In today’s digital world, businesses must adapt to stay relevant and competitive. The world of e-commerce has undergone a significant transformation in the past few years. It’s quickly moving from being a purely digital platform to one that involves a mix of traditional and digital marketing techniques. 

Mixing technologies with traditional marketing has become a trend in e-commerce, allowing businesses to expand their reach while retaining a personal touch. When your customers feel connected and confident, you will see it in your conversions.

This month, we look at articles focusing on the customer experience and why it’s so vital. VWO shares A/B testing ideas to improve your customer’s first impressions. The Marketing Sherpa brings us an article about the magic of mixing new technologies with traditional marketing strategies. Invesp teaches us about customer testimonials and why they are vital for success. And finally, Marketing Examined reveals twelve formulas for writing engaging headlines.

Top A/B Testing Ideas to Create a Great First Impression

https://vwo.com/blog/top-a-b-testing-ideas-to-create-a-great-first-impression-with-your-ecommerce-homepage/

Each page on your website can influence your conversion rates, but you must get them past your homepage. In this article, VWO offers great A/B testing ideas. Let’s discuss a few that stood out to us. 

1. Header or Footer: Traditionally, a header is used in most e-commerce practices. However, testing the use of a footer can prove beneficial. Adding anchor links will help your SERP rating.
2. Images: We all understand the importance of high-quality images. Considering senses are removed from e-commerce sales, the image needs to shine. Be sure to focus on authenticity.
3. Seasonal Offers: Did you know 85% of customers will exchange valuable personal data for discounts? The homepage is a great place to showcase these seasonal offers.

Source

VWO shares 10 A/B tests sure to add insight and help optimize conversions. 

Proven Strategies for Generating Interest

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/marketing-funnel-generating-interest

The Marketing Sherpa brings three informative case studies about the combination of tradition and technologies. This article is about improving your brand’s marketing funnel and ultimately optimizing conversion rates. 

The first case study presented was about a finance company that used AI tools to double organic traffic- don’t miss this one. However, it was case study two that stood out to us. 

In case study two, we learn how a crypto ratings provider creates marketing on a budget and gets a 50% response rate. How did they do it? They rated the top 500 cryptocurrencies on their website and told them that they (BestCryptos) had rated them from 1-500. Would you be curious? Of course, who wouldn’t be? 

This method reached a 50% response rate, opening doors to building relationships. Learn more about the response from the companies near the bottom; not everyone was happy with their ranking. However, this just influenced the longevity of this marketing campaign. 

Work on incorporating your marketing strategy to include both methods.  

12 Formulas to Write Engaging Headlines

https://marketingexamined.com/blog/formulas-to-write-engaging-headline

Did you know 80% of your visitors won’t pass your headline? When you write engaging headlines, you capture your visitor’s attention and open the door for a sale. 

Marketing Eliminated teaches us 12 formulas for headlines that engage. 

Below we list a few that stood out to us.

Formula #2: Simplify what it is and why it’s different.

source

Formula #8: Introduce the product and say what it does

Formula #11 Be specific and add your hook

source

Copywriter David Ogilvy once said, “On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

Customer Testimonials: What is it, Why it Works, and How to Use it. 

https://www.invespcro.com/blog/adding-testimonials-to-your-website/

In today’s world, we seek out the opinions of others before investing our hard-earned money. When was the last time you made a relatively large purchase without first reading many reviews? It’s said that 85% of consumers will read up to 10 reviews before purchasing.

This in-depth article from Invesp gives you the answers you are looking for. You will learn about the different types of customer testimonials, when to use them, and what format is best for you. 

Learn how to write a testimonial that works with these four elements.

• Indicate the customer’s problem.
• Highlight how the product solved the problem.
• Show how unique the solution is.
• Reveal how the customer experience improved.

Learn how to get customer testimonials.

• Offer a discount.
• Customer satisfaction surveys.

Learn when to use customer testimonials.

• Social Media advertising helps keep your brand at the forefront in the minds of your followers. 
• Showcasing customer testimonials on your homepage is an excellent way to engage users and build trust. Below is an example of a homepage done right! 

source

Building a trust-based relationship with your users will ensure conversions you can count on. Don’t miss this informative article.

In Summary:

Businesses can build brand loyalty by focusing on customer satisfaction and providing a personalized shopping experience. A satisfied customer is likelier to become loyal and recommend the brand to others.

We can learn a lot from the method that has worked for centuries; ultimately, how you make the customer feel brings them back

Until next time, 

Have any questions about the articles you read today, or if you would like a free audit, send us a message; we would love to help. 

Claim your Free Audit Here.

I have always found winter the best time to hunker down and work hard on my goals. What else is there to do anyway? And for most of us, that means staying home warm in our offices, working hard on lead generations, and optimizing our businesses.

Did you know that 91% of marketers say lead generation is their most important goal? Where does lead generation fall on your scale of importance? 

This month we learn from some of our heavy hitters; first, Invesp teaches us how to calculate customer retention rates. VWO shares best practices for optimization, personalization, and testing. This month The Marketing Sherpa gave us two great articles, we couldn’t pick one. The first is about lead generation, and the second is about highly talked about AI marketing tools.

“There is no such thing as ‘build it, and they will come.”- Ray Krok.

How To Calculate & Improve Your Customer Retention Rate

https://www.invespcro.com/blog/how-to-calculate-improve-your-customer-retention-rate/

Did you know it could cost six times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one coming back? Your customer retention rate is a vital piece of information for most businesses. Do you know yours? 

Customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who stay customers compared to those who stop. 

Here is the formula:

(1 – Annual Churn Rate) / (Annual Customer Base) = Customer Retention Rate

This article explains in detail how this formula works and how to calculate yours today. 

In addition, Invesp talks about ways to improve your customer retention rate. Below are a few examples they share with us.

Simplify the checkout process. 

• 70-80% of customers abandoned their carts at checkout. 
• Identify all the steps between clicking buy and finishing.
• Ask yourself if you are using confusing language. Is it straight to the point?

Improve Your Communication

• Have an easy to use website
• Respond ASAP- responding within 24 hours is vital
• Ensure everyone is onboard with the importance of customer satisfaction

https://www.invespcro.com

Enjoy this in-depth article from Invesp.

Boost Website Performance: Best Practices in Optimization, Personalization, and Testing.

https://vwo.com/blog/boost-your-websites-performance/

The basis for any successful business sits highly upon three pillars:

1. Optimization
2. Personalization
3. Testing

This month VWO shares best practices in all these vital areas. Keep in mind to adjust and adapt these practices to your business model.

vwo.com

Let’s talk about a few that stood out to us. 

Best Practices: Optimization

• Reduce website loading time- A fast-loading page creates a better user experience.
• Focus on conversion rate optimization- CRO helps in making data-driven decisions.

Best Practices: Personalization

• Gather and use customer feedback- this feedback offers valuable insights into what your customers need/want.
• Ensure you comply with regulations- in today’s world, data privacy and cybersecurity are top priorities. 

Best Practices: Website Testing

• Don’t make changes to a running test- doing so will ensure a less accurate result.
• Document your findings- document everything; this practice makes it easier to go back and review your progress.

Don’t miss a deeper explanation of these practices and many more in this article from VWO.

Lead Generation: Develop Your Lead Generation Offer with the Same Care and Detail You Would a New Product

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/lead

Our first article from The Marketing Sherpa is all about lead generation. These three case studies are sure to resonate with you and inspire you to test more.

Case study #2 stood out due to its smaller scale. Learn how a solopreneur grew an 800-strong Facebook group for less than $5 a lead. 

Jeannine Betts wanted to sell more of her coaching service, so she created a free PDF for agents to download in exchange for their email addresses. 

The first ad didn’t fair too well. Below are those stats.

• 1,079 impressions
• 749 reached
• 5 leads
• $10.54 per lead

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/

The second did way better.

• 23,250 impressions
• 12,436 reached.
• 206 leads
• $2.52 per lead

https://www.marketingsherpa.com

Upon further analysis of these ads, it was how ad #2 resonated with her target audience and offered a call to action. The second copy was also more engaging and eye-catching. 

Overall, this campaign helped Betts build her Facebook community to almost 800 members and sold many sessions of her coaching services.

Continue to learn more about lead generation from The Marketing Sherpa.

AI Marketing Tools: How Marketers Are Using Artificial Intelligence To Help Their Campaigns Right Now.

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/AI

Innovations surrounding AI are all around us, moving quickly. Undoubtedly, you’ve been hearing a lot about AI and what it can do for you. This article from The Marketing Sherpa explains how marketers use this vital tool to increase revenues.

We were intrigued by case study #2 about an AI SEO tool. The team at Profil Software creates content to appeal to potential employees and customers. Using the traditional avenues, the team was disappointed with the results.

The team started using Surfer SEO for content optimization. Surfer SEO uses NLP AI (Natural Language Processing Artificial Intelligence). The use of this tool helped suggest changes and ways to implement them. 

Creative Sample #1: Before-and-after screenshots in original case study article for software development company, before using artificial intelligence tool

https://www.marketingsherpa.com

Be sure you don’t take that human connection away when using AI. Some AI-generating tools may sound forced or fake if not tweaked to add your style. 

We found this article highly informative as we enter this crazy new world of everything AI.

In Conclusion

Improving your website’s conversion rate can be easy if you follow a few important rules.

• Test Everything
• Focus on Your Visitors
• Create Relevant Content

Furthermore, we encourage you to test, test, and re-test. Conversion Rate Optimization is the answer to any successful e-commerce business.

Until next month,

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

A new year brings new possibilities, new insights, and new goals.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is finding ways to understand your users better. When we can optimize, we build trust. Our users have a better experience; we see an improved ROI. That’s the goal, right?

This month is filled with strategies, tips, and techniques you can implement today. 

The Marketing Sherpa shares three case studies about marketing relevance. The article from Invesp is filled with tips for Shopify CRO beginners. Guess The Test answers if the human or AI-generated copy tested better. What’s New In Publishing explains why headline testing has a lasting impact on engagement.

Let us begin with Optinmonster, which brings us 40 hacks to boost conversions.

Exit-Intent Popups: 40 Hacks To Boost Conversions in 2023

https://optinmonster.com/40-exit-popup-hacks-that-will-grow-your-subscribers-and-revenue/

In this well-informed article from Optinmonster, they explain why exit-intent popups, could be your secret weapon. 40 great hacks exposed.

First, what are exit-intent popups? Exit-intent popups are proven to recover abandoned users. While using a targeted approach, we can show our users special offers designed to entice them.

Did you know exit popups convert around 5%? Making them convert higher than landing pages and display ads. 

Here are just a couple of the 40 hacks that stood out to us.

• Give a Quiz – who can resist a quiz? One of the best lead magnets used. Personalized information is given, allowing you to gain insights into your users.
• Give a Yes/No Choice – we love this popup. It gives off the effect of a right or wrong choice. Inherently we want to make the right choice. Keep in mind the color of the CTA buttons.
• Give a Chance to Win – some users need a little push to give information. In the example below, this company offers a chance to win a free t-shirt. Digital downloads are also common.

Image Source: OptinMonster

Learn more about these hacks and 37 others in this complete article from Optinmonster. 

Shopify CRO for Beginners: Essential Tips and Strategies

https://www.invespcro.com/blog/shopify-cro/

Shopify continues to be one of the most popular tools for e-commerce businesses. This article dives into the tips and strategies for Shopify CRO users.

Did you know that Shopify has 2.5 million active daily users?!?

Shopify Conversion Rate Optimization uses techniques and strategies to increase your CRO. Below are a couple of the 10 tips in this article you can implement today. 

Showcase Reviews and Testimonials: 

• Increases trust.
• Build a connection with your target audience.
• Social proofs that your product is good.

Did you know that 72% of consumers say positive reviews help them trust a business more? And 88% of consumers will trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations.

Image Source: invespcro

Always Show Pricing 

If no price is displayed, people will assume a high price or that there is a catch or hidden fees.

• Showing the price shows transparency
• Builds trust and credibility

Continue to this article from Invesp as they share six great experiments about disclosure not to be missed.

Use Shopify Heatmaps

Ever wonder what page of your site gets the most attention? With Shopify’s heatmaps, this is possible.

You can use this information to improve site quality and user experience.

You can learn more about Shopify CRO in this strategy-filled article.

Which Wording Won? Human or AI-generated Copy?

https://guessthetest.com/test/which-wording-won-the-human-or-ai-generated-copy/

Guess The Test takes on the age-old debate; Man vs. Machine. Who do you think won? Let’s just say I got this one wrong. Did anyone else pick the machine?

Although I got this one wrong, had I looked a little deeper, I would have seen the true winner. The human copy used social proofs and addressed a pain point, and this combination would resonate more with the user. 

Image Source: https://guessthetest.com/test/

This article goes on to talk about your HERO image. This image is your first impression, and it’s what users first see when landing on your page.

Did you know users decide on your site in just 40 milliseconds? Learn more about your hero image and how to test if it’s the one for you.

Headline Testing, And Its Impact on Engagement

https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/headline-testing-and-its-lasting-impact-on-engagement/

Headline testing is something we all should be doing. According to What’s New In Publishing they say that, successful headline testers are those who build testing into their culture.

A few key points:

• Headline testing drives engagement
• Consistency is vital for success
• The more you test, the more you drive engagement

Headline testing is becoming increasingly popular. It’s stated that some of the largest publishers in the world run upwards of 1,000 tests a week.

Marketing Relevance: Right Offer, Right Time, Right Person

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/marketing-relevance

One of the most difficult challenges to marketing effectiveness is staying relevant. Easier said than done. Right?

Flint McGlaughlin says you need three elements to succeed.

1. The Right Offer
2. The Right Time
3. The Right Person

Align these elements, and you are bound to see results.

The second case study stood out to us. Learn how a marketing agency grew its YouTube subscribers from 5,000 to 455,000 in only 100 days!

After some of the recent TikTok scrutiny, this company set to launch a 100-day YouTube video campaign, repurposing TikTok videos. Knowing what worked on TikTok helped kickstart this campaign. Another element is timing. YouTube had just announced that you could use the vertical video format, and people who view your reels with be directed to your long format. Proving timing is everything.

Another key to this huge jump in subscribers was the community tab. Having the ability to engage with new subscribers and commenters instantly was another great way to connect.

Image Source: https://www.marketingsherpa.com

In Conclusion

The more a company can trust you, the more likely they will tell others about their experience.

With trust comes dependability, reliability, and credibility. Focus on creating a smooth user experience; the results will come.

There’s no recipe for overnight success, but testing will get you closer.

Until next month.

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

Can you believe it’s December? Where did this year go? Hopefully, you were optimizing, testing, and growing your business to successful heights. What key move did you make this year to increase revenue? No, seriously, we would love to know! Before we close out this year, we have one last lineup of amazing articles for you to explore.

This month we share articles relating to marketing. As we know, marketing is vital for any business. Marketing allows you to connect and engage with your intended audience, differentiating you from your competitors and reaching your target audience.

“Every aspect of marketing is entirely useless unless it produces conversions.” — Jeremy Smith

Today we learn from The Marketing Sherpa about customer-first marketing. Do progress bars help? Find out from Guess The Test. Need a great marketing book? Conversion Rate Experts has a list of the top books you need to be reading. And finally, VWO talks about measuring personalization success. 

Did you know using correct targeting and testing methods, you can boost your conversion rate by 300%?

Customer-First Marketing

https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/customer-fir

The Marketing Sherpa shares case studies discussing why customer-first marketing is the best approach. It’s too easy to get sidetracked and lose sight of what matters; the customer. In this article, learn how to shift into a customer-first strategy.

All three case studies in this article are great, but the last one caught our eye. We learn how a law firm got twice as many reviews simply by asking for them. A reputation is everything to a lawyer, and they depend on quality reviews to generate and keep business.

As a rule, most law firms send out an end-of-action letter summarizing the case. It’s here that a request for a review is mentioned, we agree, not very personal. The law firm Paschal O’Hare decided to try a new approach and started calling or asking in person for a review. Using this new approach, this law firm saw a conversion rate increase of 25%! 

Do you have any personal contact with your consumers?

With or Without the Progress Bar

https://guessthetest.com/test/with-or-without-the-progress-bar/

This month’s Guess The Test article has us asking if a progress bar is best. Greenhouse Group performed an A/B test for Dela, a Dutch insurance company. The test was to see if a three-step progress bar would improve their click-through rate (CTR).

What format do you think won? Yes, I also love a progress bar.

The results:

• 16% increase in CTR from steps 1-2.
• 18% increase in CTR from steps 2-3.
• 18% increase in completed transactions.

Humans have a need to finish what we have started, which is why the progress bar works. Remember not to add too many steps or take too long on each step. Testing has shown a three-step progress bar works best. Below are some examples of different progress bars to consider.

Image Source: Guess The Test

Another reason we love Guess The Test is they explain how we can use this test to optimize our own sites. In this article, they go on to explain why visual clarity is so vital to your users. The ability to have clear, concise instructions is what will set you apart.

The Best Online Marketing Books

https://conversion-rate-experts.com/great-resources/

Conversion Rate Experts have compiled a list of 18 marketing books you “must read.” Let us highlight a few we also consider to be great reads.

First, let’s start with our favorite. The Dip is only 80 pages long but packed full of great ideas for you to try today. Easy to read, full of spunk, and eye-opening. We agree this is a must-read.

Image Source: https://conversion-rate-experts.com/

Another fan favorite is in its 4th edition, Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples. This copywriting legend will guide you through his tried and tested method. Learn how to write copy that targets buyers’ emotions.

Image Source: https://conversion-rate-experts.com/

Making Websites Win by Dr. Karl Blanks and Ben Jessen needs to be at the top of your wish list. This conversion optimization rate book explains in-depth how to apply customer-centric methods. Learn how to make a winning website!

Image Source: https://conversion-rate-experts.com/

Learn about other informative books in this extensive list.

How To Measure Personalization Success

https://vwo.com/blog/how-to-measure-personalization-success-the-key-metrics/

VWO’S December article is one you want to keep for reference. Loaded with formulas to help calculate your standings and improve where needed. VWO teaches us about personalization and the significance of your marketing strategy.

In short- personalization is customizing the experience for returning users. It makes us feel special, feel seen. Once we can hone in on returning customers, our acquisition costs will lower. Below we will share a few of the formulas for better conversions.

Calculating Click-through rate (CTR):

Image Source: https://vwo.com/

By tracking the CTR, we better can understand our users. Personalization becomes easier when tracking past behavior, thus improving the UX. (User Experience)

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Image Source: https://vwo.com/

Tracking the CLV is best used when you have a long-term association with a customer.

Be sure to read the entire article from VWO to gain a more in-depth understanding of personalization. Everyone wants a loyal customer base; learn how to secure yours.

In Conclusion

Understanding our customers and users is the keyway to improve conversions. The best way to do this is through testing; consistent A/B testing will set you apart from your competitors.

Did you know that, on average, for every $92 spent acquiring customers, only $1 is used to convert them? We need to do everything we can to optimize our conversion rate, and companies that allocate funds to optimization tend to see increased conversions.

As we say goodbye to 2022, we invite you to contact us for a free audit. Let’s see what’s working and what needs attention. Remember, conversions are all about testing.

Claim Your Free Audit Here.

The Website:

This website is an eCommerce store in the supplement niche, selling a single product.

What We Tested And Why:

For this test, we tested changing the mobile table into a slider. The previous table was laid out one below the other on the page, which meant a lot of scrolling down to see all the options. 

Our reasoning behind the change was that by making the table into a slider, it would be easier & faster for users to see the different packages on mobile.

The control version of the mobile table is shown below:

The test version of the mobile table slider is shown below:

The Test Results:

We saw a 43.9% increase in the rate of order completion on Mobile. This translated to a 36% increase in revenue per visitor on Mobile.

We reached statistical significance for our Mobile results with a 98% confidence level.

We also recorded the performance of our tests in the different steps of the funnel (users proceed to the checkout page and users complete their purchase).

The revenue results are consistent with our funnel results where we saw increases in all steps of the funnel.

Are you ready to increase your conversion rate on your own website? Why not claim our free CRO audit that can increase your conversions anywhere from 20-100+%?  Answer a few questions and we’ll send over the personalized audit by email!

The articles in this month’s round-up remind me of a quote from Derek Sivers, “Customer service is the new marketing.” When we take a moment to learn about our customers’ needs and wants, we can better serve them, making higher returns.

Today, let’s learn from The Marketing Sherpa, who shares case studies about understanding a customer’s journey from issue to remedy. You will appreciate the Guess the Test article about eye-tracking research. Invesp talks about Shopify Apps and Omniconvert talks about customer effort surveys.

Did you know 72% of customers will share a good experience with over six people? What do your customers say about your company?

Funnel Analysis Case Studies

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/funnel-analysis

This informative article from The Marketing Sherpa presents case studies at three different funnel stages. An e-learning provider adds WhatsApp to their call to action, a sock company tests ad spending with Facebook’s machine learning algorithm, and a real estate firm improves privacy to improve conversions.

The first case study was eye-opening. The Britannia School of Academics noticed more than 2,000 paid clicks visited their website weekly, and only a few would convert; this was a concern. Unfortunately, this is a problem too many companies see daily, many visitors but few who turn into conversions. What did they do? They chose to integrate a WhatsApp contact feature. You can see it near the top on the photo below.

Image source: MarketingSherpa

What happened?

• A conversion rate of 405% was achieved using WhatsApp.
• Of those who used this CTA, 91% enrolled.
• Compared to the 18% conversion rate with live chat.

Continue reading as this case study goes into great detail.

Form Designs – Open or Closed Fields?

https://guessthetest.com/test/which-form-design-won/

It may seem like just a form, but customer forms are essential for lead generation. In this controlled test from Guess the Test, we see whether flat and open fields appeal more to the eye than traditional closed-form fields. What form do you think won?

Image Source: Guess The Test

Yes, version A. Here is a breakdown of those results.

• The conversion rate using the open fields was 2.96%
• The conversion rate using the closed fields was 2.78%
• Saving the company, a -5.8% drop in conversions

In this A/B test, the Call To Action button was also moved from the right side to the left. According to eye tracking research, most users scan a document in an “F” pattern or a “Z” shape. In either pattern, the user will eventually see the bottom left.

Image Source: Guessthetest.com

You can check out eye tracking or heat mapping data to gauge whether users see the most vital information you need seen. Learn more about reading patterns in this informative article.

11 Best Shopify Apps to Use in 2023

https://www.invespcro.com/blog/best-shopify-apps/

Shopify is becoming the most popular e-commerce platforms available today. It’s easy to see why so many business owners start here. Did you know that 1.75+ million businesses globally use Shopify?

Shopify has over 7000 apps designed to assist you in creating a successful store and help net you serious profits.

This article from Invesp breaks down the 11 best apps you need to use. The number one on their list, is the Point of Sale (POS). This app is a must for any Shopify user, allowing your users to pay for purchases. Your users deserve a streamlined and hassle-free shopping experience; this app does that.

Another app from Shopify worth mentioning is Instafeed. This app lets you showcase your Instagram feed directly on an e-commerce store. Even if you are not social media savvy, this is a great, easy way to create that interactive customer experience that drives conversions.

Image Source: invespcro.com

Be sure to check out the other suggested Shopify apps for 2023.

Customer Effort Score

https://www.omniconvert.com/blog/customer-effort-score/

Before we begin, let’s answer what customer effort score means. The CES represents a customer’s effort to interact with your organization. This article mentions that getting an issue resolved efficiently while reducing customer effort is high on the demands of today’s users.

To calculate the customer effort score, you need to send out score surveys after consumer interactions. Typically, these surveys use a rating system from 1-10 on how strongly you agree vs. disagree to what is being asked. To calculate, subtract the percentage of consumers responding positively from those who responded negatively. Below is that formula.

CES Formula=

% of Positive Responses – % of Negative Responses

Here are some ways a customer effort score (CES) could positively influence your business.

• After the transaction
• After solving a complaint or customer interaction
• Customer milestones
• After an inquiry

This article goes into great length about creating your CES survey, the proper way to send them, what a good score looks like, and more.

In Summary

Remember, customer perception must be your reality. It is through a better understanding of our users that we grow. 

We hope this month’s line-up was both informative and eye-opening.

Until next month.

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim Your Free Audit Here.

Only 22% of businesses are happy with their conversion rate, which leaves much room for improvement. Where do you sit when it comes to conversions?

Continue reading as we break down this month’s list of articles showing you different techniques to improve conversions.

See how one company improved sales by 20%, another used a 100-year-old marketing strategy to improve conversions, and why too many options can be bad.

How Apple brilliantly used a 100-year-old persuasion strategy

https://conversion-rate-experts.com/100-year-old-persuasion-strategy/

You don’t want to miss this cool article from Conversion-Rate-Experts. We get to see how an advertising ad from 100 years ago is still one of the best advertising techniques today- and it’s a beer ad!

Image source: Conversion Rate Experts

Apple describes how they use the tried and tested technique of persuasion to improve sales.

As consumers, we like to know the about the process, what’s unique about the product, and we also love a story. Below are a few reasons why the art of persuasion method in advertising works.

• It adds a level of credibility
• It tells a story
• It allows trust to be built

Did you know storytelling can boost conversion rates by 30%? Continue reading this article for more great ideas.

With More or Fewer Content Cards?

https://guessthetest.com/test/with-more-or-fewer-content-cards/

This test is brought to you by Optimizely, a digital experimentation platform. Optimizely uses personalization to suggest “content cards” for related resources. Looking to add leads, the testing team wanted to know what layout works best. Two or three content cards?

The breakdown:

• Version A- 31,801 users saw the three smaller content cards.
• Version B- 32,141 users saw two larger content cards.
• The test ran for three weeks.

Version B is the clear winner with fewer and larger content cards. This single test led to an increase of 26.01% in click-through rate (CTR). 

What did we learn from this article? Too much choice can crush your conversions. As consumers, when presented with too many choices, we become overwhelmed and lose sight of what we need or want. However, if we have too few options, we begin to feel like we have less power over the choice. There is a fine line between the two; A/B testing will help set you on the right path.

Take a look at your site- is it overwhelming, or does it leave too much to question? 

Have you ever heard about the famous jam study? Check it out in this great article from Guess the Test.

Image Source: Guess The Test

Delivering an 18x return on investment for Gousto by kick-starting their CRO program

https://conversion.com/case-study/gousto/

In this article, we find out how Conversion helped Gousto, a subscription-based meal service in the UK, increase ancillary sales by 20%.

Gousto had a problem. They were growing too fast- not a bad problem to have, but still a problem. They had growth targets to meet but couldn’t increase their customer base. What could they do?

They needed to increase the average order value. Through testing, they discovered many users were missing all the additional marketplace items.

So, they repositioned the marketplace as a step rather than an option.

Image Source: Conversion.com

Here are the results:

• Improved sales by 20% 
• 18x return on investment (ROI) in 18 months. 

Once again, proof testing is a MUST for any company. 

Publishers: A/B testing your paywall — Benchmark examples

https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/publishers-a-b-testing-your-paywall-benchmark-examples/

This article from What’s New in Publishing is one not to miss. Six great A/B tests are presented, showing you ideas on where you could be testing. 

One of their goals was to get users to click through to the paywall. Below is the outline of the test run by ELLE Magazine.

Image Source: What’s New In Publishing

• Goal: Increase click-through and conversion rate
• Version A: The standard upright rectangle
• Version B: A banner ribbon

Results:

The upright rectangle worked better amongst less engaged users, whereas the banner worked better for occasional users.

With many examples in this article, you will surely find one that relates to your content.

Summary

Conversion rate optimization is a must for every site. What are you going to do this month to improve your conversion rate?

Let’s close with a quote from Quicksprouf.com “If you double your conversion rates, then you cut your cost per acquisition in half.”

See you next month!

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim Your Free Audit Here.

The end of the year is fast approaching..are you on track with your end of year goals? If you need some ideas to increase your conversions then you’ve come to the right place. 

In this month’s round-up we’ve got some brand new articles which cover not only website optimization, but Facebook ads A/B testing and email marketing conversions.

We also bring you a guide for mobile conversion rate optimization and server-side testing.

Read on to find out more.

Facebook A/B Testing – Complete Guide for New Campaign Improvements [2022]

https://lineardesign.com/blog/facebook-ad-testing/

Let’s start with the basics. What is Facebook ads testing?

In a nutshell it’s testing to find the best ad campaign structure and best ad creatives that appeal to your audience.

Testing frequently should significantly lower your ad spend. 

So what can you test on Facebook ads? At the campaign level you can select what your campaign objective is, such as traffic, sales, leads and so on. Then at the ad set level you can test your target audience and ad delivery optimization.

Image source: LinearDesign

At the ad level, testing different ad creatives is what really counts. It prevents ad fatigue, where people get tired of seeing the same ads all the time which results in a plateau or decline of ad performance.

For example, you can test the ad format  (image, video, carousel, collection), the ad text, call-to-action, landing page, to name a few. 

Read the rest of the in-depth guide to see step by step how to set up a Facebook ad test.

Which personalized email subject line won on mobile?

https://guessthetest.com/test/which-personalized-email-subject-line-won/

In this test, the team wanted to determine which email subject line compelled the pet owners to complete a pet insurance quote. 

If you guessed option A, then you guessed right. 

They hypothesized that owners scanning their inbox would be more inclined to open an email containing their pets name. 

The results speak for themselves:

• 5.26% lift in unique open rates
• 1.12% increase in unique clickthrough rates
• 1.53% more click-to-sale conversions

Read the full article for a thorough discussion of the results. 

CRO for mobile: 12 tried-and-tested strategies to boost your mobile conversion rates

https://conversion.com/blog/cro-for-mobile/

With more than half the time spent online now being on mobile, rather than desktop, it’s never been more important to test on mobile to increase conversion rates. 

Despite this, the latest studies show that mobile conversion rates are significantly lower than desktop. 

Conversion.com shows us how it’s done, with 12 strategies to share. Below is one example:

Payment and checkout must be a smooth and easy process for people on mobile that’s able to be completed in just a few clicks. So it’s worth integrating various digital wallets. Following this, it’s recommended to have a single sign-up option as shown below. 

This will reduce the number of steps required for customers to checkout and increase trust.

Conversion.com

Check out their other suggestions in the full article. 

How To Go From Zero to One in Your Server-Side Experimentation Journey

https://vwo.com/blog/how-to-go-from-zero-to-one-in-your-server-side-experimentation-journey/

So what is server side testing?

It’s where test variations are processed on the web server and not on the front end or the browser. In client side testing, the web page loads first in the browser, and the testing platform shows the test variations using Javascript. 

So what can be tested using server side testing?

Different product recommendations, shipping fees, search algorithms, form lengths, deals and discounts are just a few of the cases.

VWO

Server side testing allows you to run complex tests to solve real issues faced by your customers and improve their overall experience. 

Sounds like a no brainer to us!

In Summary

There are many options for A/B testing, not limited to websites or desktop. 

We hope these articles give you some new ideas for what can be tested. While the learning curve may be steep, the results will be well worth it!

Until next time.

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

This month we have an incredible lineup for you all concerning the customer experience and what you can do to learn more about them.

The Marketing Sherpa shares three great case studies about understanding the customer experience. VWO teaches us how personalization helps deliver the right customer experience. We share a very informative article from Optinmonster about creating an online challenge for your customers. And finally, Invesp gives you the best examples of customer survey questions you should use.

Understanding Customer Experience

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/understanding-customer-experience

Prepare yourself for another stellar article from The Marketing Sherpa. It’s for this reason, we continue to seek out information from this great resource.

Three informative case studies are presented, but case study one had us shaking our heads with excitement. The CRO team at the wildly successful GoStudent tutoring company wanted to understand why so many American consumers were not converting when other countries were. It was time to test.

They used a four-arm bandit test to determine what call to action (CTA) would give the desired results. Below is what variations were tested.

• REQUEST A CALLBACK [Control]
• BOOK A FREE TRIAL SESSION [Variation #1]
• SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL [Variation #2]
• GET YOUR FREE TRIAL [Variation #3]

Image source: MarketingSherpa

Can you guess what variation had a change of 13% in CVR?

How Personalization Helps Deliver the Right Experience

https://vwo.com/blog/how-personalization-helps-deliver-the-right-experiences-to-visitors/

Did you know consumers expect personalization? And no, I do not mean a mug with your name printed on it. The fastest moving companies are tapping into the wealth of data they already have. We must understand our users.

Below you will find the different data types you could use to add more personalization for your users.

VWO

This article from VWO continues going deep into the minds of our users and teaches us how to tap into them.

How to Create an Online Challenge Funnel to Explode Your List

https://optinmonster.com/how-to-create-an-online-challenge-funnel/

Optinmonster

Optinmonster is one of those blogs that goes into major detail. That’s why we love them!

This article teaches us how to create an online challenge funnel. We have heard from a few of you this is new lingo. So, what is a challenge funnel? A challenge funnel is a fantastic way to introduce new customers and users to your products and service.

The challenges serve as a freebie to encourage new users to join your email list. Typically, a contest moves your new user through the funnel, with the end result being a new sale or user.

This article goes step by step through the whole process from:

• How to create an online challenge that brings in leads
• How to promote your challenge funnel
• Why do online challenges work so well?

Don’t miss this informative article from Optinmonster.

The Best Examples of Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions

You may think you have created a top-notch product or service, but the real judge is your customers. If they don’t think you have it, then you don’t. It’s that simple. So how do we get inside the heads of our consumers? We ask them to complete a customer satisfaction survey.

Below are four popular customer satisfaction surveys Invesp shares for you to try today.

1. Customer Satisfaction Score
2. Customer Effort Score
3. Net Promoter Score
4. Milestone Survey

Read on to learn more about each survey.

1. Thank the respondent
2. Address negative feedback
3. Go through every feedback
4. Address any concerns and make a plan for corrective action.

Thanks for another great article Invesp.

In Summary

Our customers and users hold power over how successful we are, and if we don’t listen to them, we will get left behind. Let us close with a quote I love from Jeff Fuhriman, he says:

 “If you don’t listen closely to your most valuable or ideal users and customers, you’re going to have a hard time creating relevant, valuable content.” 

Until next time.

If you are interested in a free conversion optimization audit, submit your site, and we will send you a list of customized optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

As the summer hits the halfway mark, let us take a minute and ask ourselves, have we been playing a little harder than working?

Did you know that conversion rate optimization is being Googled more than ever, and companies spend around $2000 per month on CRO tools? VentureBeat did a study that revealed that, on average, when using conversion rate optimization tools, there was an average Return on Investment (ROI) of 223%! Even more reason to continue exploring what CRO tools work best for you.

This month’s lineup will help get you on your way to success. We share an article from VWO and answer what Hicks Law is and why it’s so important. The Marketing Sherpa shares three case studies, all geared to help your customers believe your marketing message. Guess the Test answers what phone number page layout provided the best results for a major bank in the UK, the accordion drop-down or the standard number list? And finally, we visit VWO again to discuss winning testing results using CRO research. 

As you continue reading, think about what could work for your business and how you would implement it.

What is Hicks Law?

https://vwo.com/blog/what-is-hicks-law-and-how-it-can-simplify-choices/

Ever find yourself at the ice cream shop with 30 different flavors to choose from, and it takes forever to decide what one you want? It’s quick to understand why the line was so long. When we add new options or variations, it becomes difficult to see what’s in front of us. We can become disinterested very fast- the same goes for your customers.

Hicks law is a basic user design principle, that helps alleviate some of the pains of decision-making. This law states- the more choices, the longer it will take to decide. Below is the formula for Hick’s Law.

Image source: Hubspot

This article from VWO also talks about high-velocity testing and why it is critical to simplify the user experience.

Below is a list of variations you could test for.

• Multi-step form vs. email-only accounts
• Two third-party platforms vs. 3 with no email-option
• Collapsible form fields vs. static fields

It’s easy to see why we enjoyed this article from VWO.

How Customers Believe Your Marketing Message

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/value-proposition

Ever try to get your point across to someone, and they just aren’t getting it? We agree this is frustrating, even more so when your business is on the line. This article from The Marketing Sherpa brings you three case studies, all geared to help make believers out of your customers.

The first case study is from Pizza Hut. This popular pizza chain has an in-house startup focused on the experience of its digital users.

The digital ventures team noticed that customers were not clicking on the popular deals page. It was time for testing. Learn how this team turned a simple A/B test into a projected increase in sales of $7.8 million by helping direct their customer exactly where they wanted them to go.

MarketingSherpa

Case study #3 was very neat; it explained how one owner set out to use YouTube and its influencers to improve sales. They list the process from start to finish in this article from The Marketing Sherpa.

Which Page Layout Reduced Call Volumes?

https://guessthetest.com/test/which-page-layout-reduced-call-volumes-standard-or-accordion/

In my opinion, this A/B test from Guess the Test was pretty obvious. Which page layout would reduce call volumes the most? The standard phone list or a categorized drop-down accordion list?

A major UK bank’s call volume was incredibly high. While using the standard phone list, 50% of callers were phoning the wrong number looking for specific banking issues. This was a problem that needed fixing.

Although this study was flawed due to the traffic split of 75/25, it’s safe to say the accordion style is more user-friendly, resulting in a 12% reduction in calls.

guessthetest.com

This article also goes on to talk about the scan-ability of your webpage. Did you know only 16% of users will read every word? Learn how to make your website more skimmable and scannable to improve your user’s experience.

Learn How to Get Winning Ideas with Conversion Research

https://vwo.com/blog/how-to-get-winning-testing-ideas-with-conversion-research/

Conversion research is vital. Before you test, you must know what and why you are testing. Going in blind will never yield the same results as a carefully considered A/B test.

Below is a list of possible achieved goals when proper conversion research is performed.

• Write copy that aligns with your customer’s needs and reduces their fears.
• Catch existing user experience errors.
• Help understand the user behaviors
• Provide user-friendly designs that help your customers.

VWO also provides you with a seven-item checklist to help you evaluate the useability pains of your website. Items such as; are your website elements consistent across all webpages? Is the text on your webpage readable? Find out the entire list in the article.

Remember, A/B testing was ranked the highest method for improving conversions by almost 50%. However, you must know what to test and why.

This article goes on to break down the four pillars for analysis.

• Heuristic analysis
• Technical analysis
• Behavior analysis
• Qualitative & Voice of Customer (VoC) research

Once again, another great article from VWO not to be missed.

In Summary

Let’s end with a saying from my grandmother; take what you need and leave the rest. Take a look and see what tips and tricks you can use to get better conversions and make more profits!

Remember, if you are not testing, constantly trying to improve, your competitors most likely are. What steps are you taking today?

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” ~ H James Harrington

Are you interested in a free conversion optimization audit?

Submit your site and let us send you a list of custom optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

Together we will explore 5 new rules of landing page testing from the ever-popular Unbounce. Guess The Test stumped me this month when they asked what filter order won. You will enjoy the article from The Marketing Sherpa; three case studies are examined, including one from Coors Light and how they got 8 million impressions by partnering with a popular podcast. And last but not least, VWO talks about SEO testing.

You’re Doing Landing Page Testing Wrong: These Are The 5 Rules To Do It Right

https://unbounce.com/landing-pages/landing-page-testing/

Unbounce has prepared a great article all about landing pages and the power they can hold. This article talks about what happens when landing page testing goes wrong. Also, some of the agency powers to focus on, such as prioritizing a small group of low-effort tests.

However, the main focus of this article is the 5 new rules of landing page testing. We particularly liked rule 2- focus aggressively on how the offer is presented. This rule shares that more often, you won’t need to change your offer or goals; however, you need to find a way to create more motivation by creating compelling copy.

Unbounce

Below is a list of the 5 rules for you to explore:

1. Traffic conversion intent must follow call-to-action (CTA) intent.
2. Focus aggressively on the offer itself.
3. Use the Breadcrumb Technique on your forms.
4. Don’t stop at the “Thank You” page.
5. Go all-in on Smart Traffic.

Which Filter Order Won? “Best Result” Placed First or Last?

https://guessthetest.com/test/which-filter-order-won-best-result-placed-first-or-last/

We got this one wrong- how did you do? From the poll, many more of us got it wrong than right. This experiment from Guess the Test tested whether placing the “Best Results” option in the filter menu was best placed first or last.

It turns out that when it came to Dell, the popular computer company’s “deals” webpage, customers were more inclined to engage when viewing Price: Low to High first.

For this test, the filter menu categories were ordered as follows:

Guess The Test

With version B being the clear winner, it is safe to say- the results may not always be as they seem. Keep in mind that small changes can make a huge difference. Something as simple as testing the side filter could net you large returns.

This is a great article to remind us always to be testing, and nothing is too minor to test.

Customer Engagement: Marketing case studies from Coors Light, a professional soccer team & a private jet charter

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/customer-engagement

As always, we can count on The Marketing Sherpa to present us with case studies that make us stop and take notice. This month is no different.

The first case study shares how a private jet charter company got 17% more interest after adding a catchy opening paragraph to its homepage. Case study #2 is about Valencia’s football club and how they gained 5808 new newsletter subscribers by gathering zero and first-party data collection. Moving forward, we will see a lot more companies move from third-party data (i.e., tracking cookies) to zero and first-party information. This information is intentionally provided by the customer, allowing for more genuine and honest relationships.

And the final case study is brought to you by Coors Light. We learned by partnering with a popular podcast and being a presenting sponsor of the Pardon My Take’s 5th annual Grit Week, Coors Light had some massive results.

“Authentic endorsement is the key to all podcast partnerships,” said Lisa Jacobs, VP of Media.

Below is an example of a CRO (conversion rate optimization) loop used in all tests Linear uses.

Marketing Sherpa

Here are the results of this campaign.

• 23 million minutes of Grit Week content were watched
• The brand received 8 million new impressions
• Over 166,000 engagements

As always The Marketing Sherpa has delivered some great stuff!

Why You Should Test Your SEO Ideas Before You Ship Them

https://vwo.com/blog/why-you-should-test-your-seo-ideas-before-you-ship-them/

According to VWO, your conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategy needs two areas to run well. Search engine optimization (SEO) and A/B testing.

SEO has evolved into its own world, and Google keeps changing its algorithm, making SEO something to be constantly tested. By routinely optimizing your landing pages to improve the user experience (UX), Google is signaled. Resulting in Google incentivizing you with a higher ranking.

VWO

One of the top factors for ranking is user intent. Although hard to predict your visitors’ behaviors, there is good news. It is possible to run A/B testing without impacting your SEO negatively. And on top of it, Google encourages you to A/B test your SEO changes.

Googlebot then crawls these changes to help Google learn the new information and better rank you.

Be sure to read through this entire article for information not to be missed.

In Summary

Did you know that 61% of companies test their landing pages up to five times per month! Where do you stand when it comes to testing?

We hope this month’s round-up offered you some insight into what steps you should take to move forward.

Let us close with a quote we love:

“I don’t care much for Best Practice — I care about conversions. That’s why I test”

 – Michael Aagaard

Are you interested in a free conversion optimization audit?

Submit your site and let us send you a list of custom optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

The Website:

This website is an Amazon affiliate site in the home heating and cooling niche. 

What We Tested And Why:

For this test we added a product rating above the call-to-action buttons on the comparison tables of the review pages. By giving visitors that bit of extra information, we thought it would help people to make an informed decision on which product to purchase and encourage them to buy. 

We also added a sticky anchor button which appeared at the bottom of the page once you scrolled down further than the comparison table section. This button would return users back up to the section. By adding this, we thought it would allow users to quickly return and click through to buy the product, once they had read the full reviews further down the page and made a decision.

The Test Details:

The desktop version of the product rating is shown below:

The Test Results:

We saw an overall increase in clicks per visitor of 6.5%, a 67.7% increase in orders per visitor and a 43.1% increase in revenue per visitor. 

For all the data of the pages we tested combined, we reached a 99% confidence level. 

The heatmaps also confirm that the product rating helped in increasing engagement in the comparison table section. 

Why not claim our free CRO audit that can increase your conversions anywhere from 20-100+%? 

Answer a few questions and we’ll send over the personalized audit by email!

This month we are talking about customer perception, how to optimize your landing and checkout page, and what your potential customers are really looking for.

Did you know that most companies spend about $1 on conversion rate optimization for every $92 spent on customer acquisition! Yes, I’m shaking my head also- that’s crazy. However, the top converting companies spend over 5% of their budget on conversion rate optimization. Ask yourself where do you stand?

Today let’s look at a few great articles from those sites we have come to trust, beginning with Guess the Test asking us what’s more important, time or Money? The Marketing Sherpa shares 3 great case studies, one asking if a contact form on the homepage is beneficial or not. We look at 11 usability tools for landing page performance from Linear Design. And finally, we learn about optimizing your landing page checkout with 5 useful tips from Unbounce.

Time or Money? Which offer converts better?

https://guessthetest.com/test/time-or-money-which-offer-converts-better/

Guess the Test shares a great test with us. This one has a few flaws. We find the flawed studies just as good to evaluate as the well-done tests. When we review these, we can learn what not to do.

This test is brought to you by a phone company connecting families and friends to those in India. The test aimed around the call to action button with one reading the number of bonus minutes (241) over free credit ($3). Which one do you think faired best?

Guess The Test

Regardless of the outcome, this test was flawed. During the total time of this test, 19,000 PhoneIndia subscribers received emails. 50% of those emails were sent with 25% describing an extra 241 minutes, and the other 25% reading a free $3 credit. The remaining 50% were then sent to the winning call to action button. In turn, this left us without clear results. Traffic needs to be equally allocated and no changes should be made throughout the entire study.

This article also goes on to discuss the “Rule of 100”. In Johan Berger’s book Contagious, he goes into depth saying products should be priced to influence perception, so buyers feel they’re getting the best deal possible. Learn more about this rule and how to ensure you are running precise tests.

Pull The Customer Forward: 3 quick marketing case studies

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/pull-customer

Ever wish you could tell a customer what to do and they’d actually listen? Yea, we make that same wish all the time. However, that’s not the case. We have to spark ideas and help guide them to where we want them. With a little practice, this process can be achieved.

Take the study done by Century Law Group an injury lawyer firm, they tested two landing page options, one with a number and form to fill out and one with just a number. This result surprised us. The landing page using the form as a clear call to action was the ultimate winner with conversions 53.2% better.

Marketing Sherpa

The reason behind this is those needing the services of a personal injury lawyer have enough on their minds. They need clear direction on where to go to get the help needed. If you’re in a similar industry where emotions run high, be sure to test your landing page using the form method.

Read this complete article for two other interesting case studies from the Marketing Sherpa.

11 Usability Testing Tools to Improve Landing Page Performance

https://lineardesign.com/blog/usability-testing-tools/

We love this quote from Dana Chisnell “Want your users to fall in love with your designs? Fall in love with your users.” This couldn’t be truer. The more you know about your customers and potential customers the more you can generate a page they will use. And in turn a product or service they will buy.

They say the most common user action on a website is to flee it. Liner Design looks at 11 usability testing tools to help improve your landing page. 

Before you dive into this article to find what usability testing tool will work best for you, there are a few things you need to know. Beginning with asking yourself what you want out of it?

The platform you use is dependent on the test you design. Here are a few things to determine.

1. Narrowing your research questions and your hypothesis
2. What type of data do you need to collect?

These answers will help you decide what usability testing method you should use.

Below is an example of a CRO (conversion rate optimization) loop used in all tests Linear uses.

Linear Design

Optimize Your Landing Page Checkout Process with These 5 Tips

https://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/checkout-process/

This article is all about A/B testing (aka: controlled experimentation). Andrew Hon from Medium shares with you a talk he gave to product managers from around the world. He explains the vital reasons why A/B testing is necessary for the growth of your company.

Three main points:

1. A/B testing is a simple idea that can be simple to apply
2. Useful for more than incremental optimization — A/B tests can yield deep insight
3. Fail Fast and Just Test It — A/B tests have the highest ROI of any data activity

Andrew worked for both Disney and Tinder building the A/B test to improve usability and overall growth of the companies. This article takes examples from both. Including, this test from tinder determining what iconography to use.

Unbounce

Make sure to include options to register using an existing Facebook or Google account. This easy sign-up option will add to the number of potential customers willing to sign-up.

This article is loaded with some great stuff you need to know today.

In Summary

We want to close with this great quote from Bryan Eisenberg.

“Trying to increase sales simply by driving more traffic to a website with a poor customer conversion rate is like trying to keep a leaky bucket full by adding more water instead of plugging the holes.”

You need to understand what your customers need, and you must deliver. Traffic doesn’t mean conversions. 

See you next month!

Are you interested in a free conversion optimization audit?

Submit your site and let us send you a list of custom optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.

Today we’re bringing you part 2 of our Affiliate Case Study. 

The Website:

This website is in the adult niche and reviews products that are sold on various eCommerce stores. 

Test Details & Background:

For this test we added an in-house designed exit popup and sticky footer which contained a call-to-action button to compel users to click through to see the top product. 

By clicking the button they would be redirected to view the product on the store product page. 

Below is the mockup of the exit popup on desktop:

Below is a mockup of the exit popup on mobile:

Below is a mockup of the sticky footer on desktop:

Below is a mockup of the sticky footer on mobile:

The Results:

The tests ran for 3 weeks, to reach a 99% confidence level.

7 out of the 10 pages we tested had an increase in clicks, with the overall increase for the 10 pages being 29.6%.

6 out of the 10 pages had an increase in orders, and increase in revenue. 

The overall increase in sales per visitor was over 10x the original and the increase in revenue per visitor was over 50x.

On mobile specifically, having long sales copy with infrequent call to actions can drastically hinder conversion, as in this example. By always having a call to action floating at the bottom of the mobile device screen, just above the user’s thumb, the user can quickly click it without having to navigate around your site to look for a call to action. 

Think about it like this, once they are reading through your sales copy and subconsciously say “Yes, this is for me”, you want to have that call to action right there for them to click when they are ready to buy.

Although very simple, conversion tactics like these are some of the best performing for many of our clients.

Are you ready to increase your conversion rate on your own website?

Why not claim our free CRO audit that can increase your conversions anywhere from 20-100+%? 

Answer a few questions and we’ll send over the personalized audit by email!

In this month’s Round-up we bring you valuable information regarding A/B testing and how, when, and where to use it.

Today you will learn from Guess the Test about using the top display banner or not. VWO looks at the widely successful Bear Mattress, and how they are improving revenue. Marketing Sherpa shares three-speed to value marketing case studies featuring A/B testing. And finally, Medium offers us a wealth of knowledge all about- you guessed it, A/B testing.

The articles we have set forth today will explain why A/B testing is so vital for the success of your business. As Chris Grosser says, “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”  So, sit back and get inspired.

With or Without the Top Product Display Banner

https://guessthetest.com/test/with-or-without-the-top-product-display-banner/

A/B testing is what Guess the Test is all about, and this month is no different. The company used for this month’s test was a guitar company named SweetWater. The KPI (Key Performance Indicator) was engagement measured by unique views of guitar product detail pages, Average Order Value (AOV), and purchases of guitars.

Version A used a top-placed display banner above the featured item, and version B did not. Which one do you think came out above? Yup, you are right – version A was the clear winner. The study ran for one month and saw over 2.2 million sessions. The traffic from these visits was split evenly 50/50.

Guess The Test

Compared to the version without the top banner, including it led to:

• 118% conversion lift in unique views of guitar product detail pages 
• 5.72% increase in Average Order Value (AOV)
• 6.64% rise in purchases containing a guitar

Time To Value: 3 Speed-To-Value Marketing Case Studies

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/time-to-value

We love sharing the case studies from the Marketing Sherpa. Today is all about rapidly getting the attention of your potential customers and providing them the value they require before they help send your bounce rate soaring.

The first case study brings you to Talkspace, an online couple’s therapy that used an A/B test to determine if shortening an end-of-quiz animation would increase conversions. Well, it did, by a staggering 60%. By getting out of the customer’s way, Talkspace brought the information the customers needed faster, in turn generating more returns.

Marketing Sherpa

Version A tested an animation for signup at 8 seconds, version B shortened this process to 4 seconds. Results showed version B outscored version A by 60%. In addition to testing different video lengths, you should test different video locations and run testing on the checkout flow.

How Bear Mattress Leveraged Cross-Sell Opportunities with VWO and Increased Revenue By 16% – Success Story

https://vwo.com/success-stories/bear-mattress/

We love to share success stories with you, especially when we see huge numbers like these. Founded in 2014, this mattress company with a vision to change the way we sleep, aspired to some massive goals. And with continued testing and adjusting, they are getting there.

The goal of their latest test was to aim at increasing revenue by focusing on optimizing the cross-sell flow on the mattress product detail pages of the website.

They determined using VWO Insights that:

1. There wasn’t much visitor interaction within the frequently bought with mattress section. Which consists of the cross-sell product listings.
2. Overall clicks on cross-sell products were fewer compared to the other elements of the page.
3. Images weren’t showing with items present in the ‘frequently bought with mattress’ section of the page, which was impacting the engagement.
4. The copy was not customer-centric but product-centric. It did not pique interest or give enough reasons to customers to consider buying the product.

VWO

Overall, the variation outperformed the control with a 24.18% uplift in successful purchases and a 16.21% increase in revenue. Take a look and see how you can implement a test like this for your website.

A/B Testing for Product Managers

https://medium.com/@andrewhon_95925/a-b-testing-for-product-managers-267ef1853483

This article is all about A/B testing (aka: controlled experimentation). Andrew Hon from Medium shares with you a talk he gave to product managers from around the world. He explains the vital reasons why A/B testing is necessary for the growth of your company.

Three main points:

1. A/B testing is a simple idea that can be simple to apply
2. Useful for more than incremental optimization — A/B tests can yield deep insight
3. Fail Fast and Just Test It — A/B tests have the highest ROI of any data activity

Andrew worked for both Disney and Tinder building the A/B test to improve usability and overall growth of the companies. This article takes examples from both. Including, this test from tinder determining what iconography to use.

Medium

This article also discusses some critical testing from the widely successful SpaceX. Don’t miss this great article from Medium.

In Summary

As a takeaway- a collection of quotes from the ones who have gotten it right!

Jeff Bezos, Amazon: “Our success at Amazon is a function of how many experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day.”

Google: “… Experimentation is practically a mantra; we evaluate almost every change that potentially affects what our users experience.”

Netflix: “… Every product change Netflix considers goes through a rigorous A/B testing process before becoming the default user experience.”

We hope this sparked some ideas for you. Remember, if we are not testing and improving, we are not growing. What areas of your site could use a re-vamp?

See you next month!

Are you interested in a free conversion optimization audit?

Submit your site and let us send you a list of custom optimizations just for you!

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Did you know that since the start of the pandemic, e-commerce businesses rose by a whopping 17.9%? 

How did you fare last year? 

As the new year falls upon us, it is time to take a serious look at our goals for the coming year. No, we are not saying to make a resolution list- we all know these don’t work. We are talking about asking yourself honestly, where do I want to be at the end of the year? What do I want my business to look like? And how do I get there?

By the time you get to the end of this article, we are confident you will have more concrete answers to these questions.

1. Understanding Your Audience

Understanding your audience can be the difference between someone who visits your site and a customer who helps yield results. That’s why you are here, right? 

As we move into 2022, more and more people want to be heard – gone are the days of a generic site geared to everyone. You need to stand out.

Let me explain. 

I know it may sound creepy but track your customer’s interests. Learn their behaviors, find out what social media platforms they use, what blogs they read, what grabs their attention? With this knowledge, you can run specifically targeted ads. Not only does this help minimize the amount you spend on ads but will almost guarantee you are maximizing the revenue from those ads. 

Another keyway to understand your clientele is to send out surveys. I know what you are thinking, who does those things anyway? Your current customers are likely willing to help. If they know it’s all to better serve them, they might jump at the chance to help. This, coupled with any online feedback you already get from existing customers is a great place to start. 

Pixabay

Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no. 

Let’s look at a few more tips to help you better understand your audience and gain more conversions.

Tips to help understand your audience

• Communicate with them – ask them what they want and listen.
• Use social media networks to learn what interests them.
• Show them who is working behind the screen – let them get to know you and your team.
• Be approachable.
• Use online tools such as Audience Analytics and chatbots.
• Learn your demographic.

2. Minimizing Website Load Times

You know it, I know it, we all know it – waiting for a website to load is a sure-fire way to get someone to exit your site and move on. We live in a world of instant gratification. Nobody wants to wait for a slow webpage. 

Crazy Egg

It doesn’t take much to get a user to abandon your site. If you have a delay of even 100 milliseconds, that could send your potential user to your competitor. On average this small delay could result in a 7% decrease in conversions. 

Did you know if a smartphone user must wait close to 3 seconds for a webpage to load, you have a 53% chance they leave your site? Those are huge numbers!  

Let’s break down what a 1-second delay in upload time can mean.

• 11% fewer page views
• 7% decrease in conversions
• 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
• 47% of potential customers believe a page should load in less than 2 seconds.
• 79% of customers said they would not return to a slow site – ever! 

If the potential customer won’t stay to see what you have to offer, everything else you have done or will do means nothing. 

Ways to improve website loading time.

• Reduce the file size of your images and videos. 
• Use JPG when possible. 
• Optimize your design for mobile users
• Reduce your redirects
• Cache your webpages

3. Optimize Your Design for Mobile Users

We mentioned this above as a way to improve the speed of your site, but this deserves a deeper dive. Historically, desktop users convert to more sales because desktop users are more often in the buying state of mind than mobile users. This, however, is starting to balance out a bit more.

Today, everyone has a smartphone. Anyone can access your website from anywhere in the world. Experts predict that as we move forward, mobile users will be just as important as desktop users if not more so. Similar to the home phone – desktops are now seen in fewer and fewer homes. Don’t miss out on the top trend of 2022.

Another key area to look at is Adobe Flash. Back in the day, it was all the rave. However, today it doesn’t serve much purpose but slows you down. Ditch the animation, ditch the overly busy. Try to stick to a simple, clean design your users will appreciate. Help them stay on track and not get distracted from the real reason they are on your page – to solve a problem. 

Top ways to optimize for mobile users:

• Test, test, and re-test
• Pick a responsive web design
• Speed is vital to your success
• Use AMP in your webpages
• Compress images

4. Building Trust Through Transparency

Conversions are largely influenced by trust. The best way to build trust is to be transparent. Consumers are demanding that we use transparency in design. Ask yourself – do I have a website I would trust?

Let’s dive into what that means and how to implement this in your website and overall business.

One of the key factors to build trust through transparency is to be as upfront as possible. Don’t try to fool people- now is the time for honesty. 

• Always invest in secure systems
• Informed data usage is vital
• Always be upfront about pricing – try to avoid any hidden costs

Your users should know what your app will have access to. (What information are you obtaining from them – be clear) If they understand that the collection of data is for a better user experience, they will be more inclined to offer it to you.

Once you build trust, it will help with conversions and retention. We need those customers to come back, and they will if they trust you. 

5. Using True Social Proofs

Using true social proofs is what will set you apart this year. More and more companies are moving towards this way of gaining trust with customers. True social proofs may be the most important trend of 2022.

We must move past the generic photo claiming this product is great. Everyone thinks their product is great. Your customers are smarter than you think. We as humans tend to trust what our peers say more than the head of a business. I bet you have some loyal customers who would be thrilled to be a part of your success. It doesn’t hurt to ask- right?

Did you know a study done by WordPress states 82% of potential customers are more likely to trust a company that uses real people in their marketing campaigns and ads? 

How to use social proofs in your business:

• Use real-life customers, their pictures, and their words.
• Ask them directly to share your company or product on their social media sites. (You can offer those who help a discount- however, most people want to help without the payback)
• Contact an internet influencer who knows or works with your target audience and ask for help – you may be surprised how easy this one is.

Here is a popular example.

Swedish watch company Daniel Wellington is known for using influencers on Instagram to promote their watches. Year after year they see their conversions grow.

Coredna

6. User Experience (UX)

This should go without saying, but, if a user isn’t having a good experience, they are quick to exit your site and move on. If that potential customer doesn’t stick around, it’s hard to convert them into a sale. That is why in 2022 it’s imperative to put the user experience first and foremost. Even Google says having a great UX score will lead to a better ranking, and in turn, lead to more conversions. 

You need your customers to find your content useful, your product valuable, and your site credible. Your website should be easy to navigate and the information easily accessible. If you can tick all these boxes, you will be one step closer to a conversion

iservice

Keeping with the customer’s experience and needs being at the forefront of everything you do, ask yourself what is it that gets you to vacate a site? One of the top reasons people leave a site is too many pop-ups, and videos that play on repeat. Ditch these as soon as you can.

Keyways to improve the User Experience (UX)

• Make your content interesting. Find a link between the company and the customer. Using a brand story will help achieve this.
• Don’t be annoying. Skip the extra fluff – you don’t need it. 
• Be direct and keep it clean and transparent – don’t try to hide anything. Be as honest as you can. It will yield results.
• Speed is huge – nobody has time for your webpage to load.
• Make it easy to ask for assistance – use the chatbot. This is another trend most sites are now using in 2022

7. Simplify Your Checkout Page

Congratulations, you got your customer to the checkout page, you have almost hit the goal line. However, 60%-80% of potential customers leave your site at this point, never to return. It’s a sad fact, but true. 

Do you know what your abandonment rate is?  

One of the leading causes of high abandonment rates is a busy and difficult checkout page. On average, a potential customer stays on your page for 15 seconds. That is not a lot of time. In those 15 seconds, you must make sure your point gets across, that trust is built, and you are providing the product or service you promised. 

The online user is impatient and nervous to give out too much information. That is why we suggest ditching the mandatory account setup and instead opt for a guest option as well.

Pixabay

Keys ways to simplify your landing page:

• Make it easy. Easy to get to payment, easy to add or remove items from the cart, easy to ask questions. 
• Keep it simple – your checkout page should only contain four items – 1. Checkout 2. Delivery Details 3. Payment Details 4. Confirmation
• Include a visual indicator of the checkout process. When the customer knows what to expect, they are more inclined to continue the process until the end of the indicator. As a new company, we suggest keeping your checkout process to a maximum of 4 steps – more than that, and you could lose so close to the finish line. 

Above all else test, test, and test again. Make sure to perform an A/B test for the different layouts and designs. Knowing your audience will help with this checkout process.

In Summary

We are all here for conversions, right? Using these 7 top trends of 2022 is sure to put you ahead of your competition. The main takeaway from this article is how our customers feel about using our site – everything goes back to the User Experience. 

As you implement some of these trends into your website, we encourage you to keep testing, trying new things, and continuously be learning. 

By optimizing for customer success, you’re more than likely optimizing for growth.

– Alex Turnbull

Are you interested in a free conversion optimization audit?

Submit your site and let us send you a list of custom optimizations just for you!

Claim your Free Audit Here.