Same questions, new answers. We are excited to share the next part in our series of asking experts to provide their tips on optimising your conversion rate.
This week, we asked Andy McNab from Fanplayr to provide some words of wisdom on CRO projects and experiments. If you missed our previous blog post, click here.
What are the most significant risks when starting a CRO project?
Starting a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) project can be an exciting opportunity for businesses to increase their revenue and customer engagement. However, there are some important points to consider when embarking on such a project to make it a success.
First of all, it’s important to plan a proper strategy to avoid ineffective testing and wasted resources. Before beginning any testing, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the goals, target audience, and the specific metrics to be measured.
It’s also important to ensure accurate and sufficient data collection in order to make informed decisions. Incomplete or inaccurate data can lead to incorrect conclusions and ineffective testing.
Also, the budget is important, CRO projects can require significant investments in tools, resources, and personnel. Insufficient budget can limit the scope of the project and hinder the ability to test and implement changes effectively.
Another point to take into account regards testing bias: it’s important to have a diverse team and incorporate objective data and feedback into the testing process. Aim to break hypothesis, rather than confirm them.
And even with successful testing and clear results, implementation can be challenging. A lack of resources, technical challenges, or organizational resistance can prevent effective implementation of changes, leading to wasted effort and resources.
Last but not least, make sure to have a positive digital user experience.
What tips would you provide to someone with limited technical skills or resources?
If you have limited technical skills or resources, starting a CRO project may seem daunting. However, there are still several things you can do to get started and make progress. Here are some tips. You can start with really basic tests, for example, changing the colour of a call-to-action button or adjusting the placement of a form, this can be effective testing if you are not a specialist.
Also, you can gather feedback to identify areas of improvement with tools like surveys or user testing: these are simple ways to gather feedback and insights from your target audience. And keep testing and refining your approach!
Before embarking on more advanced CRO techniques, ensure that your website or digital product has the basics in place, such as clear messaging and a user-friendly design. These foundational elements can have a significant impact on conversion rates, even without more advanced testing.
Moreover, even with small budgets, you can activate external agencies or tools: this can help to achieve excellent results in a short period of time. For example, here at Fanplayr, we have proprietary data collection and segmentation technology combined with the support of a team of performance marketing specialists who can help you quickly identify critical areas by optimizing spending.
What should a brand avoid when starting a CRO project?
One thing that is crucial when starting a CRO project is setting clear goals. Without clear goals, it’s difficult to know what to test and measure. It’s important to establish specific, measurable, and achievable goals for the CRO project before beginning any testing.
Avoid too many changes at once and aim to focus on one test a time to ensure accurate and meaningful results. And take your time while testing: Rushing the testing process can lead to incorrect conclusions and ineffective testing. It’s important to take the time to plan, test, and analyse the results of each test.
Also, I encourage to consider the long-term impact of CRO tests. It’s important to test changes that will have a lasting impact on conversion rates rather than focusing solely on short-term gains.
What are the most straightforward CRO experiments a brand can start with?
If you’re just starting out with CRO it’s important to begin with straightforward experiments that are easy to set up and test like A/B testing of headlines, different CTA buttons or image testing. Also test the speed of your website or digital product to see if slow page speed is impacting your conversion rates. One of Fanplayr features is “Sitespeed” which analyses the load times of every element of every page (rather than sampled data) vs the impact on site performance. Remember, the key to successful CRO testing is to test one element at a time and to collect sufficient data to make informed decisions. These straightforward experiments can be a good starting point for any brand looking to improve their conversion rates.
How should a brand prioritise updates which have proven to improve conversion rates?
First, measure the impact of each update on conversion rates. Determine which updates had the biggest impact and which had the smallest impact. Then, consider the complexity of each update. Some updates may be relatively simple to implement, while others may require significant resources and time. Prioritise updates that are relatively easy to implement but have a significant impact on conversion rates. Don’t forget to analyse the cost and look at the timing! Prioritise updates that are relevant to your current marketing efforts and are likely to have the greatest impact in the short term.
My suggestion is to involve relevant stakeholders, such as marketing, design, and development teams, in the decision-making process. Collaborate with these teams to determine the feasibility and impact of each update, and prioritise updates that are most aligned with the overall business goals.
In the current climate, more consumers are browsing to find cheaper deals. What tips would you provide a brand to reduce this happening to them? Is dropping their prices the only answer?
If a brand is facing increased competition from consumers browsing to find cheaper deals, dropping prices may seem like the only solution. It is worth noting however, that not every user is going to be chasing a discount, so avoid pushing discounts/deals too hard on the home page or landing pages. Use of a behavioural segmentation technology such as Fanplayr can help pinpoint users who look to be lapsing, or who aren’t starting the conversion journey within the requisite amount of time. These users can then be engaged with discounts or incentives so that margin isn’t being given away unnecessarily. That being said, there are several other strategies that a brand can use to reduce the impact of price-driven browsing on their business. Here are some tips:
- Focus on value: Instead of focusing solely on price, focus on the value that your product or service provides. Highlight the unique features and benefits of your product or service that differentiate it from the competition. Communicate this value proposition clearly and consistently across all channels.
- Improve customer experience: Improving the customer experience can also help to reduce the impact of price-driven browsing. This includes ensuring that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate, providing excellent customer service, and offering a hassle-free returns policy.
- Leverage social proof: Social proof, such as customer testimonials and product reviews, can help to build trust and credibility with potential customers. Use social proof strategically on your website and in your marketing to reinforce the value of your product or service.
- Offer incentives: Consider offering incentives to customers who purchase from your brand, such as free shipping or a discount on a future purchase. This can help to incentivize customers to choose your brand over the competition, even if your prices are slightly higher.
- Segment your audience: Segment your audience based on their behaviour and preferences, and tailor your marketing messages accordingly. For example, you could target customers who value quality and service over price with messaging that highlights these benefits.
- Create a sense of urgency: Creating a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or product scarcity can encourage customers to make a purchase without having to drop prices.
By focusing on value, improving customer experience, leveraging social proof, offering incentives, segmenting your audience, and creating a sense of urgency, a brand can differentiate itself from the competition and reduce the impact of price-driven browsing.
How do you determine the successful results of a CRO project?
To determine the success of a Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) project, it’s essential to measure the impact of the changes made on the conversion rate.
To do that, you first need to decide what success looks like. Is it conversion rate, revenue per visitor, average order value, bounce rate, or time on site that you want to focus on? Make sure that these metrics for success are specific, measurable, and aligned with the business goals.
Secondly, don’t forget to set a baseline, this will serve as a benchmark against which to measure the impact of the changes. Use analytics tools to track and record the baseline metrics.
Finally, measure the impact: After implementing the changes, measure the impact on the success metrics. Compare the post-implementation metrics with the baseline metrics. If the success metrics have improved, the project can be considered successful.
It’s also important to analyse the data to look for the reasons for any measured changes in performance, take the time to understand “the why”. Focus also on evolution, rather than revolution, CRO should be an ongoing process rather than a finite activity with success being measured on an ongoing basis, over time.
Any final tips and advice?
I think the most important advice is to have a data-driven approach.
CRO should be data-driven, and decisions should be based on insights gained from data analysis. Here at Fanplayr we use a comprehensive analytics suite to gather data on user behaviour and preferences and use this data to inform changes. Importantly, throughout the whole process prioritise UX, leveraging personalisation in the customer journey is important but so is a consistent user experience.
About Fanplayr
Fanplayr’s mission is to make behavioral data actionable and help companies enhance their online user journey through custom-made omni-channel communication. Today, Fanplayr is the platform for
assimilating data, providing intelligence and segmentation to improve any interaction between users and companies.
To find out more go to fanplayr.com
For more expert advice, browse our other articles on the It Works Media blog. Or contact us today to see how we can help you with your strategy.