You’re spending money on marketing, PR, social media, SEO, and just about everything in between trying to bring traffic to your website. The clicks are coming but somewhere on your brand’s conversion journey, you seem to be losing potential customers. While it is  impossible to convert every site visitor into a client, most brands don’t have a good understanding of where along the journey (and what along the sales journey) is causing the dropoff.   Then the supposition starts and entire marketing funnels are modified on hunches  instead of real, hard data.

We know that tackling a conversion strategy can be daunting for even the most experienced professionals. As a result, approximately  68% of small businesses skip implementing and creating a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) strategy altogether.

Implementing a poor (or even non-existent) CRO strategy can be detrimental to a brand’s growth. The average website in the United States (across all industries) has a conversion rate of 2.35%. Compare this to the 11% conversion rate that the top 10% of websites on this list average. That means that the most successful brands can convert their website traffic at a rate of nearly 5 times more than those falling behind.

While it’s true that implementing an impactful CRO campaign can seem daunting, it’s not impossible. What might be surprising is that some of the most powerful CRO strategies and tactics can be implemented by brands without much hassle.

The space is ever-changing and sometimes keeping up with the trends means staying in tune with what’s working for brands around you. While what might work for one brand is not guaranteed to work for another, it doesn’t hurt to understand the landscape.

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Here are some key trends every marketing professional should know as they start to build future campaigns.

1. Use language that the customer understands –

More and more brands are using first-person language that is personable and friendly for the customer. This avoids the feeling of inauthenticity and overselling that has dominated in the past. Personalization is not a new trend, it’s a concept that has been around for many years. While the idea may not be novel, a lot of growth and innovation continues to happen in the world of personalization making it something to stay on top of. The continued potential for growth is the reason why it re-emerge as a buzzword and continues to stay trending. Easy Implementation: Consider changing the language on your promotional banners. Instead of using phrases like “Sign Up” consider using the first-person language such as “Sign ME Up” or “Redeem MY Offer.”

2. Focus on keeping the customer engaged –

Customers have fleeting attention spans giving you a small window to hook them. Keeping your customer engaged and entertained along the way is a sure way to make sure they execute and finish the requested task. Today more than ever brands are learning that it’s important to keep customers engaged- every step of the way. More brands, especially prevalent amongst software and apps, have started implementing cues along a customer’s website journey that tell the customer exactly what’s happening after an action is taken. This allows customers to get a better sense of how long something will take instead of being frustrated when a process does not meet their expectation. A great example of this is messenger apps that allow you to see when a person is typing to increase engagement, interaction, and interest.

Easy Implementation: Instead of using a basic password field that only tells customers their password isn’t working, opt for an option that lists all of the requirements and it checks them off as the customer is filling the field in.

3. The use of Augmented Reality (AR) –

The use of AR in e-commerce is increasing. As AR becomes especially popular with companies that provide household items such as furniture, electronics, etc, these brands try to incorporate in-store experiences into their digital spaces. The use of the technology has allowed consumers, many of whom have faced some form of in-store shopping restrictions due to the pandemic, to experience the product almost firsthand. The use of AR allows people to visualize how a particular item can fit inside of a home, ultimately aiding in the online purchasing decision.

Easy Implementation: Thinking of reworking your app? Incorporating features of AR to help customers better interact with the brand and ultimately help customers in their purchasing decision.

4. Microengagements or Low Hurdle Strategies –

In sales psychology, there’s a common tactic called foot-in-the-door. You want to ease your customers with small requests first and then ask for a large request later. If you try to get your customer to provide personal information at the top of the funnel, the likelihood of it succeeding is much lower than if you were to try to ease them into it by asking them to fill out several questions first to better serve them.

Easy implementation: If you have a form for the customer to complete, start with the easiest questions first. For example, if you are an auto loan company, you’d start with New or Used. Show one or two questions at a time so that it will be very easy for the customer to keep progressing instead of showing all the questions at first. Along the way, educate the customer on the benefits of your product. Customers will be much more willing to provide valuable personal information in the end compared to if it were asked from the very beginning.

Keeping up with customer expectations is crucial to a brand’s success.  This may be  through innovation of product,  but may also be through streamlining user experience.  While keeping up with the latest trends is important to conversions, nothing beats a robust A/B testing program.   A testing program will allow your brand to determine what works best for your individual audience, regardless of trends and help you best serve your customers.  Be sure to implement A/B testing throughout your entire process. Nailing down the weaknesses on your site can create an opportunity to improve efficiency and effectiveness, ultimately enhancing the customer experience.

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