One of my favourite authors and marketers, Bryan Eisenberg, is coming to Stockholm to speak at Internet Marketing Conference in September, so I decided to ask him a few questions.

Bryan, you’re the author of Always Be Testing, Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing. Are you currently writing on any book, or are you focusing on spreading knowledge through presenting all over the world?

We are working on numerous ways to share our knowledge across the globe including speaking, mentoring, teaching through MarketMotive and yes, we are working on a revised version of Always Be Testing that will spend more time looking at the organizational issues holding companies back from successfully having a data-driven optimization culture.

What can we expect from your keynote at IMC Stockholm in September?

I always believe every presentation must inform and entertain. So expect something that gives you insight into how customer behavior is changing and what, as organizations, we can do to be prepared to keep up with them.

It was fun to help out with IMC New York, and co-locating it with your Future Now courses, back in 2008. What do you expect from IMC in 2011, and how (if in any regard) do you think Stockholm will differ from other locations where you have spoken?

It was fun working together to bring our content together to attendees back in my home town of NYC. This time I look forward to exploring a city I just got to know a little bit after my first visit last year. I found the people quite knowledgeable and open to learning about advanced optimization topics, and I look forward to sharing this new presentation there.

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Tip from Lars! If you’re planning on attending IMC Stockholm, why not buy a combo ticket for IMC and eMetrics? If you buy it through the eMetrics website and use the code INUSEINSIGHTS011 you get a 15% discount. Speakers at eMetrics Stockholm include Stéphane Hamel, Jim Sterne, Brian Clifton, and Steve Jackson.

If you want to hear more from Bryan Eisenberg, listen to the podcast I made with him (and a few others) about testing.

I’ve interviewed Stéphane Hamel, Cardinal Path, about his upcoming presentation at eMetrics Stockholm in September.

Tell those who, unlike me, don’t know you a little about yourself.

It could be a long story! I started nearly 25 years ago as a software developer, analyst, system administrator and DBA for a research project—with access to the Internet. When the web came out, I had the chance to install a server so we could document our research, and I naturally looked at log files—just like any other IT system.

Be it in my days at the Montreal Stock Exchange, at Softimage, a break-through 3D animation software company, at Bombardier Recreational Products manufacturing, or Desjardins financial & insurance services, and many others, I gained experience listening to business requirements and striving to come up with original, yet optimal and realistic, solutions.

To strengthen my skills I completed an eBusiness MBA, and on top of my role as Director of Strategic Services at Cardinal Path I also teach a graduate-level course on digital analytics from a managerial perspective, have been tutoring the UBC web analytics program for years, do R&D on both the technical and conceptual aspects of web analytics: WASP (now owned by iPerceptions), gaAddons, the Online Analytics Maturity Model (OAMM for short)… I served on the Web Analytics Association board of directors, I’m quite active in the web analytics community on Twitter, Google+ and locally.

You’re going to talk about your Online Analytics Maturity Model. What compelled you to create it, and why should organizations use it?

It was a coincidence based on two things: first, there was a debate amongst my peers about whether web analytics was hard or not—a topic that surfaced again in the last couple of days! Second, I was completing my MBA and was looking for a good topic. At first, the University asked me if I could create a course on web analytics, but I asked to spend more time and looked into why so many organizations are failing at web analytics while some of them really become analytical competitors, as Tom Davenport would put it. I did interviews, leveraged my own experience as a practitioner and consultant, looked at other disciplines such as marketing, finance, business analysis, business intelligence, etc. It turned into a much better course and a proposal for the OAMM.

Models are no magic, they are imperfect and evolve over time, and that’s OK. That being said, OAMM is an incredible opportunity to take a step back and think about your, and your organizations’, strengths and weaknesses. Lots of people would like to use it as a benchmark, but I recommend doing an introspection before looking at others. Engage your managers and business stakeholders in the process, and use it as a change management tool and a great way to spark discussions!

Who should listen to your presentation?

I would be tempted to say “everyone”! From junior analysts, to senior executives, the concepts exposed in the OAMM will help web analysts better understand how they are contributing to the overall business, and executives will get a better grasp on why the web analyst role is really one of change agent.

What role does eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit play in the field of web analytics and testing?

eMetrics is the must attend event for anyone in the field. eMetrics is our de-facto industry event, and the official event of the WAA where practitioners, consultants, vendors and anyone gravitating around our field get together. I first attended in 2007 and I’ve since been every year, speaking over 15 times in San Francisco, Washington, Toronto, London, Paris and for the first time, Stockholm!

At eMetrics I met people who inspired and helped me in my crazy projects: Jim Sterne, Avinash Kaushik, and Bryan Eisenberg. I met people who I’m now closely involved with at Cardinal Path: John Hossack, Alex Langshur, and Justin Cutroni. I met some of the 700+ students I tutored at UBC over the years, and I met clients and prospects. In fact, I’ve met so many people that I should stop here!

You have spoken at eMetrics in many locations, and been a key driver for eMetrics Toronto. What do you hope to get out of eMetrics Stockholm?

The challenges we face in our web analytics practices are pretty much universal. Sharing my work in Stockholm is a great opportunity to continue to gather feedback from the field that will contribute and encourage me to continue working on this long and tedious project. Of course, in the same vein as the previous question, I’ll get to meet people I’ve only met virtually and renew with old acquaintance: yourself, Brian Clifton, Steve Jackson, and many others.

So, once and for all, is web analytics hard or easy, and should we talk about marketing optimization or business optimization?

Building a cathedral during the middle ages was hard, landing on the moon was hard and complex, resolving the economic crisis is pretty darn hard… Running a business is hard. As analysts who are supposed to measure and optimize; analyze a complex business environment and processes, we’re not very credible if we keep running around complaining our job is hard! Go ahead, ask anyone at your workplace if their job is hard—any disciplines—from the guy sweeping the floor at night up to senior executives. Guess the answer! (Hint: if they don’t say it’s hard.. they should be fired!)

Yes, indeed, web analytics is hard when we don’t address and keep a balance between the six critical process areas exposed in the OAMM! So, is web analytics easy? Maybe not, and that’s why our field is so interesting! Stop complaining and do something about it today! Register for eMetrics Stockholm!

Marketing optimization or business optimization? I believe our job as analysts is to understand a business context, get the facts— the data, understand the process, and come up with the most optimal and realistic recommendations (and yes, creativity plays a role in here too!) That begins with our ability to understand our own job and the process of doing analytics. Next, you’ll certainly agree marketing is a process..

Voilà! I prefer to think in terms of business optimization just as much as I think of analytics rather than the more narrowly focused “web analytics.”

Believe me, the future is bright for analytics and business optimization!

I’ve been a big fan of the work of Paras Chopra and crew since they took their first baby steps with Visual Website Optimizer. Today, thousands of people across the world use the product. I should have done it earlier, but finally I’ve taken the time to interview Paras.

First of all, congratulations to making such a great tool in such short time. Your work has impressed me since the early days of Visual Website Optimizer. How many customers do you have now?

We do not reveal the exact number of customers, although we do reveal the total number of accounts that have been created so far (both trial and paid). The figure exceeds 10,000 now.

I read in an interview that you said to focus on market first, not idea. Could you elaborate on how you have done that?

As an individual, I had no background in web analytics and optimization. I hadn’t worked in this capacity at any previous employer. So when I chose to start my own company, I made a list of all markets that had an open opportunity. A/B testing is the market I thought needed disruption. So, in essence, I didn’t begin with A/B testing as an idea, but rather as a market, which needed a better tool.

From writing first line of code, how long did it take you to get a commercial version of Visual Website Optimizer on the market?

The beta, with just a couple of features, took about two months of writing code on weekends and on evenings—after I got back from my day job. From beta to final paid plans, it took about five months (50% of it was part-time, and 50% full-time, work).

I believe you where the first to introduce a simple WYSIWYG editor for creating tests, though I could be wrong. Since then alternatives like Optimizely and Reedge have popped up. Why should someone who’s selecting a testing tool today choose Visual Website Optimizer?

There are some alternatives available in the market today, and it is good because they recognize the concept of visual A/B testing that we made popular. So, in a way, this validates our product. However, since WYSIWYG editors will become common in all testing solutions out there, it won’t be the only differentiation. We differentiate ourselves in four ways:

1) Customer support. The engineers who actually work on the product provide our support. So, it is top-notch, and always to-the-point. Our customers love the support we provide, and we know many of our customers by name now. That is the level of closeness we have with our customers.

2) Focus on educating the market. Without knowing what to test, an A/B testing tool is worthless. So, it is our job to come up with tools, articles, and case studies that help our customers design the right kind of variations in a test. That’s how they successfully increase conversions and sales. We want to tell them what to test so that they maximize the chance of a successful result.

3) Ease of use. In the last year, we have brought many interesting features: heat maps, segmentation, revenue tracking, etc. However, with all these powerful features we haven’t sacrificed our basic philosophy of usability and ease of use. In fact, we keep getting better at it. Only last month, we did a complete revamp of VWO user interface and made it even easier to use.

4) Going beyond testing towards targeting and analytics. We won’t just stop at testing. There are many interesting products and modules that we are currently working on, that will provide immense value in addition to testing. These modules and products will be integrated with VWO.

Your company, Wingify, is not just about Visual Website Optimizer—what share of development hours do you put into other products?

Currently, all of our focus is on VWO, however, we are starting to build other relevant products and features. Our company vision of helping businesses make more money online is broad enough to make great tools in many other relevant industries.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced with Wingify and/or Visual Website Optimizer? How did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge is press noticing your company. Since we are bootstrapped (no VC/angel funding), and are not in a hot industry like daily deals or social gaming, getting press notice us is always a big challenge. We try to prove ourselves worthy of coverage by citing all the success our customers have seen and how we are able to confidently compete with big solutions out there (like Google and Omniture).

Another big challenge is hiring. Our standards are very high, and we hire only the best software engineers, meaning that interviews and evaluation can take a lot of time. Right now we are a team of 6 people, but want to grow to 10–12 people within next two months.

Finally, what tip would you like to give to other entrepreneurs?

As you mentioned, I am a big believer in the market-based approach to choosing startup ideas. I summarize most of my viewpoints in a blog post that I wrote, but the key point is that having competition is good. This tells you that people are paying for this. Many times entrepreneurs choose to do completely new things, which may be good from an innovation point of view, but customers are usually lazy and if they cannot quickly understand your offering and relate it to their previous experiences, you are going to need a lot of time convincing them.