From A to B

Don't know what the hell CRO and experimentation is? Trying to understand the basic concepts and process? We gotchu. Rommil "The Thrill" Santiago and Shiva Manjunath went into all the common topics, and we can even help you explain this to others who might not fully understand what you do in CRO. Please passive aggressively share this episode to people who don't understand CRO. I will fall on my sword for you. We got into:- Why CRO is seen as a Hail Mary (and why it SHOULDN'T be....)- CROs shouldn't exist. Because everyone should be doing CRO in some way- What the hell MDE really even is? And do you even need it? (Yes....yes you do)Go follow Rommil on LinkedIn:⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rommil/Go check out his book:https://www.experimentnation.com/prove-it-or-lose-itSign up for Experiment Nation (I'm there... he's there too I guess): https://www.experimentnation.com/Also go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content!⁠⁠https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/

Kelly Hopping, CMO at Demandbase and host of the NextGen CMO podcast, shares her extensive marketing expertise. She discusses the critical link between marketing efforts and pipeline metrics, emphasizing that senior leaders care more about business impact than details. Kelly shares how to effectively communicate results to gain buy-in and offers career pivot advice. She also highlights the importance of A/B testing versus qualitative research and provides tactics for CRO practitioners to align with executive priorities.

Finding clients is hard enough - finding GOOD ones? Feels damn near impossible. I enlisted the help of Tas Bober to help navigate this complex field of getting client work, and explored topics related to CRO/client work as well!We got into:- Bringing confidence to the client relationship (you don’t always have to cave in to EVERY little freaking thing they want you to do)- Running from bad clients when they don’t pass the vibe check (and how to find shitty clients BEFORE they pay you)- How to talk to clients (and stakeholders) appropriately without talking DOWN at them (hint: treat them like they’re children. It works.)Timestamps:00:00 Episode Start4:12 Detecting Client Red Flags BEFORE Signing A Contract With Them8:46 What To Do When A Client Gives You The ‘Ick’16:07 Importance of Setting (And Enforcing) Boundaries20:30 Setting Success Metrics for Engagement Upfront29:46 When “Leading With Data” Doesn’t Make Make Sense…?46:20 Tas’ BIGGEST Pro Tip (Don’t Just Skip To This Timestamp Ya Leetches)Go follow Tas Bober on LinkedIn:⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasbober/ ⁠Go check out her podcast "Notorious B2B": https://www.linkedin.com/company/notorious-b2b/posts/⁠Also go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content!⁠⁠https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/

People are finding websites more and more manipulative. And we don't mean this word lightly. Why is this the case? In large part, it's because of the shitty tactics people are using on sites. But really, it's because websites care far more about short term sales and metrics instead of focusing on LTV. And that leads to hacks, not long term gains. Made With Intent released a REALLY great report which went into detail on this, and I had the man, myth, and legend David "Zedd" Mannheim on the pod to chop it up to discuss that report (among other things). We got into:- Why People Feel Like Websites are Manipulative- How Popular 'Best Practice' Tactics Are Probably Hurting You Way More Than Helping- Tips and Tricks on Maximizing Your Popups (WITH DATA)Timestamps:00:00 Episode Start5:05  People Feel Websites Are Too Manipulative11:12 Websites Seem to Prefer Sales Over CX14:40 What Are Pop Ups Getting Wrong19:02 Marketers Are More Focused On Numbers Than Humans26:56 Does Social Proof Still Work In 202531:18 Scarcity Messaging35:55 Discounting Isn’t A Strategy42:02 Segmentation Is One Of The Most Important Things To Focus OnGo follow David Mannheim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidleemannheim/ Download the full report here (it's a REALLY good read):https://www.madewithintent.ai/the-intent-gap-report Also go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! ⁠https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/

We back out here with the amazing Emma Travis to dig into 'quality vs. quantity' when it comes to experimentation programs. The conversation Ben Labay keeps trying to force, but a bit more nuance to it. There is a time and place for quality. But there is a time and place for velocity and scaling your program up in terms of number of tests run. How do you know when to do it? And what are triggers to get you .... ahem.... From A to B. Emma "Biscuits and Gravy" Travis joined me on this episode to go DEEP into this topic. Emma was sick and still trooped through this episode - give her all the flowers!!!We got into:- When to focus on velocity vs. when to focus on ‘quality’ of experiment- Tips on auditing your program to know if you’re too focused on quality vs. quantity- Smart ways to focus on research when resources are limitedTimestamps:00:00 Episode Start3:57 Is Velocity Appropriate In Tracking Metric For Experimentation Maturity?9:23  Velocity Increase Doesn't Always Mean A Decline In Quality11:51  Experimentation Velocity Is Like Flying A Plane19:19 When To Scale Velocity Vs. When To Focus On Quality24:33 Run A Heuristic Audit Of Your Cro Program (*Bonus Points For Doing It In Miro)28:00 What Defines "Quality" In A Test?36:35 How Do You Communicate A Decline In Velocity Knowing You're Increasing Quality?40:35 Good Ways To Use Ai To Help You Speed Up Research Go follow Emma Travis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-travis/ Also go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/

In this episode, Rishi Rawat, a consultant specializing in copywriting for conversions, shares his insights on heuristic audits. He discusses the essential components that transform a mediocre audit into a valuable one. Rishi highlights the frequent shortcomings in current auditing methods and the crucial distinction between expert and non-expert evaluations. They also explore the importance of empathy in web design, understanding user emotions, and how these factors can significantly influence user experience and conversion rates.

Problematic stakeholders could be convinced if they... just got data. Right? Nope. Sometimes it's deeper than that. You gotta understand what makes them tick. Is it data? Is it optics? Maybe you should be running heuristic audits on your stakeholders instead of your website...In the second time EVER, someone else has changed my mind on something. Leave it to "Kingpin" Finn McKenty, who's apparently gone from Punk Rock MBA to Finn McKenty PhD, to change my mind.We got into:- How YouTubers are more data driven than your own CEO (lol)- Why you should be running heuristic audits not JUST on your website, but on the stakeholders you interact with (and tips to do so effectively)- Finn gives some general life advice on learning to let go (important when many product and CROs don't have autonomy to actually impact anything)Timestamps:00:00 Episode Start2:46  The analogy of CRO and "Gym" goes so deep6:25 Even YouTubers are data driven11:20 People who don’t buy into “experimentation” just optimize for different metrics than you14:28 Psychology of UXers vs. Product/CRO (Finn low key is a psychologist now)20:01 Running heuristic audits on… stakeholders? (yes - it’s a good idea)25:07 Optimization sometimes means optimizing for ‘helping people’ (not metrics)30:16 Sometimes, CROs gotta play the politics game35:13 Finn offers sage advice in learning how to let go (CROs need to hear this)49:06 Preach: Samuele MazzantiGo follow Finn McKenty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnmckenty/ And go subscribe to his newsletter:https://finnmckenty.beehiiv.com/ Go check out Samuele Mazzanti's post too: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-SamueleAlso go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/And go get your free ticket for the Women in Experimentation - you might even be entered to win some From A to B merch! : https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-WIE

Do you REALLY know what cookies are? Like really, REALLY know? What about GDPR? What about PII?I know the words. But what do they REALLY mean? I enlisted the help of Eddie "The Techie" Aguilar to help me simplify some of these complex topics, and help me create meaningful next steps on how to address PII concerns and other marketing-related issues in data collection. We got into:- Simplified definitions of cookies, data collection, GDPR, etc. (I'm stupid and like hearing things simplified from smart people)- First vs. Third part cookies (and what it means to your marketing program)- A/B testing and the importance of NOT collecting PII in your testing toolsTimestamps:00:00 Episode Start2:31 What is a Cookie?7:41 How Cookies Have Been Used Maliciously (Lack of Consent)9:51 First Party vs. Third Party Data13:11 Opting Out of Cookies (Explained)14:45 GDPR28:20 A/B Testing and Cookies37:30 PII and A/B testingGo follow Eddie Aguilar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whoiseddie/ Also go follow Shiva Manjunath on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/And go get your free ticket for the Women in Experimentation - you might even be entered to win some From A to B merch! : https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-WIE

It happens rarely, but somehow Linda was able to change Shiva's mind this podcast. And we got it ON THE RECORD. What did she change his mind on? Linda "The Winna" Bustos brought some compelling conversation to the fact that company CAN differentiate in 'cookie cutter' websites (e.g. Shopify) in really, really creative ways. We got into: - The importance of copy when you're using a generic 'cookie cutter site' (e.g. Shopify templates)- Letting your brand shine through to help you differentiate (including some hilarious examples of how some brands have accomplished this)- Cool trends Linda has been seeing in ecom spaceTimestamps:00:00 Episode Start2:58  Shopify Is Basically A "Paint By Numbers" Website Generator7:41  Using Shopify When Your Product Truly Is Unique9:53  Tips On Stand Out From The Crowd On Product Pages12:40  Mattresses Is An Industry To Keep An Eye On18:56 Shiva Glazing Liquid Death (For A Good Reason Though)21:23  Other Creative/Creative Brands Which Have Done Cool Shit27:44 Make Your Copy Memorable (And Palace Has Amazing Copy)30:30 How Do Luxury Brands Differentiate?36:01  Product Finders Can Be A Differentiator41:03 Do Better Competitor Comparison ChartsGo follow Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindabustos/And check out her website Ecom Ideas: https://ecomideas.com/Also go follow Shiva on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/If you have listener questions, submit them at https://tinyurl.com/askfromatob for a chance to be featured too!

Do product/CRO people REALLY know well? There may be some Dunning Kruger happening, and maybe we really don't get why they keep complaining about our initiatives. Spoiler: Many times, they have a VERY legitimate point! Who better than the freaking VP of Nielsen Norman Group "Checkmate" Kate Moran to come dish all the things we're getting wrong about UX, and how to better work together. We got into: - What product teams/CRO can learn from UX, and vice versa- Why product teams really need to focus on longer term relationships with the customer (and not chasing short term gains)- Amazing (and not so amazing) use cases for AI in UX Timestamps:00:00 Episode Start1:52 How Does UX View Experimentation / CRO?6:51 What Are The Biggest Problems UX Faces As An Industry?13:03 What Can CROs/Product Learn from UX (And Vice Versa)17:22 UX/Product Share This In Common: No One Knows What The Fuck We Do20:55 AI in UX - DON’T (!!!) Blindly Trust It26:56 What Is “Google Gullibility”? 30:51 Context Matters in UX38:05 Shiva Is Kinda Agegist (My Bad lol)Go follow Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-m-moran/ And check out Nielsen Norman's new live online courses!https://www.nngroup.com/training/live-courses/ Also go follow Shiva on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-manjunath/⁠Subscribe to our newsletter for more memes, clips, and awesome content! https://fromatob.beehiiv.com/If you have listener questions, submit them at https://tinyurl.com/askfromatob for a chance to be featured too!