Conversion rate is a measure for the number of people performing a desired action. It measures the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and advertising. Conversion rate is one of the most important metrics to track.
The possible conversion rate can range from 0% to 100%. The goal is to achieve the maximum conversion rate and increase sales. If you want to increase your sales, you must know how to measure the processes involved in a sales or marketing funnel. Here, we will explain in more detail what the conversion rate is, how to calculate it and how to improve it.
What is the conversion rate?
The conversion rate is a metric that allows you to know in percentage how many users perform a certain action in a specific place. In which they convert from “A” to “B”, that is, from “visitor” to “buyer”.
Imagine an online business where a thousand people browse each week and only 100 people make a purchase. Therefore, the conversion rate of that store’s purchases was 10% in that week. Since only 100 people made a purchase, and 100 out of a thousand represents 10%.
How do you measure the conversion rate?
You take the total number of people who performed the action you want to measure from a given place, then divide it by the total number of visits from that same place, then multiply it by 100 and that will give you the result as a percentage.
Conversion rate=Total number of people who performed the ActionTotal number of site visits x 100
Based on the previous example, let’s measure the conversion rate of purchases, i.e. how many people made a purchase:
Conversion rate=1001000 x 100=10% made a purchase
Why is conversion rate important?
The importance lies in the fact that having a record of the conversion rate gives us a reference when it comes to making changes. Therefore, measuring conversions is vital, since there are changes that can be positive as well as negative.
Measuring the conversion rate allows:
- Keep a reference of sales and leads
- Run tests that will allow us to improve it
- Improving the conversion rate gives us a better Return On Investment (ROI)
- A better ROI equals more money from less investment.
In marketing, the conversion rate is always measured to know how a marketing funnel or sales funnel is performing. As there are several stages, knowing the specific stage that gives poor results allows you to identify it and then improve it.
How to improve the conversion rate of your blog, landing page or online store
Offer a value proposal
Making a proposition helps to stand out from the competition. It is valid to offer something that the competition does, but they don’t mention it.
The best thing to do is to make a value proposition that solves a problem that, if fulfilled, can bring a benefit.
That is why knowing who you are selling to, i.e. the buyer persona, is vital to make a good value proposition.
Less click and options
Do not ask for unnecessary data, this makes users question whether or not to buy on certain occasions. The easier the purchase process is the better for the buyer. For example, Amazon has made a one-click purchasing system.
Respond to objections
A major reason why people do not buy is because of doubts that may arise when buying a product or service. Knowing what these most frequent objections are helps to answer these questions in a FAQ section.
If it is an e-commerce, placing it next to the product card also helps. On the other hand, if it is a service or infoproduct landing page, placing the questions visible and the answers in a drop-down when clicking on the question is the best option.
Support chat
In addition to answering objections, a support chat helps those users that are more impatient. Sometimes a FAQ section is not enough if you offer a lot of services or products, or if they are complex. A chat helps those anxious users to reach out to you directly with their questions.
On the other hand, combining this with a chatbot or automating the chat, helps a lot if done right.
Social proof and testimonials
Social proof is a demonstration of trust from other people towards you. People always ask questions such as ”Is he a scammer or not?” To resolve doubts, a comment and/or testimonial can help you gain the buyer’s trust.
Social proof expresses the idea that if someone else has already purchased and it went well, it will go well for me too. Also, if you have the possibility of displaying logos of important clients or media in which you have appeared, place them as well.
Offer many payment options, at least 5.
Not everyone has a MasterCard, and the same can happen with other payment methods. Having several options helps to prevent users from not buying due to lack of options when it comes to making a payment. Use the most popular ones because they are popular for a reason.
High quality photos
Using poor quality photos looks very bad. Any image that appears in good quality generates confidence, of course, it’s not going to work miracles either. Imagine having everything right except the images, it might look suspicious, right? Image is not everything, but a poor quality image detracts from your confidence.
Offer discounts
Offering discounts helps to sell more. A discount is more attractive than a flat price. On the other hand, the word ” sale” is the most attractive word to use for offers and discounts.
Market segmentation
Segmenting the market helps in offering products to the right people, interested in the product, while saving money on advertising and increasing conversion.
Selling dog products to people with cats is not the same as selling those same products to people who do have dogs, is it?
Imagine selling a red lipstick to women who want to look sexy. The lipstick itself is already for women, but with “sexy” you are further segmenting the market when it comes to creating the message.
The message about a lipstick for a woman who wants to feel sexy, with whom will it work best?
With a woman who spends all day working and has no time to go out? Or with a woman who wants to look sexy on an outing?
Because of this, segmenting the market, knowing who you are selling to, and specifically targeting this niche, is critical. It is better to be the expert of a small market, than to sell to a large market and be an expert of nothing.
Maintaining the expectation
“Not everything that is true sounds believable, and not everything that is believable is true.” Todd Brown.
Play in the middle of believable and true, but don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Promising too much is hard to believe, which decreases the desire to buy. On the other hand, offering and not delivering in the event that they purchase from you takes away your authority and credibility.
Warranty
In addition to being a legal obligation, it also helps to reassure people. Imagine buying without a warranty and the product turns out to be defective, how would you feel? Bad, wouldn’t you?
Well, to avoid losing out on a purchase people prefer to always buy with a warranty if possible. There are some shoe e-Commerce where their value proposition is in fact a warranty: “If the shoe doesn’t fit or arrives incorrectly, you can exchange it”. This is reassuring for the buyer.
Free shipping
93% of people are more encouraged when shipping is free. Also, 44% drop out when shipping is expensive. Free shipping is a great incentive to buy. There are people who include shipping costs in the product and make it look free.
Measure and Analyze
If you think you’re doing well, you might do better. A/B testing is to study two different ads and see which one has a better conversion. Changing things on your website and measuring them helps to know if the change you made was the right one or not.
User experience
In addition to being a positioning factor, the user experience helps to avoid stressing the user and that is why having a fast, responsive website with all the buttons working properly is crucial to meet the user’s expectations, which nowadays are increasingly demanding due to the large number of offers. Make your offer the best in every way.
A good headline
The headline is the first thing users see. Therefore, a good headline should grab their attention in order to get them to visit the page. Sometimes people underestimate the power of a headline. If the headline does not attract attention, everything below the headline will not be seen by anyone.
Conclusion
There are too many tips, the best thing to do is to make a list and read each one of them. Doing a one by one analysis is the best option, and then, if you think it will help you, write it down in the list so you know what needs to be improved.
