If you’re at the point in your
digital marketing efforts where it seems like things are going fairly well, but you haven’t reached peak performance, then it might be time to take your conversion optimization efforts to the next level.
To that end, you’ll want to split-test a number of CRO (conversion rate optimization) strategies that you’re probably not trying. Here are seven of them.
1. Setting a tripwire to get people into your funnel
As business marketing consultant Perry Belcher once said, “There’s never been a time in history where it was harder to sell something to someone for the first time. But there’s never been a time in history where it’s been easier to sell something to someone the second time.”
I met Belcher recently. He is a smart guy who knows a lot about CRO. One thing he is huge on — having a tripwire.
What’s a tripwire? It’s an irresistible, low-ticket offer that brings people to your website. They buy the offer and — voila! — they’re magically transformed from prospects into customers.
That means those people are no longer “cold leads” to you. More importantly, it means that they no longer view you as a stranger because they already have a business relationship with you.
Think about how you can set up tripwires for people in your target market. Then, set a few of them around your website so you can convert strangers into paying customers.
The idea is to get them to commit to a tripwire and then channel them into a funnel. If you know that a percentage of people who get into that funnel will convert, and it is profitable, you have a business model. (Some refer to this as the back end of the sales funnel.)
2. Setting up email automation for people who get into your pipeline
If you’re a digital strategist, marketing automation is one of your very best friends. That’s especially true when it comes to email marketing.
When people enter various points in your sales funnel, let your information systems do the heavy lifting in reaching out to them. Set up your system so that your prospects are contacted at specific intervals with well-written emails that attempt to lead them further down the funnel.
Talk to your development team today about how you can capture email addresses and automate the process of sending out nurturing emails. You can also do this with a simple system like MailChimp if you don’t have developers.
3. Using animation to highlight your calls to action
One of the worst mistakes modern marketers make is not ensuring that their call to action (CTA) buttons stand out prominently.
Sure, big beautiful buttons with a contrasting color usually catch the eye. But if you really want to make your visitors notice the CTA, why not animate it?
You’ve probably seen animated CTAs on some websites you’ve visited. That’s because they caught your attention.
The best ones, in my opinion, wiggle just a little bit every few seconds. That’s enough to get people’s attention without being annoying.
Think about an animation that can make your CTA stand out a bit more.
4. Detecting a user’s location and serve a landing page specific to that area
People tend to be impressed with landing pages that look like they were designed just for them. That’s why you should avoid the practice of displaying the same landing page to everybody who visits your site.
One way you can give your customers the warm and fuzzies is by displaying a landing page specific to their area.
Fortunately, in the Information Age, it’s very easy to determine the location of people who visit your site. Once you’re armed with that information, it’s easy to display a landing page specific to that area.
For example, if you’re running an e-commerce site that’s selling blue jeans, you can display a top-level carousel that shows the blue jeans that are currently best sellers in the user’s area.
5. Shopping cart marketing
Do you think your marketing efforts are over once a customer is going through the checkout process? If so, then change your way of thinking.
You can generate more sales within the shopping cart.
How? By offering cross-sells, upsells, limited-time offers and bundled offers.
Which strategy you select (and feel free to select more than one) will depend on your target market and business model. The important thing, though, is that you always try to rehash when people are in the process of checking out.
Remember: It’s much easier to sell to existing customers than it is to generate new customers. If you have zero upsells in your funnel, you are leaving money on the table.
6. Creating CTAs and tripwires specific to the content the visitor is viewing
If you’re running a business that offers a diverse portfolio of products or services, it’s especially profitable to offer your visitors CTAs and tripwires specific to what they’re viewing.
For example, if people are shopping on your offshore fishing tackle page, you can offer them a fishing rod at a rock-bottom price. Use a CTA that stands out (and animates) so that they can’t miss it.
Once they trip that wire, they’ve become a customer, and you can email them regularly about fishing tackle specials that you’re offering.
7. Setting up funnel analysis from start to finish
How do you know which parts of your marketing efforts are the most successful? How do you know which strategies you need to change?
You don’t. Unless you use analytics.
Fortunately, you don’t have to spend one red penny to set up top-to-bottom funnel tracking. You can do it with Google Analytics.
If you don’t know how to set up Google Analytics goals and funnels, now is the time to learn. If you’re even remotely interested in tracking how well your marketing efforts are doing at every stage of the sales funnel, set up goals on your site.
Then, check your analytics regularly to see which strategies are working best for you. Start expanding the most successful campaigns and eliminating the ones that aren’t bearing fruit.
Keep in mind that your funnel starts with the first click, so make sure you are looking at your multichannel funnel reports as well.
Always be testing
The web is always changing. I hope you can adapt these strategies and increase your sales. They have worked well for our clients and for us.
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