Review of Conversion Optimization Minidegree Program (Pt. 13)
So optimizing is all about A/B testing, right?
At this point you should know that the answer is not.
But more than that, even when optimization has the same goal…
there are some differences that we need to different situations.
Plus, it’s also important to know how to manage a CRO program.
From the team, to the tools and scaling.
All of these are factors that you should consider when optimizing.
In the end, you are optimizing for change in behavior.
That’s what I learned in this last courses from CXL Institute as part of the CRO Minidegree Program.
This is going to be a little bit longer than usual, but the goal is to close the remarks from this course into what I’ve discovered about optimization.
Let’s jump right into it.
So as I said before, optimizing for different situations have some nuances we need to consider.
B2B is one of those situations where we should pay attention to details.
What makes optimization for B2B different?
Well, the process that it needs compared to B2C is more complex. Also, you should take into consideration for the customer journey of someone.
It’s not the same when they are just researching your offer vs. when they are comparing prices from you.
So to have a good optimization strategy in place, B2B starts (as always) having a clear goal in mind.
Some of the goals could be to know about a lead, or to look for account-based marketing.
Plus, since the sales cycle is long… it’s hard to give credit to a particular step of the process, like closing a deal because of an email or a demo.
The job has began since the first touch point.
It’s also great to know that you should consider both the type of leads you want + the person you’re talking to as the first steps in optimizing.
This is followed by optimizing the CTA.
No, it’s not the same to say “Book a Demo” than “Schedule a Discovery Call”. Not only in terms of the language (copy), but the goals of each one are different.
As such, you should adapt to what you’re selling, the price point and how do people want (or expect) to buy it.
But once you’re optimizing for these details, why not move on to content?
Most B2B have a lot of content spread out. Maybe it’s time to add some shorter versions to the strategy.
Make it more digestible and more entertaining.
Things like Youtube videos, 3rd party content or webinars and case studies can work great.
But that covers the B2B side.
Now, I want to ask you a question… have you ever asked yourself:
“What can I do besides Conversion Rate Optimization?”
I bet you didn’t answer Conversion Value Optimization.
Don’t worry, neither did I when I first found out about it.
But this type of optimization tries to focus on all the customer journey of a customer, which can be divided in 5 steps.
- Determine market fit — this is so obvious, yet very neglected. See where there’s a possible gap in the market and how you can fit it… all while making yourself different from the rest.
- Create a lead magnet — as a copywriter, I know and write them, but… this applies for all types of businesses. Not every customer is willing to buy the first time they see you. Why not give them something of value and nurture them?
- Trip wire — the idea is to turn prospects into buyers. The goal isn’t to make high amount of rev. The goal is to change the interaction and relationship with them… even a cent can work.
- Incorporating profit maximizers — this comes after someone has bought your core offer. Use upsells, downsells, crossells… anything that help you maximize your profit (kinda obvious from the name of the step). You can create a slack adjuster, that focuses on targeting your raving fans.
- The return path — it’s no surprise people will drop off from all the previous steps. The goal here is to put them back to where they left and try to make them continue. So automated follow-ups and remarketing are great strategies to have in place for this.
But that’s not all.
As much as you can adapt the optimization process to your particular case (like in B2B) and use CVO, you still need to know how to actually first communicate… and how does your market perceive that message.
This is where something like Applied Neuromarketing comes into play.
The short explanation of it, is using neuromarketing (neuroscience + marketing) to get your message across.
It’s all about knowing how people pay attention, how to capture it, and how to see whether your message is being delivered to the decision-maker (the old brain).
Things like not having too much clutter, having clarity, or using contrast to drive attention are some of the strategies you learn when using neuromarketing.
I don’t want to spend too much time on it for a simple reason.
As much as I deeply believe neuromarketing can change the way people do business, I already covered this course from CXL in another article before.
Hence, I want to focus now on what’s next.
And what’s next is all about managing an optimization program.
The first thing you should look for is planning your dream team.
For this, there are 2 models you can follow (maybe even combine): centralized or distributed.
With that in mind, you want to hire that dream team. You can do this either by insourced or outsourced. Of course, it depends on your goals and your vision.
From there, you want to create the goals for your program and then tracking the success of them. It’s all about speed in here.
And what if your organization doesn’t follow the conversion optimization practices to heart?
Well, here’s a quick idea on how to do it.
First, let people know that testing is an approach to business… and it’s a process that needs to involve different teams.
This won’t work by its own, of course.
That’s why you have to communicate, share and educate the importance and results of it. Workshops or case studies can become helpful.
The idea is for you to include people from other areas and make them see the value of it… let them know it’s not only about changing the color of a button.
Heck, you can even do a testathlon.
Create an event where people who come up with the best hypothesis to test can win something… that’s a way to incentivize the principles into the company.
There’s more to cover inside what I got from this CXL Minidegree program, yet…
I think I’ve given you the most insightful tips you need that can give you some wins.
From all, keep in mind that you need to use all the frameworks in place to get conversion optimization to work for you.
In terms of the CXL Minidegree program…
Going through this CRO program and became a CRO certified expert has been an amazing opportunity.
Not only did I learn what conversion optimization really is or how does A/B testing fit into the equation… but I learned all of this from the experts in the field.
If you’re looking to become good at conversions, then you’re gonna want to become a CRO expert… and there’s no better way to do it that with CXL (based on my experience, and what I’ve read from others who’re going through the program).
That being said, this was my last post of this series.
It’s been a great journey.
Being from someone who only knows what A/B testing means, to know being confident on how to deploy a test (only when it’s applicable) has been eye opening.
I wish you the best into your future.
Ivan
