We conducted a thorough analysis of 100+ campaigns across multiple publishers using Hum’s Live Engagement Campaigns. We looked at all of the variables across the campaigns (creative, copy, target audience, active pages, excluded pages, campaign precedence scores, modal display limits and timing, length of campaign), and based on our analysis, and our experience with all Hum clients, we put forth the following best practices for successful Live Engagement campaigns. 

Campaign Creative and Copy Best Practices

  • Style the modal via your website’s CSS
    • Instructions, found here, detail how to match the modal elements to your website’s brand for a cohesive look and feel. 
  • Clear and simple language especially on the CTA buttons
  • Diverse creative/images & messaging
    • Using an image on the modal which includes your branding (either at the company, society, journal, event level, etc.) will help create a hierarchy of information on the modal.
      • To save space in the headline and body copy of the modal, information in the image (like the journal name, etc. ) doesn’t need to be repeated in the copy below.
    • Avoid re-using the same or similar creative, as it makes users think they are all the same message
      • People scan, not necessarily read. Using the same creatives for almost all of their campaigns (or all the campaigns in one category like calls for papers), doesn’t create differentiation and increases messaging fatigue
    • Body copy on the modal should be brief but engaging.
Good Example Good Example Struggling Example
  • Strong Hierarchy
  • Clear language for Header & Copy
  • Clear CTA button 
  • Strong Hierarchy
  • Concise Heading & body copy
  • Clear CTA button
  • Unclear language for header & copy
  • Vague CTA button
  • Unbranded imagery

 

Audience Segmentation and Targeting

  • Targeting high value/traffic pages – Selecting a set of high value/high traffic pages to serve the campaigns on (active pages) is crucial to its success. Article pages likely represent a high portion of your traffic. 
  • Set target segments – We recommend using a target segment, not leaving the campaign set to “All Profiles.” In our analysis, not having a target segment resulted in a lot of campaign overlap.
  • Minimize Segment Overlap – Segments for campaigns targeting the same topic area/journal should be distinct enough to ensure there’s minimal overlap between users. 
  • The two segment examples below are both on the topic of dentistry but use two different segmentation approaches to target the exact same group of people. These were used on two different campaigns, and the overlap in the audience would cause poor campaign performance due to Modal Frequency Display limits. 
    • For concurrent campaigns in the same topic/speciality, these segments should have been more specific, removing the broader terms like “dentistry” and “dental_care” and instead focus on the speciality/details of the CfP (Orofacial disease and dental implants, respectively) 
    • But, if there is only one dentistry campaign running, then terms like “dentistry” and “dental care” should be used. 
  • You should avoid situations where the page targeting is very limited and the segmentation is very targeted. Striking the right balance in getting “the right people at the right place at the right time” is different for each campaign, and testing is encouraged. 

 

Example A: Orofacial Disease Example B: Dental Implants

 

Other considerations

  • Using different prompt types for different use cases
    • Hum offers 4 different prompt types when creating a live engagement campaign: pop up, slide in box, banner, and inline. 
    • We recommend using each one in certain circumstances depending on the specific use case
      • Pop up when there’s an urgency to the message and interrupting a user’s browsing is justified
      • Slide in or banner when you want to deliver a more subtle message (usually to a very large audience) or where a house display ad usually would go
      • In line when you want your message to fit seamlessly into the content the user is engaging with
  • Allowing enough time for users to progress through the whole funnel
    • Judging a funnel campaign (2+ campaigns working to move users towards a specific action) based on an adequate amount of time and in relationship to the deadlines (i.e. CfP submission deadlines)
  • In Hum’s Global Campaign Settings, the maximum number of campaigns served to a user per day should be set in relation to the funnels you set. 
    • E.g. if you are building 3+ part funnels, to move a user from an article page all the way to a submission site, but your maximum # of campaigns per day is 2, the latter stages of the funnel won’t fire for a user when they reach it. This not only could cause the latter stages of the funnel to appear as if they’re underperforming, but could even cause users to fall out of the funnel if they don’t end up back in the same part of the site where the 3rd prompt would fire. 
  • Campaign precedence should be established for priority campaigns (in the Settings section of the dashboard). This enables users who fall into multiple segments (and are eligible for multiple campaigns) to receive the highest priority campaigns first.