

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CaringBridge Needs Your HelpMake Sure Deborah is Not Alone This Holiday Season

Your contributions to Deborah’s journal this year made sure that they never felt alone. Your tax-deductible donation in Deborah’s honor will make sure that CaringBridge continues to bring hope and healing to those who need it most.

Donate Now

Version BVersion A

31% decrease in donations

Experiment courtesy of our friends at NextAfter.com

Experiment: Which illness-based messaging will win?

Experiment: Which child safety messaging will win?

Headline A

Does a sexual offender live your neighborhood?

Identify Registered Sex Offenders Living Near You


Headline B

Experiment: Which child safety messaging will win?

Headline A

Does a sexual offender live your neighborhood?

Identify Registered Sex Offenders Living Near You


Headline B

“Empathy is the essence of the marketer's intuition. Empathy enables the marketer

to identify with the market and experience its desires.”

– Flint McGlaughlin

Review of Key Principles

1. The most effective marketing campaigns leverage value rather than cost to generate buying momentum. Our goal is to draw the customers toward value, rather than push them away fromcost.

2. The most effective marketing campaigns focus on the impact of action, rather than the result of inaction. Our goal is to create positive (not negative) momentum in the psychology of our customer’s.

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