School lunches. Unless it's pizza day, nobody really wants them. And even that pizza is lackluster (yes, even as an 11-year-old, I was something of a gourmand). And the vegetables? At best, they were a utensil used to transport Ranch dressing. Forget about the fruit.That, at least, has been the law of the elementary school jungle gym for several decades. Which is why today's article in the Washington Post was so interesting, from a marketing perspective.The problem: Kids throw away apples every day.The challenge: Getting kids to eat the fruit.The study: Researchers at Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab conducted two studies - a pilot study at 8 schools followed by a follow-up study at 6 more schools. It was really simple, guys.Would kids be more likely to eat the apple if it was sliced?Yep. In fact, apple consumption increased by more than 60 percent when apples arrived on the lunch tray pre-sliced.And, in the follow-up study, they found that both apple consumption, AND the percentage of students who ate more than half of the apple, were more than 70 percent higher at schools that served sliced apples.

Why this is news to marketers and biz owners

Previously, everyone, including myself (I'm not the biggest fan of apples, unless they're in hard cider or tucked in flaky pastry), thought that fresh apples just weren't that appealing to kids. Like broccoli or Brussels sprouts.How could any mere fruit or vegetable compete with simple carbs anyhow?But the answer that everyone accepted wasn't it at all.It was a matter of convenience. Or, in marketing terms: Friction.Slicing apples reduced the friction inherent to the fresh-apple-eating process. It made it easier. Now, allow me to quote directly from the article, and in your mind, imagine they're talking about straight-up marketing (because they really are). I've bolded (emboldened?) the key points.

It sounds simplistic, but even the simplest forms of inconvenience affect consumption," said David Just, a professor of behavioral economics at Cornell who studies consumer food choices, and one of the study's author. "Sliced apples just make a lot more sense for kids."The hardest part is getting kids to start eating fruit, to take the first bite, and that's precisely what slicing an apple makes more appealing. A child holding a whole apple has to break the skin, eat around the core, and deal with the hassle of holding a large fruit. That barrier might seem silly or superficial, but Just says it's significant when you're missing teeth or have braces, as so many kids do."It's one of those circumstances where what seems like a really small inconvenience actually makes a huge difference," he said.

What this has to do with your Buy button

Online marketing is all about finding ways to get people to take desired actions, whether that's filling out a form to join your mailing list, or punching that all-important Buy button. Success requires reducing friction, but you don't have to eliminate it altogether.4 Main Causes of Friction:

• Forms that require more information than an email address

• Contradictory or confusing text on landing pages and sales pages

• Repetitive actions required

• Poorly designed purchase processes

Forms, landing pages and sales pages are often where I come in as the writer. Here are my best recipes for reducing friction in them.Good Form(s)Usually, you use forms as a low gateway to valuable content. Here's the friction rule for forms: The higher value the content promised, the more questions you can ask. Essentially, it's the law of reciprocity. If you promise something small, yet still useful, like blog posts, you can ask for an email address.If you promise something incredibly pertinent and highly valuable (ie. people would pay good money for it, but you're giving it away - typically an ebook), you can ask for more information, like their name, job description, greatest challenge, favorite color, etc.Perfect Landing (Pages)With Landing pages, I see two frequent causes of friction.

1. Too much stuff is going on and the user doesn't know what to do next.

2. Mismatch between the ad that brought the user in, and what they found on the page.

Too much stuff is a complex issue. Maybe you need one landing page for each thing you do (probably), or maybe you just need to visually design your landing page for better clarity (not my gig, but I know some great designers). Fortunately, simply heat mapping your page can reveal whether confusion is the root cause for visitors failing to convert (aka. do whatever it is you'd like them to do on the page).Heat mapping is super fun - I kid you not. I use it all the time to diagnose why existing pages aren't working. They essentially show you where people are looking and how far down they're scrolling. If there's equal "heat" all over the place, it indicates a problem (especially if your CTA is a cold spot). CrazyEgg will give you a free preview of your heat map here.Mismatches between ads and landing pages is the most avoidable friction there is - and yet, it persists. WHY?! Here's what happens (You're the user in this scenario): You see an ad on Facebook for vintage shoes. You like vintage shoes. You especially like the red strappy ones with the sexy, yet practical 2" heel (okay, maybe you're ME in this scenario). You click on the red shoe ad and are taken to a landing page on the shoe website, where you see nothing but black strappy sandals with 6" spike heels. It feels like a bait and switch, and you click the Back button immediately, never to return.But, if that landing page had shown the same picture of the red shoes as in the ad, you'd know you were in the right place and you wouldn't click away. Super simple.Smooth Sale-ingSales pages have their own science which it would take me an ebook to explain. But, as far as reducing friction goes, the friction here is mostly about showing credibility, likability, and gaining trust. That's a matter of both authentic storytelling and straight-up charm, but it's also about making it clear and simple for people to opt in. Many sales pages have multiple CTAs placed at strategic points, which makes it easier for those who don't need to read the whole story (because they LOVE YOU already) to buy faster. All sales pages have a handful of heart-felt testimonials.Oh, there's a trick to choosing testimonials for your sales page. And I'm gonna tell it to you right here. (Yes, we're going off topic a bit, but this is so important)The Trick to Choosing Testimonials for Your Sales Page

• First: Never doctor, edit, or alter a testimonial unless it's to neaten up punctuation and spelling. You want each testimonial to sound exactly like the person who wrote it.

• Second: Only include testimonials that are from clients you would classify as "ideal" - paying customers who fall into your target demographic who love you, praise you muchly, and tell their friends about you.

• Third: Choose which testimonials to publish based on the core benefits they express (and make sure those benefits match with the benefits of the product you're selling).

Still with me? Okay. Here's why this works.By using the exact words of only your ideal clients, you're using language that will speak directly to more ideal clients. Ever heard the phrase "great minds think alike"? Well, similar demographics tend to sound alike. They use similar words, phrases and expressions. They have a similar educational background, or maybe they all just watch the same show (ahem Downton Abbey). And, people trust people who they perceive are like them. SO, if someone like you says "Hey, you gotta try this, it's amazing," you'll be inclined to believe them.Now, the benefits part is the most exciting to me. Honestly, this is where I have the most fun. I compile all of the testimonials I can get my hands on and look for core themes. Those core themes are the clients' key benefits - what people come for, stay for and pay for. These themes get to the heart of what your clients crave. When you include testimonials that tell your target clients that their deepest desires will be answered... I mean. Who wouldn't want that? I want that. We all want that.Apples? Eh, they're not that exciting, any which way you slice them. But talk to me about what I really want? You've got a sale.