Optimize your website’s conversion potential with CRO marketing, leveraging existing assets to attract more conversions. When integrated with traffic-driving marketing tactics, the boost in lead generation can be remarkable. Continue reading to uncover the essence of CRO marketing and its significance!
CRO, or Conversion Rate Optimization, is the process of enhancing your website to maximize conversions. Through CRO marketing, you devise a strategy centered around optimizing your website and conversion process to encourage more users to take the desired action.
View our frequently asked questions about CRO in the video below, and then delve deeper into the topic.
Conversions encompass:
Sales
Business calls
Email list subscriptions
Event registrations
Guide or ebook downloads
And more
Organizations develop CRO marketing strategies that employ diverse tactics to consistently enhance conversion rates. For instance, a company might use A/B testing on its website to assess whether modifications enhance its conversion rate.
What is the conversion rate, and how do you calculate it?
The conversion rate is the proportion of visitors who take the desired action on your site, divided by the total number of site visitors.
Here’s the formula to calculate the conversion rate:
(Total number of conversions/Total number of site visitors) x 100 = Conversion Rate
While many digital marketing strategies concentrate on driving more traffic to your site, your business may already have a robust traffic-generating strategy in place. With effective search engine optimization (SEO), you’re attracting valuable traffic. However, if visitors don’t complete the desired action, that presents an issue.
Instead of merely increasing traffic, which could lead to more conversions, focusing on enhancing the conversion process for site visitors is more effective.
This is where CRO marketing comes into play. By improving what’s already on your site, you can capitalize on the traffic you already have and generate more conversions.
CRO marketing offers several benefits to your business, including:
BUILDING AND OPTIMIZING EXISTING ASSETS INSTEAD OF CREATING NEW ONES
INCREASING CONVERSIONS AND REVENUE
REDUCING THE COST TO ACQUIRE MORE CONVERSIONS
IMPROVING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
EXPANDING BRAND AFFINITY
CRO is crucial because generating traffic requires time and/or financial investment. If your site isn’t equipped to convert customers, all your efforts to attract traffic are wasted. With a well-defined CRO plan, you can enhance the percentage of traffic that converts on your site.
By incorporating CRO into your marketing strategy, you’ll derive more value from your visitors, earn increased revenue, and grow your business. Once you understand the importance of CRO marketing, we can discuss the steps needed to improve key performance indicators (KPIs).
CRO can be outsourced, so if you’re interested in learning more about partnering with a CRO agency, explore our list of top CRO agencies!
1. Identify your conversion type
When crafting a CRO marketing strategy, it’s essential to determine what qualifies as a conversion. The desired conversion actions can vary between campaigns, but understanding which actions are most critical for each is crucial. Common types of conversions include:
Sales
Calls
Email list subscriptions
Form completions
Social media likes or follows
App downloads
Link clicks
Once you identify your conversion type, you can concentrate on developing a conversion path that leads to success.
2. Map your customer’s journey to improve conversions
Next, analyze how customers navigate through your conversion funnel.
Your customer’s journey, from initial brand awareness to conversion, is pivotal in CRO marketing. Mapping their journey will help you pinpoint optimization opportunities to boost conversions.
BEGIN BY COLLECTING DATA ON YOUR CUSTOMERS TO UNDERSTAND WHO IS LIKELY TO CONVERT. EXAMINE INFORMATION SUCH AS:
AGE
GENDER
OCUPATION
INCOME RANGE
LOCATION
INTERESTS
BEHAVIOR
PRIORITIES
USE THIS INFORMATION TO CREATE MARKETING PERSONAS, FICTIONAL CHARACTERS BASED ON REAL CUSTOMER DATA, MAKING IT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE AND TARGET THEM. ONCE YOU ESTABLISH PERSONAS, YOU CAN USE THIS INFORMATION TO DETERMINE THE STAGES YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL GO THROUGH IN THE CONVERSION PROCESS.
COMMON STAGES INCLUDE:
DISCOVERY: Users become aware of your brand through ads, organic search, social media, or word-of-mouth.
RESEARCH: Users begin to investigate how your products can address their problems.
CONSIDERATION: Users compare your product’s unique selling points to other options, determining which best meets their needs.
PURCHASE/CONVERSION: Users make a decision and take action, such as making a purchase or calling.
DELIVERY AND RECEIPT: Your product is shipped using your delivery method, and the user receives the product. For services, the reception stage may be more extended.
AFTER-PURCHASE INTERACTIONS: Users evaluate the process and may choose to interact with your brand again through customer service, another purchase, online reviews, or advocacy.
REMEMBER THAT YOUR BUYERS’ JOURNEY IS LIKELY NOT A LINEAR PROGRESSION, ESPECIALLY FOR SALE-RELATED CONVERSIONS. CUSTOMERS OFTEN JUMP BETWEEN STAGES AND MOVE BETWEEN RESEARCH AND CONSIDERATION BEFORE DECIDING TO CONVERT.
3. Analyze your current conversion process
The next step is to analyze your business’s ongoing conversion process. Identifying where customers typically drop off and stop interacting with your business is crucial.
Analyzing your process will reveal any obstacles in the conversion path.
There are several reasons why people might drop off, including:
Your headline may not align with your page’s content
Font size and color choices may make reading difficult
Images may not load
Your call to action (CTA) message may be hard to find or unappealing
Your CTA types may be intrusive and detract from the user experience
Your CTA button color may blend in or not stand out enough to be recognized as a button
Your page organization may be messy, making information hard to find
When you identify issues in your conversion process, you can analyze different elements to determine what may be causing problems for your audience. You may need to test these elements, which leads us to the next point.
4. Perform A/B or multivariate testing (MVT)
After identifying areas on your website that require optimization, it’s time to begin testing. Testing is vital for CRO marketing, as it’s the only way to determine the effectiveness of your changes.
Thankfully, you don’t have to test manually. You can utilize testing tools, like WebFX’s MarketingCloudFX, which will conduct the tests and compile the results for you. Testing involves creating two versions of your content and delivering them to a segment of your audience.
For example, you might change the color of your CTA button and show the original CTA to half of the traffic to your page and the new CTA to the other half. There are two primary testing methods for conversion rate optimization:
A/B testing: A/B testing involves testing two versions of whatever you’re optimizing, but only changing one variable (like the color of the CTA button mentioned earlier). A/B testing is beneficial for CRO because it helps you understand which elements support or hinder conversions. By testing one element at a time, you can pinpoint which elements need improvement.
Multivariate testing (MVT): MVT, on the other hand, allows you to test multiple variables for different versions of one piece of content. You can think of it as multiple A/B tests occurring simultaneously on the same content (such as your landing page).
Identifying which pages to test is crucial when looking for pages to optimize to improve conversion rates. You might notice that some pages receive more traffic or conversions than others. Look for pages with high traffic and low conversion rates.
Conduct A/B testing or MVT to determine, for example, whether changing the CTA would impact the page’s performance. 
Before performing testing, ask yourself questions like:
Would a full-page “Wait, before you go” pop-up be more effective, or would a less intrusive CTA reminder in the bottom right-hand corner of the page convert more?
Do banner CTAs catch your customer’s attention better, or are text-based CTAs more effective?
Does the messaging align with the context of the page?
Is my CTA clear and descriptive?
Does my CTA stand out on the page and appear visually appealing?
By asking these questions, you can narrow your focus for testing your CTA. To achieve success with CRO marketing, you must consistently test elements on your site to ensure they are driving the best results for your company.
Ready to begin building your CRO marketing strategy? Partner with a CRO agency like WebFX, and we’ll help you craft the perfect CRO marketing strategy for your business.
We’ll create a customized CRO marketing strategy that drives more desired actions. Our team will provide tailored reports focused on the conversions that matter most, allowing you to watch your conversion rate improve and grow. Explore our CRO pricing and plans, and contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our CRO marketing services!
