From A to B

Erin "All She Does Is Win" Weigel joined Shiva to discuss UX principles / UX patterns, and how close they can be to supposed "best practices." Erin gave some pretty helpful tips on how to properly extrapolate UX patterns, and where they have downsides, but how you can still use them properly to optimize user experiences.

Erin doesn't like playing by ANYBODY'S rules... so be forewarned. Vibes were immaculate in this one.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start of Episode

Go follow Erin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erindoesthings/ ) - and go buy her book (https://erindoesthings.com/design-for-impact/)

If you have listener questions, submit them at https://tinyurl.com/askfromatob for a chance to be featured like the OG Certified Homie Sam Barber!

Gerda "The Koala" Vogt-Thomas joined Shiva to discuss a number of things related to politics in CRO and experimentation. A number of politic-related things are discussed, including in-house vs. agency-side politicking, and even removing "emotion" from the decision-making process to help get more buy in / reduce your own personal stress in CRO.

Also, Shiva somehow comes up with an analogy that CRO is like Jenga... and it low-key kinda works?

Timestamps:

00:00 Start of Episode

Go follow Gerda on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerda-vogt-thomas/) - and check out her company, Koalatative (https://koalatative.com/)

And go check out Hristian Kambourov's post: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-Hristian

Are CROs secretly just growth marketers? Maybe... but how do they work better with growth marketers? Shiva decided to understand this better by talking to marketing expert, and head of Demand Gen at Chili Piper, Tara "Ice Spice" Robertson.

In this episode, we discuss some pretty tactical activities on what makes Growth Marketers tick, and what things they care about (or don't care about). In addition, we look at things that are important to them, and how CROs can work better to solve their problems and create lasting, and fruitful, relationships with demand gen marketers. Plus, Tara shares maybe the worst test idea Shiva's ever heard of.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start of Episode

Go follow Tara on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/taraarobertson/) - she posts A+++ content!

And go check out Emily Kramer's post: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-Emily

Sam "The SEO Guy" and Shiva Manjunath discuss all things SEO and content in this episode of From A to B. Why is it that SEOs and CROs are fighting for resources... when in reality, they should be SHARING resources under a shared goal! In addition, they discuss things why page intent matters, and how CROs should be focused on this just as much as SEOs.

Timestamps:

00:00 Show Kickoff

Go check out everything Sam does on his website, (https://www.breakingb2b.com/) and go check out his podcast (https://open.spotify.com/show/1rJ7NqYMMsULgeIN9rjdG0)

In this episode of 'From A to B,' Shiva Manjunath and Stewart “The GOAT” Ehoff discuss how hard as hell it is to build CRO programs from scratch. They delve into the challenges faced by organizations at various stages, from initiating the first test to scaling up to 30 tests and beyond. They explore factors like company culture, data infrastructure, trust in the program, and resource allocation.

Timestamps:

00:00 Show Kickoff

Major shoutout to the CRO community for providing their thoughts on this topic:

Make sure you’re following all of them on LinkedIn, including Stewart!!!

Shiva hosts "Kingpin" Finn McKenty, a YouTuber with over 700,000 subscribers and 120 million views, to discuss the effective use of video in website optimization. Finn has extensive experience in product, but also knows how to geek it up with other CROers. Finn and Shiva discuss a number of topics, including how to track video success/quality on website, in addition to actually utilizing video properly.

(00:00) Episode Start

(5:35) What KPIs should we look at to determine video quality?

(11:54) Video wrappers need to do a better job of 'setting expectations' to improve their success

(19:11) Why can't B2B companies actually have fun in their marketing?

(28:10) Shit You Need to Know (Saeed K. )

Go check out Finn's website here to get in contact with : https://www.finnmckenty.com/

And go check out Saeed K.'s post here:

Are "best practices" in experimentation and CRO overrated? Or is there a legitimate use case for them? Talia "The wolf" Wolf and Shiva Manjunath discuss where 'best practices' fail, but also where can perhaps 'good' practices be utilized properly. In addition, are 'best practices' going the opposite direction of 'personalization'?

This episode was a banger.

(00:00) Episode Start

(2:45) What IS a "best practice"?

(8:40) Why do "best practices" exist?

(13:04) Are 'Shopify templates' just 'best practices'? Are they even valuable?

(23:15) Are 'best practices' anti-personalization?

(28:33) Shit You Need to Know (Moe Ali)

Go check out Talia's company here: https://getuplift.co/

Go check out all the CRO best practices here: https://crobestpractices.com/

And go check out Moe Ali's post here: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBMoe

Shawn "The Brawn" David joins Shiva to discuss all things bots in CRO and Experimentation. Specifically, what exactly is the difference between AI and Automation, what is exaggerated in AI/CRO, and where can we intelligently use the bots to give CROs' exoskeletons'. Plus, what are some red flags in vendors who sell AI CRO, and how to suss out if their tools are legit, or shit.

(00:00) Episode Start

(04:39) Exploring the Limits and Potential of AI in CRO

(13:05) AI in CRO - What is Hype, What is Reality?

(20:27) Harnessing AI for Efficiency, Not Replacement

(34:07) Shit You Need to Know (Chad Sanderson)

Go check out Shawn's company here: https://automatetowin.com/

Go check out all the CRO best practices here: https://crobestpractices.com/

And go check out Chad Sanderson's post here: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBChad

In this episode, Shiva and Eden Bidani discuss copy. Is it important?

Yes.

Yes it is. But specifically, they discuss bad examples of copy, the importance of differentiation in copy, and avoiding ways to use buzzwords and improve on clarity within CRO / copywriting. Plus, Eden gives an example of using ChatGPT for copywriting which legitimately leaves Shiva speechless (not clickbait - legitimately happened).

(00:00) Episode Start

(01:50) Fun Examples of Bad Copy

(07:13) The Role of Experimentation in Copy Optimization

(18:35) The Emotional Impact of Copy

(22:20) Eden Defends Her Stance of "Too Much Data Can Be Bad"

(29:05) Shit You Need to Know (David Gerhardt)

Go check out Eden on LinkedIn here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edenbidani/

And go check out Dave's post here: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoBDave

In this episode of From A to B, Shiva and Els "Bells" Aerts explore the balance between conducting research and running A/B tests in optimization efforts. Not everything SHOULD be tested, and in fact, research can play a critical role in companies trying to improve on their site optimization when testing isn't available, due to cost, or traffic volume. Finally, they discuss in this weeks "Shit You Need to Know" section... usability testing with older adults, emphasizing the importance of accessibility and consideration for various user demographics in optimization strategies.

(00:00) Episode Start
(03:40) The Role of Research in A/B Testing
(07:13) The Importance of Understanding Your Audience
(12:38) The Role of Stakeholders in Testing
(24:23) Shit You Need to Know (Nielsen Norman Group)

Go find Els here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elsaertsuserresearch/

This weeks "shit you need to know" comes courtesy of the Nielsen Norman Group - check out the link to their post here: https://tinyurl.com/FromAtoB-NN