What is Conversion marketing?
Conversion marketing is one of the types of marketing that encourages customers to perform certain actions, “turning” a person viewing your site into a buyer of your product or service.
From the point of view of Internet marketing, this includes not only the commercial pitch, but also the design and layout of the site. Special actions are also applied, for example, a special offer is triggered for those consumers who have added a product to the cart, but have not completed the purchase.
The demand for using this type of marketing is growing due to the high conversion rate, sales growth, reduction of lost customers and a large return on investment in advertising. By converting potential customers who have already shown at least some degree of interest, you do not need to attract new potential customers to generate the same amount of sales.
The main objectives and goals of conversion marketing
Firms resort to conversion marketing in case they need a higher conversion rate.
As a rule, the type of online activity defines which conversion tactics are used. Many sites sell products directly to customers; for them, conversion is a matter of convincing people to make a purchase.
Other sites earn revenue from advertising, just as print newspapers earn most of their money from selling advertising rather than selling the paper itself. For these sites, conversion is an incentive for people to click on various ads displayed on the site page.
Regardless of whether the site sells goods, services or advertising, customers are asked to take certain actions. This means that every commercial website on the Internet can use conversion marketing for its promotion. Online customers browsing sites from the search engine results list can come and go quickly. On average, it takes about eight seconds for a person to decide whether to stay or leave the page. Therefore, the first step of conversion marketing is to get people to just stay.
Who uses conversion marketing and when?
Conversion marketing tactics are not aimed at just one consumer segment, but instead are applied to all customers who visit the company’s website.
Many, if not most, come through search engine results. Such visitors immediately become valuable potential customers. This happens because they are already interested in some aspects of the content of your site, if not in the specific products and services that you provide.
Other clients come directly because they already know about your site. This may happen, perhaps because of your previous business, or because of a link in your email newsletter. These customers are also valuable as they have already established a relationship with the business.
In both of these cases, conversion marketing should not try to invent potential customers and then try to convince them to make a purchase. Here you just need to convincingly argue your position to those who already have a need. It’s more about making a decision easily than presenting a solution in the first place.
How is a conversion marketing campaign being developed?
Before choosing conversion strategies, companies determine which purchasing processes their customers use.
E-commerce sites:
They sell goods online, but there are differences between buying physical products that must be sent to the customer and buying digital products that can be downloaded directly. Among physical goods, the conversion rate differs between small and large goods, which usually require additional research before purchase.
An example of how to use conversion marketing
Having determined how customers make purchases on the site, marketers begin to choose tactics that will increase their conversion rate. Some tactics, such as attractive landing pages and an easy-to-navigate website, are important for all types of businesses. Others will only be used on certain types of sites.
Intuitive page navigation is especially important for e-commerce sites whose survival depends on customer purchases. If a company has from four to eight pages of main categories, then they should be grouped by similar products (possibly with subcategories) and be accessible from the home page and from other searchable landing pages. On the main page, specific product offers should be presented, instead of using the space to promote the company as a whole. All products displayed on the main page, category and product pages should have an image, a price and several application examples that provide a clear value proposition.
The following conversion hooks can also be used on websites:
- simple navigation that allows customers to quickly find what they need;
- attractive landing pages;
- using video;
- providing all the information necessary for the buyer to say yes;
- availability of photos with products;
- combining images with a clear copy, offering a specific value proposition
- using key terms that are understandable to customers.
Designers should create shopping baskets on e-commerce sites from the consumer’s point of view, not from an engineering point of view. Many customers who have put items in their baskets are still willing to opt out of any transaction and will do so if the checkout page presents them with any red flags or surprises. Therefore, before checking the buyer, it is important that on the product pages they are already informed about the delivery options and cost, taxes and problems in the warehouse. The checkout page should be able to copy and autofill, and not a sudden request for information.
Changes in the shopping cart system can have a negative impact on the conversion rate, and for the site it is necessary to have an easily configurable system. If the system cannot be easily changed and updated, and this negatively affects the conversion rate, then an experienced marketer will recommend a new system completely.
Sites that receive revenue from advertising use different strategies. As a rule, they provide free and interesting content with the addition of advertising. And they succeed by keeping the customer interested enough to explore more pages and click on more ads. The main pages should look like magazine covers, excite interest and quickly direct customers to the pages they want to read. Again, instead of promoting the company, they should promote the content of the site. These pages should also provide several functions to account for the different thinking of customers when visiting the site.
In order to attract customers who are able to solve their problems, it is necessary to improve the search function on the site so that only the most relevant results are displayed at the top of the page. In order to satisfy those who adhere to methodical thinking, nested menus, category trees and links to relevant content are important. And for those who are thinking about browsing the pages of the site, it is important to specify the categories and terms that they will use, as opposed to those that the company can choose in the first place.
For all types of customers, the subscription process should be simple and painless, both for paid and free subscriptions. In the case of paid subscriptions, it is worth remembering that every question that a user has to ask after providing a credit card number makes it more inconvenient when visiting the site.
Sites that provide trial periods often have problems converting trial clients into regular ones. An important tactic here is not to have free trial versions, but instead offer discounts for the first periods. This is due to the fact that paying even a symbolic amount increases the likelihood that the client will use the service during the trial version, then he will not pay money at all. If free trial versions are required, try requesting credit card information at the time of registration for the free trial, and not at the time of switching from free to paid.
These are just some of the strategies used to increase the conversion rate on websites. A conversion marketing campaign can also develop many other strategies, but the process always begins with examining the existing traffic on the site and determining the points of greatest failure. Conversion marketing and site analytics go hand in hand, and constant feedback serves as the basis for strategy development.