Achieving excellence in digital marketing strategy is a process of continuous improvement. Even for the best of us, there is always a gap between our knowledge and the most current state of the art in the field. In Mind the Gap, we cover the latest developments in digital marketing. Squeeze this weekly podcast into your schedule to keep up with great new ideas and Mind The Gap.

Conversion rate optimization is improving the multiplier at the end of your revenue equation, pushing the needle towards greater success. What’s a good conversion rate? Depending on who you ask and what industry you are talking about, that could be between 2 and 5%. But no matter what your current conversion rate is and how it compares to industry benchmarks, it can always be better, right? Every time you overlook an opportunity to improve your conversion rate, you leave money on the table. That small reduction in percentage of success applies to every customer you attract with paid ads or earned media. So use these 8 tips to take a close look at your customer journey and develop a strategy to optimize your conversion rate. 

 

1. Make Your Value Proposition Clear and Concise

We can’t over-emphasize the importance of making your value proposition clear. If you want to sell something, it is important to tell people what it is. Your customers value their time. Show you respect them by communicating what you can do for them clearly and quickly up front. If the basic concept of your offer interests them, they will read on and you can persuade them. If you beat around the bush and try to capture their interest without clearly telling them: “here’s what’s in it for you” you risk losing their attention.

By starting off on the right foot with your customers and offering them a clear value proposition from the start, you increase the chance they will follow the journey to the final step. The fidget spinner fad might seem puzzling to some. These simple toys spin around a central access easily. There is no particular challenge. There is not a lot to understand: they spin. The value proposition was clear. “What’s in it for me?” Well, if you are very easily entertained, we’ve got just the thing for you!

At Viral Octopus our value proposition is also simple: We make it easy to take care of digital marketing tasks. We offer easy-to-manage comprehensive modular digital marketing services for CMOs who need to outsource a one-time or ongoing task, Agencies that want to increase profits and scale by selling drop services, and small and medium businesses with in-house marketing capability looking to augment their DIY efforts with some expert help and insight.

 

2. Make An Easy First Step

A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Once someone takes the first step in a process, they tend to want to complete that process more than before they make that initial commitment. By designing your process so that the first step involves minimal effort, you encourage consumers to embark on a journey that they may complete. The higher percentage of your visitors you can get to make a small commitment (say, sharing their email to get a discount), the higher percentage you can bring to the final step of making a purchase.

 

3. Ensure An Easy Checkout

This concept is very straightforward. Once someone has decided they want to make a purchase, make sure you don’t lose them by making the process too difficult. It’s quite a tragedy to get someone all the way to that final step and then have them abandon their cart in frustration. Take a very close look and make sure your process is as efficient and easy as possible. If you need to collect a lot of information, breaking that process up into smaller pieces can help.

 

4. Retarget Visitors

When someone comes to your website, you can place a cookie on their computer and bid to display ads to them in the future. You can set up your purchase process so that you have a thank you screen at the end of a completed purchase that places a cookie to show that customer has already converted. This way, you avoid bidding to advertise to your existing customers. You can set up a separate ad campaign for them if you want to generate recurring sales. The Facebook “Pixel” offers easy retargeting. Viral Octopus has a service to set this up. 

 

5. Pricing Table with Clear Comparison

Presenting your offers in a visually clear format helps your customers take action, make a choice and purchase. Price tables with columns comparing service features with a price and a “Buy Now” button on the bottom are a good example of a clear layout that helps consumers choose. Make the process easy and clear to sell more. 

 

6. Page Load Speed

The best visual website design and the ideal copy won’t achieve anything if the page loads so slowly that your customers give up before they see what you have. A variety of tools are available to gauge page load speed and assess opportunities for improvement. You may also need to consider changing servers if your server is the cause of slow page loads. 

 

7. Show Social Proof 

We’ve said it before but it bears repeating: People can look to you for information about your product, but they know you may be biased. They may think the opinions of other consumers are more reliable than your own claims about your product. The more the other consumers are like them, the more they will be inclined to trust their opinion is relevant to their own purchase decision. Try to find reviews and testimonials from customers that match each customer profile in your potential market. 

 

8. Add a Count-Down Timer

We don’t have much time left, so we will leave you with a quick way to boost sales. Create a limited time special offer and display it with a countdown timer. Viral Octopus is currently offering a discount on our easy to use podcast production service, but it is about to run out. How many days until you set up your own countdown timer? Give it a try! It only works if you do it. If you don’t have time, we can set one up for you. 

 

These digital marketing tips only work if you use them

We hope you find this insight on digital marketing excellence useful. This knowledge can improve your results, but you have to put it into action. So find a way to apply it and test it. Take a baseline measurement and compare your new improved outcome. Join the Viral Octopus collective and share and discuss your results with others who are striving for excellence. And come back and join us next week for more powerful new marketing tips and tricks. Don’t get left behind: Mind The Gap.