IN CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION, THE VISITOR IS KING.
As the past two chapters have suggested, customers are at the center of the conversion optimization story. Getting to know your customers is the first step in the Conversion Framework because, after all, you’re trying to please and persuade them. Most companies are aware of the importance of knowing their customers, but few understand what “knowing their customers” entails, especially online.
Companies generally face one of two challenges when it comes to integrating their marketing data into their selling process:
Smaller companies do not have the know-how or the means to conduct market research to identify and segment their market effectively. Some of them might not appreciate the value that market research brings to their business. As a result, they must make assumptions about their customers, which could be wrong. They might also be missing important segments that can generate a large amount of revenue for their business.
On the other end of the spectrum, many mid-size to large businesses have tons of market information but do not know what to do with it online. They are not able to integrate that data into actionable insights that can be implemented in their online marketing campaigns or on their websites.
Regardless of the size of the company, the overwhelming question is: how do you use marketing data to ensure that the website’s copy, design, navigation, and overall structure will engage most (if not all) visitors, and move a large percentage of them through the conversion funnel?
When the average ecommerce store converts only 2% of its visitors into customers, it’s hard not to wonder what is stopping the remaining 98% from moving forward with the purchase process. Conversion optimization starts with gathering detailed market information. The more detailed the information, the more precise the optimization process will be. You then use that data to shape how your website interacts with its visitors.
This relentless focus on customers sounds familiar to marketing folks, but it isn’t always a comfortable fit with the technical or business world on the Web. It is rare to find a company with marketing and IT teams who work collaboratively when creating the company’s website. IT teams may blow your mind with innovative designs, but ultimately it is the conversions that will make a difference to your bottom line. Similarly, the focus can’t be on what the CEO, VP of marketing, or business owner wants, but rather on what the visitors want. If a user isn’t happy, conversion rates will drop and revenue will suffer. We’ve all heard the classic example of the Fortune 500 company that developed a fancy website costing more than $20 million—only to find that the site did not generate the expected revenue because it did not appeal to the company’s target market, nor was it user-friendly.