The Critical Conversion Element That You Might Have Missed
As a conversion optimization marketer, you know the value of testing and measurement. However, did you know that that top experts consider customer insight the critical (often missing) element in the development of conversion test plans?
In the recent Hubspot™ CRO Hangout, experts Peep Lala, Oli Gardner and others noted that understanding what to test is one of the most critical decisions that a conversion marketer faces. Too often, companies fall into what they called the “conversion tactics” trap—in which you randomly test (via A/B or multivariate testing) each of the different items on your page.
While that certainly will provide you data and knowledge about each element, it does not truly address the core problem. The questions you should be asking first are:
- What do your customers need and want to see in order to do what you want them to do (your CTA)?
- Where specifically does your website or mobile site fail to provide the experience that those prospective customers need to have on your site?
Experts agree that the right way to approach A/B testing is to build a testing framework that is based on an understanding of the roadblocks (from biggest to smallest) that trip up users on their conversion journey. Further, the only way to fully build out the framework and understand the roadblocks in your visitor’s conversion journey is through qualitative research.
We know that qualitative research is not often found in the conversion optimizer’s toolkit, and we know why. While conversion experts move quickly and gain new data daily, qualitative methods are traditionally both expensive and take weeks and months to execute and complete. When companies add qualitative research to their toolkit, it is most often in the form of website persona development and usability testing—both of which are often done once and with existing customers.
The above methods yield a key understanding of your customer, which is ALWAYS a good thing.. But they do not provide quick and iterative feedback to your website conversion. We’ve gotten those desired results, however, for clients of our new WEVO conversion service. They’ve gained greater direct insight on their landing pages by leapfrogging over traditional A/B testing times and arriving in a matter of weeks at a higher performing landing page.
The results have been compelling, and we’re always happy to discuss them with marketers like you who want to avoid the conversion tactics trap and break down the roadblocks to visitor engagement. Get in touch anytime.
