Digital marketers face two key challenges: driving traffic to their organization’s website and converting site visitors into paying customers, subscribers, or leads. One proven methodology that allows digital marketers to achieve the second goal is conversion optimization.
What Is Conversion Optimization and Why Does It Matter
Conversion optimization, or Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), is the process of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action on your website. Digital marketing professionals enhance conversion optimization through well-tested strategies like persuasion principles, usability tests, landing page optimization, and A/B testing. Using these processes allows digital marketers to optimize their sites for optimal results and return on investment (ROI)
Conversion optimization also fosters customer activity on a website, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or booking an appointment. Conversion optimization converts marketing activities like ad spend, content campaigns, and organic traffic into tangible business growth, leading to exponential revenue gains over time.
Persuasion Principles and the Psychology Behind Them
Persuasive principles underpin every digital marketing activity, enabling customers to take action while building brand credibility and trust. In his 1984 book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini highlighted seven key principles of persuasion:
- Reciprocity
- Commitment
- Social Proof
- Authority
- Liking
- Scarcity
- Unity
Integrating these principles into online messaging and marketing assets such as landing pages and emails engages users more effectively and impacts overall conversion optimization metrics.
Landing Pages – Your Best First Step
Landing pages are designed specifically to drive a specific customer action, such as signing up for a newsletter, purchasing a product, or downloading information. Most landing pages are designed for a call-to-action (CTA) around a specific campaign.
Landing page optimization (LPO) strategies systematically improve individual landing page elements to drive user conversions and maximize overall return on investment. These strategies include
- Clear Value Proposition
- Compelling Headlines
- Non-Distracting Design
- Trust Signals.
- Optimizing Load Time
Finding the right mix of headlines, copy, and calls to action can be challenging for digital marketing professionals without the right toolset.
A/B Testing: Data-Driven Decisions That Deliver
A/B testing (also known as bucket testing or split testing) encourages testing landing page variations on a single variable and measuring the results. A/B testing enables individuals, teams, and companies to make informed changes to their user experiences while collecting data on their impact. As a result, they can hypothesize about which elements and optimizations impact user behavior.
A/B testing encompasses every factor of landing page creation: headlines, value propositions, calls to action, layout, images, length, colors, and fonts. Best practices for digital marketing professionals include creating variations around a single variable, continual monitoring, and running testing long enough to collect statistically significant data.
Usability Testing
Another form of testing that ensures conversion optimization is usability testing, which involves actual users interacting with the website to determine overall functionality and observe how they interact with landing pages or applications. Performing usability testing allows digital marketing professionals to observe user behaviors and experiences, focusing on issues such as navigation flow, form design, and checkout processes. Usability testing can foster an experience where users complete their customer journey and ensure conversions.
Evaluation, Integration, and Optimization
Digital marketing professionals seeking to enhance their optimization efforts should begin with a Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) audit that identifies key user behavior patterns and barriers that prevent full conversion. Evaluating key barriers and behavior patterns allows for greater opportunities to develop landing pages, opportunities for A/B and usability testing, and a better understanding of user experience.
Conversion optimization for digital marketers involves various professional skills and an approach that integrates persuasion principles, landing page optimization, performing A/B and usability testing, and validating and making improvements. Conversion optimization is not a one-off process but a continual cycle of improvement that delivers spectacular results and greater ROI.
Enhancing brand engagement with users and converting them into customers requires constant and consistent effort. Digital marketers who engage in conversion optimization enhance their effectiveness and have a positive impact on increasing their overall customer base.
Author: Gordon Dymowski
B2B Social Media Marketing Consultant/Copywriter
Gordon Dymowski is a B2B social media consultant and copywriter working with small to medium-sized businesses around audience engagement, lead generation, and driving revenues. Gordon has assisted various organizations in social media strategy, engagement, and analytics with a specific focus on healthcare, technology, and mission-driven ventures. He is also a fiction writer who has written for various independent publishers.