A marketer explains why your ads aren't working: you're optimizing for beauty instead of conversions. He shares a client case where an intentionally ugly landing page crushed prettier versions, proving that copy and data matter more than design.
Want to be a better marketer? Adopt a direct response mentality. What do I mean by that? Direct response marketers don't care about aesthetics. It's beautiful. They don't care about what a landing page looks like. They don't care about design. What they care about is return on ad spend and if their copy, their creative, and their landing pages actually convert. I believe. Let me tell you a story. I was on a call with a guy the other day and he could not get out of his own way regarding the landing pages and the ads that he wanted to run for a campaign. Ultimately, I gave him an example of a client that we've been working with that we've spent millions of dollars with, and the landing page that we've tested and have had success with is literally the ugliest landing page that I've ever seen. Oh, ugly. However, he couldn't get out of his own way and wanted to continue to test and tweak and hire a designer, make it all aesthetic. That's great. It can work. It can convert well. But oftentimes pretty and beautiful isn't actually better for your bottom line. Instead of focusing so much on the design, on the UX, of a campaign. Become a direct response marketer and focus on the results. Data will tell us what performs better.
